Novie Strategy is Grace Novie Stolen (she/her/hers), an experienced communicator, creative problem-solver, and passionate facilitator and community organizer. Originally from the Madison, Wisconsin area, she has since lived in Wausau and the Chippewa Valley. She is currently based out of Washburn, Wisconsin.
Grace is currently the Creative Services Coordinator for Marketing Communications at Northland College. Located in Ashland, Wisconsin near Lake Superior’s gorgeous and storied Chequamegon Bay, Northland is a small, private environmental liberal arts college. Grace leads project management, including project intake with campus constituents, and manages the College’s email lists of internal and external audiences. She additionally provides assistance with web content and proofreading.
Grace previously was the Director of Communications for the Stout Student Association at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie. In that role, she recorded official proceedings of the University Student Senate and served as the liaison between Senators and the Executive Board. She also worked to connect students with their student association to advance its mission of elevating student voices. Grace was also the Staff Lead for UW-Stout’s LGBTQIA+ Program Office, the Qube. She co-supervised the office’s undergraduate staff alongside the Graduate Assistant in the absence of a full-time coordinator. She worked to provide a diverse array of programming to reflect the richness of the queer community.
Grace is also the Director of Operations & Engagement and Board President for Proud Theater and Art & Soul Innovations. She was Operations Manager at Proud Theater-Wausau for the 2017-19 seasons and co-directed two shows. Grace started with Proud Theater as a youth in 2015. An alum of Proud Theater’s Madison chapter, she has returned to volunteer and run tech for shows and worked on Art & Soul’s annual Connections intergenerational conference.
Honors & Involvement
Honors include the Pride Youth Theater Alliance 2018 Youth Leadership Award for contributions to the field of queer youth theater and receiving the Ahrnsbrak Award for Unselfish Leadership upon graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wausau for campus contributions and institutional service within the University of Wisconsin Colleges, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and University of Wisconsin System. In March 2020, she received the Outstanding Qube Staff Member of the Year award at UW-Stout’s annual Qubie awards. She received the Scott Griesbach Award for Excellence in LGBTQIA+ Advocacy in March 2021.
Grace is very involved in her community. She served as a youth representative on the Dane County Board of Supervisors from June 2016-May 2017. She also served on the board of the Pride Youth Theater Alliance from September 2017 to February 2021. While living in Wausau, she was the Co-Facilitator for Wausau Transfam.
Education
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wausau – Associate of Arts and Sciences – May 2019
University of Wisconsin-Stout – B.S. Applied Social Science (History and Politics Concentration), Geographic Information Systems Minor – May 2021