The Top 50 Milwaukee Women Leaders of 2026
Milwaukee has always been a “builder” city-of products, of institutions, of neighborhoods, of reinvention. But the most interesting story in the metro right now isn’t just the next development, the next corporate initiative, or the next civic plan. It’s who is shaping the outcomes-the women leading the organizations that decide how we hire, invest, educate, heal, design, market, and grow.
This list is written for professional women who want a sharper sense of where influence actually lives in Greater Milwaukee: inside health systems and headquarters, across tourism and sports, through higher education and philanthropy, and within the networks that move money, talent, and momentum.
How this ranking works (and what it isn’t):
* It’s a curated, editorial ranking based on role scope, decision-making authority, economic/community impact, and cross-sector reach. * It aims for a balanced mix across industries (healthcare, finance, tech/fintech, manufacturing, education, law, accounting, nonprofit/civic).
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#1 Gabrielle Finley-Hazle
If you want to understand what is possible in the Milwaukee economy, follow healthcare. As President of Aurora Health Care, Gabrielle Finley-Hazle sits at the center of access, workforce, and cost-the three pressure points that shape everything from employer competitiveness to neighborhood stability. Aurora’s scale (hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and a massive workforce footprint) means leadership decisions ripple across hiring pipelines, vendor ecosystems, and community health outcomes. What elevates her influence beyond operations is the cross-sector positioning: she’s not only running a system, she’s part of the civic table-linked to business and community institutions that help coordinate solutions.
#2 Marti Wronski
Milwaukee sports leadership isn’t “just entertainment.” It’s tourism, downtown foot traffic, sponsorship dollars, and a year-round brand engine that touches hospitality and small business revenue. Marti Wronski’s COO role places her at the helm of a major sports business platform-one that influences game-day economics and long-term partnership strategy. Her leadership also matters symbolically and practically: it expands what top operational authority looks like in pro sports, and it does so from an organization that is deeply interwoven with the metro’s identity and economic calendar.
#3 Peggy Williams-Smith
The metros that win talent don’t just recruit-they tell a credible story about why people should build their lives there. Peggy Williams-Smith leads the organization responsible for that narrative at scale: attracting meetings, conventions, leisure travel, and the downstream spending that supports restaurants, hotels, venues, and service jobs. Under her leadership, Visit Milwaukee’s work is as much economic strategy as it is marketing-connecting the region’s assets to national audiences and making the city easier to choose (and re-choose).
#4 Sarah Smith Pancheri
Few Milwaukee institutions combine brand, logistics, and economic impact like Summerfest-and Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. is the machine behind it. Sarah Smith Pancheri leads the nonprofit that produces Summerfest and stewards a major lakefront festival campus. That’s influence through operations at scale: workforce, vendor contracts, sponsorship ecosystems, and the ability to convene national attention on Milwaukee multiple times every summer. In a city where momentum is often built through events and visibility, this is a seat with real leverage.
#5 Dr. Brenda Cassellius
Every “workforce challenge” conversation eventually becomes a K-12 conversation. Dr. Brenda Cassellius leads MPS-one of the largest and most scrutinized systems in Wisconsin-at a moment when outcomes, facilities, funding, and trust are all on the table. Her influence shows up in the talent pipeline, employer confidence, neighborhood stability, and long-term equity: the decisions made in public education today determine what the metro can build tomorrow.
#6 Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell
Milwaukee County is a systems operator: parks, transit-related decisions, public services, and the governance choices that define how resources flow and how accountability works. As Chairwoman of the County Board, Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell holds a platform that combines policy direction with budget priorities-and that combination is where real influence lives. Her leadership matters especially in a region where the hardest problems require coordination across government, nonprofit, and business partners.
#7 Kim Sajet
A world-class cultural institution is not a “nice-to-have” for a metro competing for talent-it’s part of the city’s brand, identity, and philanthropic engine. Kim Sajet’s appointment as Milwaukee Art Museum director signals ambition: she arrives with experience leading the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and steps into a role that can deepen Milwaukee’s cultural relevance, education partnerships, and donor energy. In cities on the rise, arts leadership becomes a multiplier for civic pride and visitor interest.
#8 Jill Timm
Retail leadership is often misunderstood as “store strategy.” In reality, CFO influence is about capital allocation, performance discipline, and navigating consumer shifts with speed. Jill Timm’s role gives her a direct hand in how one of the region’s best-known corporate brands funds transformation, manages volatility, and signals confidence to investors and employees alike. Finance leadership at this level shapes jobs, suppliers, and long-term headquarters commitment.
