From a young age, Greg Wesley watched the people in his life give back to their community. His mother was a caseworker for the State of Indiana for over 30 years, working with children in need of protective services. Seeing how she treated the people in her community and observing her interactions with local civic leaders left a lasting impression on Wesley.
Now, as the newly named president and chief executive officer of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Wesley carries on a lifelong commitment to philanthropy.
GMF’s board of directors announced this week that Wesley will succeed Ellen Gilligan, who will soon retire after leading the organization for more than a decade. Wesley begins his new role Aug. 1, with Gilligan staying on to help with the transition process.
Serving communities in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties and beyond since 1915, the GMF is Wisconsin’s largest community foundation and among the largest and oldest in the nation. Under Gilligan’s leadership, the philanthropic assets stewarded by the foundation have doubled to more than $1 billion.
“I’ve been a longtime advocate of the foundation and its mission,” said Wesley. “I’m particularly energized by the foundation’s strong strategic plan.”
Wesley most recently served as senior vice president of strategic alliances and business
development at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), where he was a key strategic leader, ambassador and advisor for MCW.
He helped forge a partnership between MCW, GMF and Royal Capital, called the ThriveOn Collaboration. The collaboration is the catalyst that launched ThriveOn King, the restoration and redevelopment of a former Schuster’s department store building in the heart of Milwaukee’s Bronzeville district on North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
The development features a range of resources and community-serving tenants on the first floor, mixed-income housing for seniors and families, offices for select MCW centers, institutes and programs, and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s headquarters.
“The ThriveOn Collaboration has been a very unique effort that is yielding a lot of respect and responsibility, but also tackling a very significant issue in our community – the need to improve health equity,” said Wesley.
Spearheading a partnership between three foundational Milwaukee organizations has helped prepare Wesley for his new role with GMF, which will involve engaging numerous entities and community leaders.
“The deep, deep, deep listening that we had to do has given me some additional skills that I’ll need to use being the next leader of the foundation,” he said. “That deep listening and trying to find the connectivity points.”
He hopes that as the next leader of GMF, he’ll be able to inspire and challenge community leaders. Wesley also hopes to foster deeper thinking about community development philanthropy while furthering the partnerships that were championed by Gilligan.
“Ellen not only focused on growing the assets of the organization, but she advanced some strong commitments toward early childhood education, and the ThriveOn Collaboration, and I intend to build on them deeply,” he said.
Prior to joining MCW, Wesley was an equity partner at Milwaukee-based Gonzalez, Saggio and Harlan LLP.
“We had incredibly strong interest from exceptional candidates from across the country,” said Mary Ellen Stanek, chair-elect of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Board of Directors and co-chair of the succession committee. “Greg emerged as the right choice to lead GMF into the next chapter with his strong vision, exceptional connections throughout our community and track record of excellence.”
