Anne currently serves as the Executive Director of the Brico Fund in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through a variety of entrepreneurial and dynamic approaches, Brico Fund builds the collective capacity of people and organizations to actively and sustainably improve our civic, cultural and natural environments. With her direction, Brico Fund seeks to build a Wisconsin in which the full citizenry is engaged and involved in their communities, strengthening the human and natural environments for future generations. Anne is responsible for strategic direction, development and management of Brico Fund initiatives, grant making, and evaluation of impact to create long-term change.
Anne and the Brico Fund are often the first to initiate or support untested programs or projects, ultimately seeking alignment and connectivity that strengthen the impact of their investments. Over the past twelve years, Anne and the Fund have quietly worked with other state-based funders locally and across the nation to launch and support never before tested consortiums, continually bringing unusual partners together that might not have collaborated otherwise. Brico Fund investments have succeeded in leveraging resources and increasing impact with a focus on social, ecological and economic benefits.
An Illinois native, Anne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Cardinal Stritch University. Prior to coming to the Brico Fund in 2004, Anne held positions as a senior leader in private nonprofit organizations and in the government sector. Her national leadership roles include the board of directors for the League of Conservation Voters, the Youth Engagement Fund and the Funders Committee for Civic Participation. She was a founder and first board chair of State Voices and helped found its Wisconsin affiliate, Wisconsin Voices. In her local community of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she serves on the board for the (Milwaukee) Harbor District, co-hosts the Collaborative Fund to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and previously served on the board of the Donors Forum of Wisconsin.
Anne’s professional and personal values intersect seamlessly, focusing on interdependence, fairness, and equality. She has been a pioneer in the field of philanthropy, commited to idea testing, systematic evaluation and impact measurements that demonstrate collective action to create long-term change in communities. With her passion for innovation, combined with a focus on the next generation of leaders, Anne develops and mentors newer leaders across a variety of sectors. Under her leadership, Brico Fund has successfully modeled and led a new way of community investment that maximizes the potential for social change beyond the confines of more traditional philanthropy. She has co-authored and published an article for The Foundation Review titled “Weaving an Impactful Network” that details the Fund’s willingness to test the power dynamic of the traditional funding partnership. A state leader in capacity building of the nonprofit sector, Anne frequently presents and writes on this and other topics in Wisconsin and throughout the United States.
