Julia Burns
Julia Burns has over 12 years of business and partnership development experience at telecommunications, software and technology consulting companies in Boston, Milwaukee and Chicago. Having work experiences that span large multinational corporations to smaller start-ups, Julia excels in entrepreneurial environments where collaboration and team building are essential to success. While at Platinum Technology, Julia managed the global strategic partnership with Hewlett-Packard and traveled extensively to grow the joint revenues of the two sales organizations.
Since 2003, Julia focused her time and talents on raising, together with her husband, five children and volunteering extensively in their schools. Julia has a BA in Economics from Boston University College of Arts and Science and an MBA from Boston University Questrom Graduate School of Business.
Community Volunteer
Co-founder & Board President
David B. Schulz
Shareholder & Chair of Banking and Finance Practice, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren
David Schulz is a shareholder and chair of Reinhart’s Banking and Finance Practice, a member of the firm’s Corporate Law Practice, as well as a member of Reinhart’s Board of Directors. David’s practice is primarily devoted to commercial and public finance matters including structuring transactions using New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), Historic Tax Credits (HTC), and other federal and state tax credits.
Recognizing the importance of community involvement, David is highly involved with the Alzheimer’s Association of Southeastern Wisconsin where he serves as a Board Member and Treasurer. In addition to his involvement with the Alzheimer’s Association, David is a member of the Advisory Council of Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee. Notably, David along with numerous members of Reinhart’s Banking and Finance and Bankruptcy Practices volunteered their time to partner with Rebuilding Together to renovate a home on the north side of Milwaukee. David is also a member of the Wauwatosa Community Development Authority where he applies his project financing expertise to assist with re-development matters.
Board Treasurer
Kurt Owens has been a pastor in Milwaukee since 2005.
He has 20 years of accounting and leadership experience with a bachelor’s in business and an MA in Christian ministry. Kurt is in the final stages of completing his educational doctorate. He has been a resident of Milwaukee’s central city his entire life and has seen it thrive and would like to see the city return to its full capacity. He recognizes the people in the city who have struggled for positive change through the years, and wants to be a part of working towards change today.
Kurt Owens
President and Founder, Bridge Builders
Board Member
Mary Kellner
Mary Kellner is the President of the Kelben Foundation, a family foundation that has funded hundreds of scholarships for needy high school seniors, endowments for Professorships, and many other Educational and Health initiatives. In addition to the huge impact to the Milwaukee area that her role with the Kelben Foundation provides, she is an eminent advocate for educational reform in Milwaukee.
Mary brings a wealth of knowledge with her based on her vast experience in numerous organizations including Next Door Foundation, Schools That Can Milwaukee, Milwaukee College Prep, Nehemiah Project, I Have a Dream program and many others. Mary has a strong academic background to support her advocacy and philanthropy. Mary graduated from UW-Madison with a BA in Elementary Education. She later received her MS in Educational Psychology and Guidance from UW-Milwaukee. As both an elementary school teacher and later guidance counselor, Mary gained a front line understanding of the needs of education. Mary received her terminal degree, an Ed.D in Education, from Cardinal Stritch. Her research documented some of the cultural aspects of an effective MPS elementary school. Mary continues her involvement with these three educational institutions in a multitude of ways which align with her intense commitment to addressing the achievement gap that Milwaukee’s children are facing in addition to other educational disparities that exist in our community.
President, Kelben Foundation
Board Member
Chad Bauman
Chad Bauman is the Executive Director of Milwaukee Repertory Theater, an $11 million, not-for-profit regional theater operating a three theater complex with 200,000 annual patrons. He is responsible for the administration functions of the company including marketing, fundraising, finance, general management, facilities, education and food/beverage.
