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MadREP is grateful for the generous support of our many private and public sector board members and investors who help shape the future of the Madison Region’s economy.
Juli Aulik has been director of community relations at UW Health since 2002. She oversees UW Health’s contributions program, community benefit reporting, and local government relations. Juli collaborates on community health improvement projects, the community dimension of population health, and diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
She has a background in economic development, historic preservation, and tourism, including working in the WI State Senate for the Senator who chaired the economic development committee, as a policy analyst for the former WI Department of Development, and leading Taliesin Preservation, Inc.
Other roles include:
Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Master of Arts degree in Public Policy from Duke University
Juli Aulik, Board Chair
Community Relations Director, UW Health
Peter is an architect with over 35 years of experience designing award-winning commercial, civic and urban design projects. Since 1993, he has worked at Strang, voted the top architectural firm for the last eight years (2013-2020) by Madison Wisconsin’s InBusiness Magazine readers. He is responsible for Strang’s design vision and creative direction.
His client-focused design philosophy involves a commitment to thoughtful listening in order to create environments that truly reflect users’ needs and visions, while responding to their context of time and place. As a LEED Accredited Professional, he is passionate about sustainable design and our collective responsibility as stewards of our planet and the public realm.
A native of Malaysia, Peter came to the U.S. to attend Cornell University, earning a B.Arch and an M.Arch in Urban Design. In addition to MadREP, his community service includes the Madison Urban Design Commission, Upper House Advisory Council, Fitchburg Center Development Review Committee, and serving as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 122.
Peter Tan, Incoming Board Chair
Executive Vice President/Chief Design Officer, Strang, Inc.
Daniel Brown is the Executive Manager of Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison where he has served since 2012. Prior to arriving at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison, he served a highly successful 4-year term of office as the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Vice President. As Vice President, one his more prominent accomplishments of many was leading Gaming Compact negotiations with the State of Wisconsin and finalizing a deal that has been very beneficial to his tribe and the State of Wisconsin. Another outstanding achievement was his leadership in more affirmatively pursuing an off-reservation gaming site in Beloit. Serving as the General Manager at Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells in the early 2000s, he led that property toward its most profitable years. As the Executive Manager at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison, he has transformed that property into the most profitable gaming facility in the Ho-Chunk Nation 5 years running and the upward trajectory continues. He works tirelessly to establish substantive partnerships with the local business and non-profit communities and with local governments. A fine public speaker, he has given multitudes of presentations throughout the community educating audiences about many facets of the Ho-Chunk Nation as well as sharing his vision for a campus development that is designed to benefit not only the Ho-Chunk Nation but the City, the County and the State. His has been a 28-year journey of collaborative leadership for his tribe.
Dan Brown, Immediate Past Board Chair
Executive Manager, Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison
Julia Arata-Fratta is recognized as a business and accounting professional with more than 15 years of experience as a consultant and mentor in management for non-profit organizations, accounting, and taxation. She is a Manager in the Tax and Business Service Department at Wegner CPAs. She is also an Alderwoman for the City of Fitchburg Common Council since 2015. During her tenure, she has served in several commissions and committees in different roles and acted as President of the Council in 2020. Julia is known to be a proven experienced, reliable, and community-focused leader. She considers herself as a servant leader that enjoys her role in the Fitchburg Council.
In 2012, Brava Magazine recognized Julia as one of "23 Women to Watch" roles in the Latino Chamber of Commerce. In 2013, Julia was recognized with the "Women of Achievement Award" by the Wisconsin Women of Color Network for her commitment to enriching the lives of women of color.
In 2014, she was awarded the Community Leader Award for her work with the Latino Business community in Dane County. And, in July of 2015, she was recognized by the INBusiness Magazine as one of Madison's "Most Influential" people for her contributions to the business community.
Julia was the former President of the board of directors of the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Dane County. She devoted more than eight years to build up the organization as a volunteer. Additionally, Julia was one of the founder members of the Latino Professional Association of Greater Madison.
Julia has also served in the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce board of directors, a South-Central Advisor Team for Wisconsin Women Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC), Agrace Hospice, and United Way of Dane County.
Currently, she serves in the Madison Regional Economic Partnership in the Executive Board as Treasurer, the Latino Consortium for Action, and the Overture Center Foundation as Board Treasurer.
