Each year, many youngsters in our community find themselves uneducated, under qualified or unemployed at pivotal points in their lives. Too many are unprepared for life’s challenges and heading down a path leading nowhere, without guidance, direction or hope of a brighter future.
Thankfully, there are business and civic leaders and organizations in our community that are committed to preparing and helping these youngsters to reach a future of success. These individuals serve as guiding lights for the young people in our community, and their leadership continues to serve as a model for us all.
Former Wisconsin Senator and President of the Milwaukee Bucks Herb Kohl and Charles Harvey, chief diversity officer and vice president for community affairs at Johnson Controls Inc., are two such leaders and their contributions to youth development have been nothing short of exemplary.
In addition to his service as a four-term senator for the State of Wisconsin, Mr. Kohl established the Herb Kohl Education Foundation Award program in 1990 to provide annual grants to 100 graduating seniors, 100 teachers and 100 schools throughout Wisconsin. To date, Mr. Kohl’s foundation has awarded $8.2 million in support of education, ensuring that thousands of young people throughout the greater Milwaukee area are educated, inspired and well-prepared for successful futures.
Mr. Harvey, who also serves as president of the Johnson Controls Foundation, leads the charitable branch of a company committed to distributing grants of more than $7 million each year to support initiatives like education and social services. Through his roles at Johnson Controls and his service on the boards of several of Milwaukee’s leading philanthropic organizations, including the United Way of Southeast Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Public Policy Forum, Mr. Harvey serves as a community leader, an inspiration for many young people in our community and personally embodies the corporate culture of philanthropy at Johnson Controls.
I am proud to serve as the chairman of the Fellowship Open, one of the country’s largest diversity charity golf outings, which will honor those two men this year. At the 13th annual Fellowship Golf Outing on Friday, August 16, both Mr. Kohl and Mr. Harvey will be honored for their character and
contributions to our youth. Mr. Kohl will receive the Fellowship Open Legends Award for his contributions in government services, business and philanthropy, and Mr. Harvey will receive the Fellowship Open Community Leader Award.
Both Mr. Kohl and Mr. Harvey represent the outstanding attributes and steadfast commitment to the youth in our community that so many of our Fellowship Open attendees possess.
We applaud Mr. Kohl and Mr. Harvey for the work they have done thus far and look forward to awarding them for the legacies they have built in service to so many people, especially young people, through their outstanding business and civic leadership.
John W. Daniels Jr. is chairman of Quarles & Brady, LLP, the chairman of the Fellowship Open and a long-time advocate of youth development and diversity in the business community.
