Beyond the Title: 12 Questions with April Kigeya

April Kigeya

Community Outreach & Crisis Response Specialist, Dane County

April Kigeya is a community leader, advocate, published author, and candidate for Mayor of Madison with a career rooted in public service and community engagement. A former Dane County Board Supervisor and Second Vice Chair, she has championed racial equity, public safety, youth opportunity, and community wellness. In 2020, she was named one of Madison365's Most Influential Black Leaders in Wisconsin. April holds a bachelor's degree in Legal Studies from UW–Madison and an MBA from Edgewood University. A longtime Madison resident and mother of four, April brings lived experience, professional leadership, and a deep commitment to ensuring community voices are represented where decisions are made.

01Built to Last starts with a strong foundation. What is the foundation your leadership is built on, and how do you return to it when things get shaky?

My leadership is built on people. I have always believed that the people closest to the problem should be closest to the decisions being made about it. That means listening first, making room for voices that are too often left out, and being willing to speak up even when it would be easier not to.

When things get shaky, I come back to my “why.” I remind myself that leadership was never about a title for me. It is about service, impact, and leaving things better than I found them. And sometimes returning to my foundation also means giving myself permission to step away, get quiet, lean on the people who love me, and remember that I don't have to carry everything by myself.

02Where do you come from, and how do your roots keep you steady when leadership gets hard?

I was born in Long Beach, California, raised in San Bernardino, and moved to Madison when I was in middle school. Madison is where I grew up, raised my four children, went to school, built community, and became the woman and leader I am today.

But when I think about my roots, I also think about the people and experiences that shaped me. I come from resilience. I come from figuring things out when there wasn't a roadmap. I come from communities where people take care of one another because sometimes that's all we have.

When leadership gets hard, I remember where I came from, and I remember who is watching me. My children have watched me win, lose, struggle, get back up, and keep going. I want them to know that strength isn't never falling. Sometimes strength is simply deciding that falling isn't where your story ends.

03What's a piece of advice that has stood the test of time for you, the kind you still come back to years later?

“Don't make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.”

I've had to come back to that one more times than I can count. Leadership can make you angry, hurt, frustrated, exhausted, and occasionally ready to send the email you absolutely should not send.

I've learned that everything doesn't require an immediate response. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is sit with something, get your emotions out of the driver's seat, and then decide what actually deserves your energy. I've rarely regretted giving myself time. I have definitely regretted a few times when I didn't.

04What's a book, quote, lyric, or scripture that has stayed with you and shaped how you lead or live?

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

I love that because leadership requires humility. I am not the same leader I was five years ago, or even a year ago. I've made mistakes. I've changed my mind. I've had to apologize, learn, and grow. I don't think good leadership requires pretending you've always gotten everything right. It requires being willing to learn something new and then having the courage to do something differently because of what you've learned.

05What's something you've had to rebuild after it broke or fell apart, and what did that teach you about building things that last?

Myself.

There have been times in my life when things I thought were permanent fell apart, relationships, careers, plans I had for my future, and even the version of myself I thought I was supposed to be. I've had to rebuild more than once, and sometimes I was rebuilding several things at the same time.

What I've learned is that rebuilding isn't about putting everything back exactly the way it was. Sometimes it fell apart because it wasn't supposed to be rebuilt the same way.

Now I ask different questions: What do I want to carry forward? What do I need to leave behind? What foundation am I building this time?

The things that last aren't necessarily the things that never break. They're the things strong enough to be rebuilt differently.

06What's one question every leader should ask if they want to build something that outlasts them, and why?

“Who is at the table?”

I come back to this question because it's easy to make decisions for people when they aren't in the room. Good leadership means making sure the people most impacted have a voice from the beginning, not after the decisions have already been made.

If we want to build something that lasts, we have to build with people, not just for them.

07Who are you actively preparing to carry this work forward, and what are you doing to set them up to succeed without you?

My children, and the young people I have the privilege of working with.

Some of the most important leadership work I will ever do won't come with a title. It's making sure the next generation knows their voice matters and that they don't have to wait for someone to give them permission to lead.

With my own children, that means letting them see the whole journey, not just the wins. They have seen me advocate, serve, struggle, make mistakes, change directions, and get back up.

And in my work with young people, I try to create the spaces I wish more of us had growing up: spaces where they are heard, challenged, supported, and reminded of their own power.

I'm not trying to create people who lead exactly like me. I want them to have the confidence and tools to lead in ways I haven't even imagined.

08When leadership feels heavy, what do you turn to (music, travel, culture, faith) that restores you and keeps you feeling like yourself?

Music, laughter, my people, and sometimes doing absolutely nothing.

I love music. I love being around people who knew me before whatever title happens to be attached to my name at the moment. I love laughing until my stomach hurts, dancing, traveling when I can, and spending time with my kids.

I've also learned that rest is not something I have to earn. That's been a hard lesson for me because I am naturally a person who keeps going. Sometimes restoring myself looks very profound. Other times it looks like me on the couch watching something ridiculous and refusing to be responsible for anybody for a few hours.

Both count.

09When you think about the legacy you want to leave, what do you hope still stands long after you've moved on?

I hope people remember how I made room for others in every room I was in.

I hope there are people who speak up because somewhere along the way I helped them realize their voice mattered. I hope there are young people who lead because someone believed in them before they fully believed in themselves. I hope there are systems that work a little better for people who have historically been left out because I was willing to challenge the way things had always been done.

And I hope my children can look at my life, all of it, not just the polished parts, and say, “My mom left things better than she found them.”

10What's a small daily habit or discipline that has compounded into something meaningful over time?

Checking in on people. A quick “Hey, how are you” may seem small, but I've learned that sometimes it reaches someone at exactly the right time.

Over time, those little check-ins have built relationships and community that I value deeply. They've also taught me that showing up for people doesn't always require a huge gesture.

11What's a moment in your life where the music playing in the background ended up meaning more than you expected, a song that showed up right when you needed it, or made an ordinary moment stick with you?

There are so many songs attached to people, places, heartbreaks and celebrations. Sometimes, I will hear a song and immediately remember exactly where I was when I heard it and what season of life I was in. That's what I love about music, it holds memories for us, even when we aren't trying to remember.

12What's a tradition in your life or family that you hope lasts for generations?

Thanksgiving. My kids love my cooking and my two sons especially LOVE Thanksgiving food. My youngest son's birthday often falls around Thanksgiving, so it has always felt like an extra special time for our family.

As my kids get older and start building lives of their own, I hope Thanksgiving is one of those traditions that always brings us back together.