Julia is married and has two sons (in College). She is originally from Argentina and has been a Fitchburg resident since 2004. She enjoys gardening, snowshoeing, and she is an avid soccer (futbol) fan in her free time.
Julia Arata-Fratta, Board Treasurer
Accounting Solutions Manager, Wegner CPAs
Jessica J. Marquez is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Hy Cite Enterprises, a Madison, Wisconsin-headquartered international distributor of premium cookware. With over 1,200 employees and corporate offices in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Argentina, it is among the top 50 direct selling companies worldwide. In her current role, she leads HCE’s global operations for its legal and compliance departments. Ms. Marquez has a business litigation background and expertise in enterprise risk management, consumer financial regulation and international corporate governance.
Jessica Marquez
VP/General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer, Hy Cite Enterprises
David is responsible for the strategic, operational, and financial aspects of the company’s Wisconsin Utility. This includes the operation and maintenance of all fossil and renewable generation assets, the electric and gas distribution systems assets, engineering, and customer support and account management for Wisconsin customers. His responsibilities also include the planning and execution of large strategic projects across Alliant Energy. David's previous responsibilities include managing large capital projects, managing several generation facilities and multiple engineering positions.
David has been with Alliant Energy (and in Madison) for over 30 years and is on the Board of Second Harvest of Southwest Wisconsin, regularly participates in initiatives and committees with the United Way of Dane County, is a member of the Leadership Greater Madison Alumni and a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Wisconsin.
His education includes an MBA from Edgewood College in Madison, WI and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville.
David de Leon, Executive Committee Member
President, Alliant Energy
Rebecca Blank has served as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the largest research universities in the U.S., since 2013.
In her time at UW-Madison, she has presided over a major effort to expand access and improve educational outcomes, making sure that students are prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing economy. Under her leadership, UW has improved graduation rates; reduced student debt levels; created the School of Computer, Data, and Information Science; expanded on-line learning; and launched Bucky’s Tuition Promise, assisting low-income students in Wisconsin to attend the state’s flagship university.
At the same time, she has worked to maintain the university’s position as a global leader in innovation and research, nurturing entrepreneurship and driving economic development.
Chancellor Blank is an economist who has worked in three different presidential administrations – most recently as deputy secretary and acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Obama.
She holds a doctoral degree from MIT, and has served on the faculty at Princeton, Northwestern and the University of Michigan, where she was dean of the Ford School of Public Policy.
Rebecca Blank
Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Katie Boyce
Senior Director of Corporate Affairs, Exact Sciences
Jeannie is a 5th generation family business owner of JP Cullen and serves as the company’s co-president. Prior to her role as co-president, she was the Vice-President of JP Cullen’s Healthcare Construction Division. The division was founded and grew significantly under her leadership. Jeannie is an active member of her community both professionally and personally. She serves on several nonprofit and local organization boards and steering committees including Wisconsin Healthcare Engineering Association and the American Heart Association. In addition to her involvement, Jeannie is committed to increasing the number of women working in her industry.
Jeannie Cullen Schultz
Co-President, J. P. Cullen & Sons
Mark Greene
Chief Strategy Officer, SafetyNet
Erik Iverson is Chief Executive Officer of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), a nonprofit, mission-driven organization supporting scientific research within the UW–Madison community for nearly a century. He joined WARF in June 2016. WARF is the designated patent management organization for UW, partnering with university researchers on patenting and licensing their discoveries and providing grants to the UW to support further research.
Iverson has over 20 years of executive experience leading organizations and programs committed to entrepreneurial efforts that positively impact people worldwide. Prior to joining WARF, he served as a lead executive at the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), attorney at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and within the law firm of Perkins Coie.
He holds a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College, J.D. from the University of North Dakota, and an LL.M. from New York University.
Erik Iverson
Managing Director, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
Seth Lentz
CEO, Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin
Traci Mann
Region President, Old National Bank
Nate serves as the Dodge County Community Development Administrator. In this role he is a resource to current and future Dodge County businesses, communities, and residents for the purpose of growing the Dodge County region in a positive manner. Community development services are varying, as Dodge County is spread across 900 square miles containing 43 communities that almost 90,000 people call home. During Nate’s 19 years at Dodge County, he has been involved in a wide variety of rural and urban activities that have proven to be successful and provide models for other communities to replicate. Areas of activities have included addressing broadband infrastructure deficiencies, balancing rural & urban community goals, leading manufacturing employer alliance, facilitate school district & employer activities, land use planning for cities/villages/towns, support city industrial expansion goals, facilitate business to business opportunities, recreational trail development, and leading county tourism activities. Nate holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from UW-Stevens Point, specializing in Regional Analysis and Community Development.
