This interview is part of the cover feature from the BizTimes Milwaukee 30th anniversary issue, published March 17, 2025. For more information and to see interviews from other southeastern Wisconsin leaders, visit biztimes.com/30-people.
Kate Trevey
Nana Fotsch director, Fotsch Innovation and Engineering Leadership Development Center
Marquette University
Age: 43
Kate Trevey has spent the past 17 years at her alma mater Marquette University guiding university-wide efforts to develop students into future leaders and change agents. In 2022, she became the inaugural director of the Fotsch Innovation and Engineering Leadership Development Center, established that year within the Opus College of Engineering thanks to a $7 million gift from the Fotsch Family Foundation. Trevey also directs and teaches courses in the interdisciplinary, three-year Excellence in Leadership Program which she co-founded in 2014.
What needs to change in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin over the next 30 years?
“I think a big opportunity for improvement in the next 30 years across our region is related to our K-12 educational systems. If children are not given a high-quality education, the broader societal impact is significant – for all of us.
“I recently had major surgery and I have spent a lot of time in doctor’s offices and the hospital. When you are sick, in pain, and in need of medical care, you want compassionate, thoughtful, responsive and knowledgeable people helping you.
“Our children become not only the doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, engineers and business professionals of the future. They are the people that schedule our medical appointments, greet us in the waiting rooms, help us to the bathroom after surgery and triage our phone calls when we experience health complications.
“Investing in high-quality education for all of our children has a long-term positive impact on all of us.”
What do you hope to accomplish over the next 30 years?
“Many high-achieving young leaders today have developed an obedience to ‘being right.’ They are tethered by perfectionism, individualism, proving themselves and pleasing others around them. Sadly, the resulting mindset and behaviors do not prepare them for leadership, which involves working alongside others to ‘get it right.’
“As my career continues to unfold, I see the need to develop (especially in young people) a greater capacity for human connection and the confidence to lead with empathy and integrity, to have courageous conversations, to proceed with curiosity and a willingness to challenge the status quo.
“I look forward to finding myself in the sacred role of helping another person reach towards a fuller version of their potential. The role of coach, mentor, challenger, teammate and confidante is a powerful one, whether I am interacting with college students emerging into their identity as leaders or with seasoned CEOs.”
What’s your pitch to the next generation to make Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin home for the next 30 years?
“In my experience, people are the most important consideration when choosing a great place to call home. Do you want to live amongst a collection of individuals, or in a true community where people are invested in each other? Milwaukee is a city where there is both opportunity and a supporting culture to make a meaningful, people-centered impact.
“Southeastern Wisconsin is filled with incredible professional opportunities, wonderful places to raise a family and access to natural beauty and opportunities to be outdoors that are hard to come by in other places. Our distinct seasons and the varied activities you can participate in –within driving distance of home – are special.
“As someone who has lived in metro Milwaukee nearly my entire life (as well as both coasts and in big cities), don’t underestimate being able to drive anywhere you want or need to be in 20 minutes!”