#9 Rebecca House
When advanced manufacturing evolves, it evolves through two levers: people and governance. Rebecca House leads both. That’s significant in a company whose footprint reaches across industrial innovation, workforce needs, compliance realities, and organizational culture. For Milwaukee, this kind of leadership is consequential because it influences how a major industrial employer builds talent, manages risk, and sets standards that cascade through suppliers and partners.
#10 Jennifer M. Manchester
Fiserv is one of the most important “modern Milwaukee” stories: payments, fintech infrastructure, and global innovation with a major local presence. As CHRO, Jennifer Manchester has direct influence over how that company recruits, develops, and retains talent-especially in a competitive market for technical and leadership roles. HR leadership at this level isn’t back-office; it’s how strategy becomes execution through people and culture.
#11 Kelly Culler
Northwestern Mutual is a talent engine for the region, and CHRO decisions shape everything from advisor development to corporate capability-building. With Kelly Culler stepping into the CHRO role, she joins the senior leadership tier that sets the tone for how a major employer grows, modernizes, and competes. In a metro where talent attraction and retention are existential economic priorities, the person steering people strategy has quiet-but enormous-power.
#12 Dr. Cheryl A. Maurana
Milwaukee’s healthcare and research ecosystem doesn’t run only through hospitals-it runs through academic medicine and training capacity. As provost, Dr. Cheryl Maurana shapes academic direction, program growth, and the institutional strategy that influences the physician and pharmacist pipeline. That matters to regional employers, to patient outcomes, and to the long-run competitiveness of the metro as a health sciences hub.
#13 Amy Lindner
Influence can look like convening power: the ability to align employers, nonprofits, and donors around the region’s most urgent needs. Amy Lindner leads United Way’s local platform, which matters because it translates community priorities into coordinated action-mobilizing resources, partnerships, and outcomes work. In fragmented metros, the leaders who can connect systems (education, housing stability, workforce readiness) often determine what actually scales.
#14 Kristin Dufek
Milwaukee’s future is built environment: workplaces, healthcare facilities, civic infrastructure, and redevelopment that has to balance cost, sustainability, and experience. As President of EUA, Kristin Dufek sits in a role that touches how organizations design for the next decade-where people work, how institutions serve communities, and how capital projects reflect strategy. That’s influence you can literally see in skylines, campuses, and corridors.
#15 Molly Mulroy
Energy is foundational-every growth plan assumes reliable power and disciplined operations. As Chief Administrative Officer at WEC Energy Group, Molly Mulroy’s influence shows up in the organizational “machine” behind an essential service: people systems, operational alignment, and the internal capacity required to deliver on large-scale infrastructure realities. In a region where the energy transition and reliability pressures are real, this kind of leadership is increasingly strategic.
#16 Leslie Plamann
Professional services leadership is often underestimated because it’s not always public-facing. But in reality, firms like EY influence how organizations make decisions-on risk, compliance, finance strategy, growth transactions, and transformation programs. As a Partner, Leslie Plamann’s work shapes how companies in the region execute: how they measure performance, manage complexity, and prepare for what’s next. That is influence through trusted advisory.
#17 Karen Hung
Founders and boutique-firm leaders are increasingly powerful in modern metros because they move quickly, specialize deeply, and advise multiple organizations at once. Karen Hung’s leadership as a founder adds a different kind of influence: shaping leadership behavior, organizational effectiveness, and strategic clarity across clients and boards-often behind the scenes, where the real decisions get made.
#18 Nancy Hernandez
Regional growth isn’t only about attracting new companies-it’s about expanding opportunity and scale for the businesses already here. As President of the MMAC Hispanic Collaborative, Nancy Hernandez operates at the intersection of economic development, entrepreneurship, and representation-helping ensure Hispanic business leaders are connected into the networks, capital, and partnerships that drive regional competitiveness.
#19 Mary Ellen Stanek
In every metro, finance leadership influences what gets funded, what gets built, and which organizations can think long-term. Mary Ellen Stanek’s role at Baird places her inside one of Milwaukee’s signature financial institutions. That’s influence through capital markets fluency, investment leadership, and the kind of executive network that shapes nonprofit boards, civic initiatives, and business expansion decisions.
