Susan Mikulay doesn’t do anything halfway. When she’s in, she’s all in. For the past three-and-a-half years, Mikulay has been all in for College Possible Milwaukee.
College Possible is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making college admission and success a possibility for all students.
“Edie (Turnbull, executive director of College Possible) runs a great organization, she’s a terrific executive director and my goal is to continue to work hard to share the mission of College Possible throughout the Milwaukee community,” Mikulay said.
Mikulay, an independent communications and business development coach and consultant, specializes in corporate message managing – in helping firms decide the best message and the best way to disperse it.
For two years, she has served as the chairman of the board of directors for College Possible Milwaukee, and has undertaken the mission of spreading its message and raising more awareness for its cause.
In 2013, Mikulay helped form the organization’s flagship fundraising event, The Dream Big Dinner.
The event, held every April, brought together more than 400 people in support of College Possible in 2015, and it continues to grow.
“I can’t emphasize the impact Susan has had on College Possible Milwaukee enough,” Turnbull said. “She leads the board by example – being the first to step up and help us open doors with potential funders and community leaders. She was the driving force behind the creation of our signature fundraising event, the Dream Big Dinner held every spring, which has raised our profile in the community significantly, and increased the number of individuals who are now connected to our mission. She was appointed to chair the leadership committee of the organization because she exemplifies what a good board chair is – engaged, active and committed.”
Mikulay earned the Marty Stein Friend of Service Exemplary Supporter award in the 2015 Governor’s Awards for Service for her work in the community.
Since becoming involved, she has helped the organization raise close to $1 million in donations from local corporations and foundations.
“Because Susan believes 100 percent in the work we are doing and in the bright futures of our students, she is our number one ambassador in the community,” Turnbull said. “When she talks to opinion leaders and philanthropists, her passion for our program convinces them that they, too, should be involved in our work. She exemplifies the College Possible ‘idealistic leader trait’ of eyes on the prize – always focused on what is needed to help our students earn college degrees. She is our champion, and we couldn’t ask for better.”
“The more college graduates we have, the better our community will be,” Mikulay said.
Mikulay was the youngest of 10 children, and was fortunate to be able to go to college, graduate and work in a city like Milwaukee, she said.
“I just want to help make sure these students have the same opportunities,” she said. “I’m just not going to stop until that happens.”
