As president of Notre Dame School of Milwaukee, a K3-8 Catholic school, Landry has helped guide the institution as it has expanded to include three campuses on Milwaukee’s south side.
NDSM purchased its St. Florian campus, the former site of Cristo Rey High School, in 2023 for its boys’ middle school, creating 300 new school seats in Milwaukee. The building, located at 1215 S. 45th St., is currently undergoing an expansion project that will add a secure main entrance, STEM lab, library, classrooms, a graduate support center and dedicated outdoor space. The gym will also be renovated as part of the project, which broke ground in May and is expected to be completed in November.
Since becoming president in 2017, Landry has successfully engaged numerous community stakeholders including business leaders, families, staff and students. He also manages relationships with three NDSM boards, including the board of directors, foundation board and an auxiliary board.
NDSM currently serves 740 students across three campuses and expects to have 900 students by 2028.
“My journey as a Milwaukee native – I’ve been in schools in Milwaukee my entire life to now president of Notre Dame School of Milwaukee – has always been rooted in the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to a great education and to reach his or her full potential.”
– Patrick Landry, president, Notre Dame School of Milwaukee
Finalists:
Tiffany Tardy, PEARLS for Teen Girls
Tiffany Tardy, Ed.D., became CEO of PEARLS for Teen Girls in August 2023 following the death of former executive director Gerry Howze.
PEARLS for Teen Girls is a leadership development organization devoted to helping at-risk girls in grades five through 12. The nonprofit helps with leadership development and social and emotional learning.
Since becoming CEO, Tardy has helped eliminate a financial deficit of hundreds of thousands of dollars and expanded the nonprofit’s donor base. Under her leadership, PEARLS for Teen Girls has also initiated a series of professional development opportunities for the nonprofit’s staff and senior leadership team.
Tardy has more than 15 years of experience in higher education and nonprofit leadership, last serving as executive director of the MPS Foundation.
Tardy aims to empower leaders who are eager to transform themselves and their communities.
Since joining PEARLS for Teen Girls, she’s brought innovation and structure to the organization to ensure PEARLS has a timely and relevant research-backed curriculum.
Tardy is also dedicated to creating a third space in Milwaukee where the city’s youth can gather to find their own interests and voices.
Kurt Owens, Bridge Builders
Kurt Owens, Ed.D., is the president and founder of Bridge Builders, a community development organization focused on revitalizing central Milwaukee.
His decision to remain in a disinvested neighborhood, rather than move out, was the spark that led to the creation of Bridge Builders. He pioneered a model block strategy that holistically transforms neighborhoods by focusing on cultural, physical, economic and spiritual renewal.
By listening to the community, Owens has reimagined the revitalization process. Instead of seeing revitalization as an intervention completed by an outside party, he’s focused on building trust and long-term commitments within the community.
His creation of “Hub Houses,” community resource centers embedded within neighborhoods, help accomplish this goal.
Owens has also created a new pathway for community members to purchase affordable homes by acquiring and rehabilitating distressed properties.
During his time at Bridge Builders, Owens has created an example of neighborhood transformation that can be scaled nationally.
Brandon Hill, Vivent Health
Since taking the helm of Vivent Health in 2022, Brandon Hill, Ph.D., has worked to bolster the HIV and AIDS health care organization’s presence in the community.
In 2023, Hill led the organization through the opening of a new health center near downtown Milwaukee, improving care delivery and the patient experience. Since the clinic opened, there has been a 6% increase in both services delivered and prescriptions filled.
Located at the corner of North Sixth Street and West Fond du Lac/McKinley Avenue in the Haymarket neighborhood, the new clinic provides a much larger space to treat the roughly 3,700 clients the nonprofit serves each year in Milwaukee.
The added space will allow the clinic to serve 1,000 more patients. Renovations took about a year to complete and cost $9 million.
Hill, who was named president and CEO in 2023 after serving one year as interim leader, has also worked to transform Vivent Health’s board of directors to include members impacted by the nonprofit’s work and mission. When he first joined Vivent Health, no board members were directly impacted by HIV. Now, three board members are people impacted by HIV, which has created new opportunities for community engagement.