#20 Sarah Feldner
Universities shape metros through talent, research, and civic leadership norms. Sarah Feldner’s provost responsibilities (and her deanship of a major college within Marquette) matter because they influence student pipelines, employer partnerships, and the civic “bench” of future leaders. In a city where retaining talent is as important as recruiting it, institutional academic leadership becomes economic leadership.
#21 Debbie Tahmassebi
Tahmassebi brings decades of mission-driven higher education leadership to Marquette’s top academic role, strengthening the university’s teaching, research, and strategic focus. Her track record guiding faculty priorities and campus-wide execution positions Marquette to expand student success and deepen its impact on Milwaukee’s talent pipeline.
#22 Arianne Parisi
As chief digital officer, Parisi is steering the platforms and customer experience that power Kohl’s ecommerce momentum and omnichannel growth. Her leadership connects technology, merchandising, and operations to make shopping easier for customers and more effective for the business.
#23 Tessa Myers
Myers leads a core Rockwell Automation business that underpins smart production systems, translating advanced industrial technology into reliability and productivity for customers worldwide. By driving strategy and developing the talent behind it, she helps sustain Milwaukee’s reputation as a global center for automation leadership and innovation.
#24 Jennifer (Jenn) LaClair
LaClair helps shape how businesses accept payments and run commerce at scale, leading solutions that keep transactions secure, seamless, and efficient. Her ability to pair product vision with execution makes her a catalyst for growth at Fiserv and a standout leader in the region’s fintech economy.
#25 Lynn Teo
Teo is modernizing how Northwestern Mutual earns trust and demand, combining data-informed marketing with a sharp focus on customer experience across digital and advisor channels. Her leadership strengthens a flagship Milwaukee company’s competitiveness by translating insight into growth while protecting the brand promise that differentiates it.
#26 Adrienne B. Mitchell
Mitchell leads the people strategy for one of Wisconsin’s most important academic health institutions, building workforce systems that enable teaching, research, and patient care to thrive. By prioritizing culture, capability, and equitable talent practices at scale, she delivers organizational stability that drives mission impact and operational excellence.
#27 Gina Santagati
Santagati’s fundraising leadership expands the resources that United Way deploys across education, stability, and health initiatives throughout Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County. Her long-term relationship-building with donors and corporate partners turns community generosity into sustained, measurable impact for families and neighborhoods.
#28 Cecelia Gore
Gore has helped make the Brewers Community Foundation a high-impact civic partner, directing philanthropic investments that strengthen health, education, and basic-needs supports across the region. Her steady leadership translates Milwaukee baseball’s visibility into lasting community benefits, earning trust from nonprofit partners and donors alike.
#29 Joan Nesbitt
Nesbitt brings seasoned advancement leadership to UW-Milwaukee, mobilizing philanthropy and alumni engagement that fuels scholarships, research, and student opportunity. By aligning donor priorities with the university’s strategic needs, she helps expand UWM’s role as an engine for regional workforce development and innovation.
#30 Kelly Haag
Haag’s student-affairs leadership shapes the everyday experience that keeps students supported, retained, and ready to succeed at UW-Milwaukee. Her commitment to inclusive, high-impact programs strengthens outcomes for a diverse student body and reinforces the university’s contribution to Milwaukee’s future talent pipeline.
#31 Megan Seppmann
Seppmann is helping translate Milwaukee’s premier venues into economic wins, driving the commercial strategy that attracts major conventions and events to the city. Her leadership turns expanded capabilities into sustained visitor spending, jobs, and national visibility for the region.
#32 Jeannine Sherman
Sherman elevates the Wisconsin Center District’s profile through strategic storytelling and brand leadership that helps Milwaukee compete for high-value events. By connecting marketing to measurable demand generation, she amplifies the impact of the city’s convention and entertainment assets on downtown vitality and regional growth.
#33 Lori Syverson
Syverson is scaling Milwaukee Women inc’s mission of opening boardroom doors, bringing chamber-style economic development experience to a leadership and governance organization. By convening executives, sponsors, and allies, she accelerates progress on representation and helps more Milwaukee companies benefit from diverse, high-performing leadership.
#34 Julie Glynn
Glynn leads retail banking strategy with a community-first mindset, strengthening how WaterStone serves customers while building a high-performance culture for frontline teams. Her decades of leadership in sales, operations, and service quality translate into stronger relationships, smarter growth, and greater confidence in a locally rooted financial institution.
