Health Care
Chairperson
The Dohmen Company Foundation Milwaukee
After successfully growing the Dohmen Co. for a decade as its CEO, Cynthia LaConte led the Milwaukee-based, family-owned pharmaceutical wholesaler through a massive transformation in 2018. The 160-year-old company divested its life sciences division and soon transitioned from a for-profit S-Corp to a not-for-profit philanthropic enterprise focused on food-driven health solutions, committing to change what it said was a flawed health paradigm. As chairperson, LaConte continues to provide leadership to the now foundation-owned business.
Education: Bachelor’s, Mount Mary College
First job: “My first real job was as a server at The Fudge Pump, where I learned to always strive for perfection – even if it’s just making that little curl at the top of a soft serve cone.”
What has you excited about the future: “I’m completely invigorated by our organization’s transformation from S-Corp to a foundation-owned philanthropic enterprise. There’s incredible liberation that comes from moving your success metric from building shareholder wealth to building community health. It allows you to be laser-focused on your vision and building social return. I encourage anyone considering the idea of selling their business and starting a foundation to research the Philanthropic Enterprise Act of 2017 first. Then call me.”
