For 54 years, the Milwaukee Ballet has offered programs designed to entertain and challenge audiences, develop artistic talent, attract new and diverse patrons, and share the benefits and joy of dance. Last season, the organization served more than 50,000 audience members, students and workshop participants. Over the past 20 years, the Milwaukee Ballet has staged 85 world premieres.
The organization has implemented creative business strategies to reverse the financial setbacks it incurred during the pandemic, and it has found community support through its three pillars: performance, community outreach and the Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy.
Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance, the school and academy is the only professional studio school in the Midwest, offering training for ages three through adult. The programs offered by Milwaukee Ballet’s Community Engagement department embraces a philosophy of ballet without boundaries. The outreach increases access to ballet, builds a more inclusive environment and ensures equity in the art form.
“It’s a privilege and responsibility that we take very seriously because we know the impact that experience in the performing arts has on people.”
– Tai Pauls, managing director, Milwaukee Ballet
Large Nonprofit Organization of the Year Finalist: Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin
Ronald McDonald House Eastern Wisconsin strives to maintain the nonprofit’s worldwide goal of keeping families together and promoting the health and wellbeing of children.
Led by a 24-member board of directors and a six-person leadership team, Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin has provided 55,000 family stays for families traveling to the Milwaukee area for medical care, since opening in 1984. Those families have come from 48 Wisconsin counties, all 50 states and 49 different countries in search of care that is not available closer to where they live. The team works with more than 400 volunteers who help to continuously improve the quality of the programs and services Ronald McDonald House provides.
In 2023 alone, 2,448 patient-children from 2,359 families stayed a total of 18,359 nights at the local Ronald McDonald House, helping families save more than $2.2 million in lodging and daily living expenses.
The nonprofit completed a $3 million expansion at its Wauwatosa facility in 2023, adding new multi-ability indoor and outdoor recreation and gathering spaces, an ADA-compliant kitchen and spacious long-term guest rooms. In 2021, the first Ronald McDonald Family Room was opened at Rogers Behavioral Health’s main campus in Oconomowoc.
Large Nonprofit Organization of the Year Finalist: Christian Family Solutions Counseling Care & Services
Founded in 1965, Christian Family Solutions Counseling Care & Services provides professional Christian counseling services and programs, including in-school counseling, a day treatment center, and care for seniors through in-home care services and an assisted living facility.
The organization has worked to meet the mental health needs for Milwaukee’s youth. Located in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood, the nonprofit’s STRONG Milwaukee Center is home to the STRONG Child & Adolescent Day Treatment Program, developed in 2016 for children ages 4 to 14 with significant behavior and mental health issues who typically do not have access to mental health care. The center also houses the CFS Day Treatment for Teens, which provides high schoolers with counseling for depression, anxiety, trauma or other serious mental health conditions.
Christian Family Solutions works closely with city leaders and other mental health advocacy groups, such as SWIM (Scaling Wellness in Milwaukee) to generate programming ideas and secure additional funding. In an effort to develop the pipeline for urban mental health counselors, the nonprofit is working with Concordia University Wisconsin, Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Mount Mary University to recruit and train interns in urban counseling, with the goal of hiring them upon graduation.
