About
Vision
To achieve balanced representation of women on boards of directors to maximize the performance of Wisconsin businesses.
Mission
Milwaukee Women inc is an organization of professional women determined to change the face and quality of leadership in the Wisconsin business community by increasing the number of women corporate directors.
Over the past 19 years, our annual research has shown a steady, but slow, upward trend in women on Wisconsin boards and a decline in companies with no female board members.
For example, the percentage of women on the boards of the top 50 Wisconsin public companies has increased from 9.3% in 2003 to 26.3% in 2022.
2003
2022
In 2021, fifteen women were added to Wisconsin public company boards resulting in 23.3% representation, surpassing 21.2% last year and the largest percentage since we began measuring. While this is encouraging, there is still much work to do.
MWi strives to achieve our mission through three pillars:
Engagement
Research
Resources
Mary Ellen Stanek Award for Diversity in Corporate Governance
Each November the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) and MWi solicit individuals to nominate a person or organization for the Mary Ellen Stanek Award for Diversity in Corporate Governance. Learn more about the current and past winners.
Women’s Leadership Collaborative (WLC)
On National Equal Pay Day, April 2, 2019 Milwaukee Women inc, TEMPO Milwaukee, and Professional Dimensions, announced the formation of the Women’s Leadership Collaborative. As a unified voice to advocate for issues related to equity for all professional women, the collaborative has identified pay equity as a top priority.
Board of Directors
Kim Stoll
Chairwoman
Vice President Sales & Marketing,
Badger Meter, Inc.
Kristin Dufek
Vice-Chair / Chair-Elect
President, Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc.
Nicole Pienkos
Treasurer
Senior Vice President, Group Executive, Regional Banking, FIS Corporation
Sandra Cunningham
Secretary
Director
Versiti, Inc.
Patricia Ackerman
Immediate Past Chair
A.O. Smith Corporation, retired
Lisa Cieslak
External Engagement Co-Chair
Chief Financial & Business Operations Officer, GMR Marketing
April Dunn
External Engagement Co-Chair
Former Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Fortune 200
Julie Glynn
Member Engagement Co-Chair
Executive Vice President, Chief Retail Officer, WaterStone Bank
Cecelia Gore
Member-at-Large
Executive Director, Brewers Community Foundation
Karen Hung
Member Engagement Co-Chair
CEO & Founder, Silver Rock Consulting
Lisa Pendergast
Member-at-Large
MGIC, retired
Marilyn Vollrath
Communications & Marketing Chair
Senior Consultant,
Reputation Partners
Peggy Williams-Smith
Research Chair
President & CEO, VISIT Milwaukee
History
In 2002, a group of Milwaukee women leaders, led by Betty Quadracci met in reaction to the April 2022 Milwaukee Magazine article, “Women & Power, The 10 Most Influential Women in the City”. The discussion focused on promoting research, educating community leaders on the value of diversity in corporate governance and management, and eliminating barriers to the full inclusion of women in leadership positions.
Milwaukee Women inc (MWi) started as a loosely structured organization without formal governance that was adept at fundraising to support its research. In 2010, Milwaukee Women inc (“inc” stands for inclusive) was incorporated and granted 501(c)(3) status.
The group published its first annual research report in 2004. The percentage of women directors in Wisconsin’s Top 50 public companies has grown from 9.3% to 23.3% in 2021. MWi has evolved to include more than 130 steering committee members and over 30 sponsoring organizations that support our goals financially and through their active participation.
MWi Founding Members
Sharon Canter
Kris Martinsek
Maureen McGinnity
Maria Monreal Cameron
Deborah Patel
Joan Prince
Betty Quadracci
Kris Rappe
Christine Rodriquez
Carol Skornicka
Janet Slater
Mary Ellen Stanek
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