Nate Olson
Community Development Administrator, Dodge County
Joe Parisi
County Executive, County of Dane
Dr. Tracy Pierner currently serves as the President of Blackhawk Technical College returning to his home state where he began his career in higher education. Before taking on his role at Blackhawk Technical College, Dr. Pierner served as Henry Ford College’s Vice President of Academic Affairs in Dearborn, MI, Aiken Technical College’s Dean of Technical Education in Aiken, S.C., instructor in Engineering Technology at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Field Support Engineer at Rockwell Automation in their Milwaukee, Mequon, Appleton, and Cleveland, Ohio, facilities. Other experiences include engineering consultation with the Research & Engineering arm of Kimberly-Clark Corp. in Neenah, Wis., and serving in the Army Reserves. He holds a PhD in Technology Management - Manufacturing Systems from Indiana State University, a Master’s degree in Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
Tracy Pierner
President, Blackhawk Technical College
Satya Rhodes-Conway
Mayor, City of Madison
Jon Schumacher
Senior Vice President, Managing Director, BMO Harris Bank
David Stark
President, Stark Company Realtors
Dr. Mark Thomas, Jr.
Executive VP of Finance & Administration, Madison College
David Walsh
Partner, Foley & Lardner
Gary Wolter serves on the Boards of Madison Gas and Electric Company (MGE) and MGE Energy Inc. Wolter joined MGE more than 35 years ago, originally as an attorney, and served in various positions before becoming MGE’s CEO from 2000-2017 and Chairman from 2002-2018.
Wolter serves, or has served, on numerous community boards throughout the years, including Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Madison Community Foundation, MadREP (formerly Thrive), Oscar Rennebohm Foundation, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, United Way of Dane County, and University of Wisconsin Research Park.
Wolter also has served on various industry boards including American Transmission Company and the Edison Electric Institute and is a former board member and Chair of the Wisconsin Utilities Association. He also serves as Chair of the Board of National Guardian Life.
Awards and Honors include:
Gary Wolter
Chairman, Madison Gas & Electric
Chris is the Chief Financial Officer at Promega Corporation in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Promega is one of the largest privately held Life Science Research companies in the world with revenues over $600 million and approximately 1,900 employees in over 15 countries. Promega manufactures over 2,500 products used by scientists worldwide to advance their knowledge in life science research. Chris joined Promega in 2006 and has been involved in all aspects of finance and accounting. While with Promega, Chris taught the mergers and acquisitions course for four years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the MBA program and was the President of the Board of Directors of Woods Hollow Children’s Center for four years. Prior to joining Promega, Chris worked for six years at Grant Thornton (public accounting firm) in Madison, Wisconsin. Chris is a Certified Public Accountant and has a bachelors and master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Chris Yarbro
Corporate Controller, Promega Corporation
Jim Yehle is President & CEO of Findorff, a privately-held General Contractor based in Madison, WI, with additional offices serving the greater Milwaukee and greater Wausau areas. Findorff has been building for over 130 years and employs nearly 1,000 construction professionals and tradespeople. Jim has been with Findorff for 22-years, graduating from UW-Madison with a B.S. in Construction Management in 1999. Throughout his tenure at Findorff, Jim has managed iconic projects such as the Overture Center for the Arts, American Family Children's Hospital and UW Health at the American Center. Jim went on to develop and lead the company's Healthcare sector before matriculating to company leadership in 2012 as an Owner. In 2016 Jim transitioned to the role of Executive Vice President and on January 1, 2020 started his term as President & CEO. Jim is passionate about serving as a volunteer leader in the community. He currently serves as a Member of the Overture Center for the Arts Board of Directors, Member of The Center for Black Excellence and Culture Capital Campaign Committee, Past Chairman of the UW Department of Orthopedic & Rehabilitation Advisory Board, and Member of the MadREP Board of Directors.
Jim Yehle
President, J.H. Findorff & Son, Inc.
8517 Excelsior Drive, #107
Madison, WI 53717
608.571.0420
info@madisonregion.org