#35 Emily Phillips
Phillips helps families and organizations make confident long-term decisions, pairing deep advisory expertise with the leadership responsibilities of a managing partner. Her reputation for disciplined planning and client stewardship strengthens Milwaukee’s wealth-management ecosystem and supports generational economic stability for the people she serves.
#36 Kimberly Kane
Kane has built a respected communications firm that helps organizations earn trust, define brands, and navigate high-stakes moments with clarity and integrity. By linking storytelling to business strategy and purpose, she delivers measurable reputation value for clients and models values-driven entrepreneurship in Milwaukee.
#37 Kimberly Stoll
Stoll has been a steady growth leader at Badger Meter for well over a decade, shaping sales and marketing strategy for technologies that help utilities manage water more intelligently. Her blend of commercial leadership and cross-functional experience drives customer trust and market expansion, reinforcing Milwaukee’s strength in smart infrastructure and manufacturing.
#38 Sandy Hoeft
Hoeft’s audit leadership helps organizations strengthen the financial discipline and governance that investors, regulators, and stakeholders rely on. By guiding teams through complex assurance work with rigor and professionalism, she raises the bar for trust and accountability across the Milwaukee business community.
#39 Lindsay Hammerer
Hammerer combines deep audit expertise with a visible commitment to building the next generation of professionals, strengthening recruiting and advancing women’s leadership within KPMG. Her influence improves talent retention and client service quality at the same time, demonstrating how inclusive leadership can drive stronger outcomes for both people and performance.
#40 Heather Dunn
Dunn has advanced through West Bend’s finance leadership to steward the financial strength and strategic discipline that underpin a major regional insurer. Her focus on modernization, controls, and thoughtful risk management helps the organization adapt and grow while maintaining the confidence of policyholders and partners.
#41 Sue Tran
Tran’s legal and governance leadership has helped protect a global consumer-products company through complex regulatory, commercial, and board-level decisions. By pairing sound counsel with a strong focus on information security and enterprise risk, she has strengthened organizational resilience and set a high standard for ethical leadership.
#42 Thelma Sias
Sias has spent decades breaking barriers in corporate leadership and then reinvesting that experience into developing leaders through her consulting and speaking work. Her widely recognized civic and executive contributions make her a model of how professional excellence and community commitment can expand opportunity across Milwaukee.
#43 Lisa Cieslak
Cieslak brings disciplined operational leadership to a global experiential marketing agency, ensuring the financial and organizational backbone that lets creative teams deliver for marquee brands. By integrating finance, talent, and risk stewardship, she helps GMR scale sustainably while maintaining the performance and accountability clients expect.
#44 Christy Brown
Brown is guiding Alverno College with a mission-first approach, ensuring a women-centered institution remains a strong pathway to careers and leadership for students across the region. Her strategic focus on sustainability and student outcomes strengthens Milwaukee’s talent pipeline and reinforces higher education’s role as an economic driver.
#45 Brenda Campbell
Campbell has built SecureFutures into a statewide force for teen financial capability, helping tens of thousands of students gain skills that translate into lifelong stability. Her work strengthens Wisconsin’s workforce readiness by equipping young people with practical decision-making tools that benefit families, employers, and communities.
#46 Janette Braverman
Braverman blends technology expertise with leadership development, helping organizations modernize processes while keeping people and culture at the center of change. Through her consulting and coaching, she empowers leaders to execute strategically and build durable legacies that improve performance and community impact.
#47 Meghan Berndt
Berndt brings sophisticated transactional and governance expertise to her advisory work, helping business owners navigate growth, deals, and complex decisions with confidence. Her leadership at Shannon Berndt Advisors reflects a commitment to clear counsel and long-term value creation for clients and the broader Milwaukee business community.
#48 Sally Cartwright
Cartwright connects organizations to talent and transition solutions that protect momentum during change and help teams perform at their best. By supporting employers and professionals through hiring, development, and career transitions, she contributes to a healthier, more resilient regional workforce.
#49 Chandra Cooper
Cooper has turned Grateful Girls into a powerful voice for prevention and empowerment, educating youth and supporting survivors with programs that address human trafficking at its roots. Her leadership delivers community impact that is both urgent and measurable, strengthening safety, opportunity, and hope for Milwaukee’s girls and families.
#50 Deb Seeger
Seeger brings decades of workforce and organizational strategy experience, helping companies design practical talent approaches that build capability and competitiveness. Her work at Awakening Change pairs operational discipline with leadership insight, creating solutions that strengthen businesses while opening pathways for people to thrive.
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