I have spent most of my life in southeast Wisconsin, roughly an hour from the International Crane Foundation’s headquarters. I have fond memories from my childhood of walking through the “Briggsville woods” with my grandmother Mary Wickhem, the International Crane Foundation’s first Board Chair. She would often point out the calls of birds she heard off in the distance. Looking back now, I am not sure if it was the enchanting sounds of the birds or the overwhelming enthusiasm in her voice that struck me to the core and left me with a lifelong love for our winged friends. Regardless of the cause (likely a mix of both) I am struck… and will forever be an advocate for the cranes.
My professional history has little to nothing to do with the greater outdoors. I graduated college in Milwaukee with a degree in Business and Marketing. My minors included: Anthropology, economics and history. I went on to a career in personal finance with the goal of helping as many people as I possibly could. I started my career at two major wire houses, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Advisors. Both offered me a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of human behavioral finance and retirement planning. My most recent and likely last move was to Johnson Financial Group in 2020. Here I am able to help a growing number of client’s design, maintain and continue their existing retirement and investment plans.
One of the major perks of my career path was that we were always encouraged to pursue our local philanthropic causes. Many were guided to causes that their firm supported… That was not the case for me. Having seen the “ins and outs” of Children’s Wisconsin (formerly Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin), where my mother Maryanne worked for over three decades, my decision was simple… find a way to help the kids. I started volunteering early on to help out in any way I could. It wasn’t until more recently that I decided to join a committee for their annual “Tee Up For Kids” golf outing. Additionally, I was similarly drawn to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Milwaukee, where I also joined a committee to help with their golf outing (are we seeing a trend yet??). Here I was able to help grow the community of both donors and volunteers to help benefit the cause. Along the way, I volunteered with several other organizations such as: the Alzheimer’s Association, Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation, Hunger Task Force and several others. However, my heart always brought me back to Children’s and BBBS… I knew that I would have to have a deep-seated love for the cause to offer my full support. For that very reason, when George called me about joining the board at the International Crane Foundation… I didn’t even have to think. The answer was absolutely and unconditionally “YES!”.
I look forward to lending myself to this cause in any way I can! These are strange times… but the birds still need us! I cannot wait to pick up where my grandmother left off and carry on the family tradition of instilling a deep-seated love for our beautiful feathered friends.