Christensen promoted to president of Children’s Hospital
Cindy Christensen, J.D., R.N., has been promoted to president of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and executive vice president of Children’s Hospital and Health System.
Christensen will retain her title of chief operating officer of the hospital.
For more than 10 years, Christensen has served as executive vice president and COO of the hospital. In the last year, she received additional responsibility to lead all inpatient and pediatric specialty outpatient clinical services. She oversees the hospitals in Milwaukee and Neenah and the specialty clinics in Milwaukee, the Fox Valley, Green Bay and northern Illinois.
“I am confident that as president, Cindy will continue her strong and passionate leadership for long-range planning and day-to-day operations to achieve Children’s vision and strategies,” said Peggy Troy, M.S.N., R.N., who remains as president and chief executive officer of the health system. “Cindy and her team will continue to develop new and innovative clinical strategies aimed at optimizing Children’s growth, quality of care and service excellence.”
As executive vice president of the health system, Christensen will lead all research operations, including the Children’s Research Institute. She will have operational responsibility to align safety and quality improvement activities system-wide in all clinical programs.
La Causa adds new board members
Three new members have been elected to the board of directors of La Causa Inc, one of the largest bilingual, multicultural social services agencies in Milwaukee.
The new board members are Alverno College professor Nancy Jelen, Lakeland College instructor Martha Lamelas and UPS human resources manager Andres De Leon. “There is no doubt that Nancy, Martha and Andres have demonstrated the characteristics of great leaders. Their knowledge and experiences will be great assets to La Causa’s board of directors and we feel fortunate to have the opportunity to have them join our team and I speak for the Board in saying we are excited to work with them” said La Causa president and chief executive officer George Torres.
Briohn names new CEO
Nelson Williams has been named the new chief executive officer of Brookfield-based design/build commercial general contractor Briohn Companies, which includes Briohn Building Corp., Briohn Design Group and Briohn Property Management. Previously he was vice president for Briohn Building Corp.
Brian Byrne, the founder of the company, will continue to serve the company as chairman of the board.
“Nelson and I have been working closely to develop a succession plan over the last four years, and I’m pleased to say that we have now reached the appropriate time to transition the company to his leadership,” said Byrne. “Nelson has been a valuable part of the Briohn team since joining us in 2007, and has had a lot of success in developing new clients for Briohn. He has the respect and confidence of the rest of our team, and I feel very comfortable with Briohn going forward under his leadership.”
“I feel honored to have the opportunity to move into this new role, and am very enthusiastic about what lies ahead,” said Williams. “Brian Byrne has been the driving force behind the growth of Briohn Building Corporation from a one-man outfit in 1979 to one of the leading design/build construction firms in southeastern Wisconsin. Brian leaves some big shoes to fill, literally, but with our talented team of construction, architecture and property management professionals in-house, I feel very confident about our future.”
Zipperer appointed to WEDC board
State Senator Rich Zipperer (R-Pewaukee) was appointed this week by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) to serve on the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) board of directors.
The WEDC, which was created earlier this year, is a public-private partnership that focuses on private sector job creation and retention.
“I’m excited to be part of this effort to grow our state’s economy,” said Zipperer. “Unlike the former Department of Commerce, which spent too much time and energy on regulating job creators, WEDC is a more nimble organization designed to operate at the speed of business as it implements our strategy to spark job creation in Wisconsin.”
The original idea of the WEDC came from the Be Bold Wisconsin: Wisconsin Competitiveness Study that was conducted in 2010. Zipperer was one of four legislators who served on the advisory board of the study.
We Energies to add Fletcher to executive team
We Energies Wisconsin Energy Corp., the Milwaukee-based parent company of We Energies, recently announced that Kevin Fletcher has been named senior vice president of customer operations.
Fletcher will have overall responsibility for the planning, engineering, construction, operation and maintenance of the company’s electric and natural gas distribution systems in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Fletcher, 53, has served in a variety of significant roles during his 34-year career with Southern Company, including leadership positions in operations, customer service, marketing, and sales. He is currently vice president of community and economic development at Georgia Power, Southern Company’s largest subsidiary.
"Kevin is a seasoned veteran with broad experience and a solid track record of achievement," said Gale Klappa, chairman, president and CEO of We Energies. "I’m delighted that he’s agreed to take on a new challenge. His expertise will help us continue to improve our network performance and position the company for the era of the smart grid."
Fletcher’s appointment will be effective Nov. 1.
Charley Cole, 64, current senior vice president of customer operations at We Energies, has announced his plans to retire in early 2012.
"Charley’s leadership has been recognized repeatedly as the company has been named the most reliable utility in the Midwest multiple times in the past decade," said Klappa. "And Charley has been instrumental in improving employee safety during his tenure. We wish him well in his retirement."