Prior, he was the Associate Executive Director of Arena Stage, the Director of Marketing and Membership of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Director of Marketing & Communications for Americans for the Arts. In addition to being an administrator, he is a passionate teacher, dedicated volunteer and an in-demand speaker and consultant. He designed and launched the graduate Technology in Arts Management program at American University, and has taught in the graduate Arts Administration program at Drexel University and the M.F.A. Producing program at CalArts. Nationally known for his expertise in business planning, strategy and marketing, he has been featured in The New York Times, ArtsJournal, TheaterMania, Drama Biz Magazine, Stage Directions Magazine, the Washington City Paper, and others. In 2012, The Washington Post declared him the “guru of dynamic pricing,” and for three consecutive years starting in 2011, Washington Life Magazine honored him as one of the most influential under-40 leaders in Washington, DC. In 2016, the Milwaukee Business Journal also recognized him as one of the top 40 leaders under 40 in Southeastern Wisconsin. As a speaker and consultant, he has worked with the Pew Charitable Trust, Carnegie Hall, the EmcArts Innovation Lab, The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, City Theatre Company, San Francisco Foundation, Delaware Division of the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, ArtsMidwest, and the Arts & Business Council among others.
Executive Director, Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Board Vice President
James Hischke
James Hischke is the Director of Consulting Services at Codeworks, a technology services and staffing provider. James brings over 20 years of experience in various leadership roles across business and technology. He builds high-performing lean/agile teams that solve business problems and advance business strategy, while ensuring the strengths of each individual are fully leveraged.
After starting his career as a Software Engineer for Strong Financial, he excelled in various roles during an 18+ year career at Northwestern Mutual that included project/program management, lean/agile IT transformation, IT vendor management, tech talent/workforce development, and lean process improvement. In addition, he was instrumental in the work that led to the creation of the Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition and all of Northwestern Mutual's work related to growing and diversifying tech talent in Milwaukee. In addition to the Pathways High Board of Directors, he serves on the Advisory Board for i.c.stars Milwaukee and is a member of the TechUnited (United Way) Advisory Council. James and his wife Beth have 4 children and live in Muskego. He spends his time outside of work traveling with his family, playing basketball, coaching youth sports, golfing, mountain biking, fishing, and enjoying just about any other activity someone wants to throw his way.
Director of Consulting Services, Codeworks
Board Secretary
Julie Davis
Senior Director of Workforce and Industry Initiatives, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)
Julie Davis is the Sr. Director of Workforce and Industry Initiatives at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). AEM supports over 1000 manufactures in North America that produce heavy equipment for the construction, agriculture, utility, forestry, and mining industry sectors. Julie is an industry advocate for rethinking the approach to workforce development and actively provides the industry innovative workforce ideas through videos, webinars, panels, presentations, and a robust digital workforce solutions toolkit.
Julie also supports the industries' desire to have a unified voice and approach to sustainability both for the manufacturer and their supply chain. She facilitates a council of over 50 member companies who have come together to create a Sustainability Maturity Model which articulates the industry sectors approach to mapping the sustainability journey. After working in economic development in Northeast Wisconsin, Julie worked for the Boys & Girls Cub of Door County. She focused on reversing rural brain drain in the area by heavily investing in students that were less likely to go on to college and more likely to remain in the area through developing partnerships with local manufacturers. During her time as Executive Director, she led through the purchase and renovation a building, installation a STEAM Lab, and grew membership seven-fold over 7 years. The club earned national recognition for excellence from the Boys & Girls Club of America twice during her tenure.
Board Member
Steven Broadway
Steven is the Business Development Executive at LearningMate, a technology company specializing in AI, digital transformation, and innovative teaching and learning solutions. With over 11 years of experience in the education sector, Steven excels in partnership development, student support, and community engagement across K-12 and higher education.
Previously, he served as the Assistant Director of Partnerships at Bitwise Industries, focusing on building tech economies in underserved cities. Steven has also worked at College Pads and the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he managed partnerships, recruitment, and outreach. An alumnus of the African American Leadership Program, Steven is committed to making Milwaukee a prime destination for professionals. He holds a master's degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Business Development Executive, LearningMate
Board Member
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Antony D'Cruz serves as Chief Information Officer at HSA Bank, where he delivers digital transformation and technology capabilities to support the Bank’s objectives of delivering meaningful health and wealth outcomes to its clients. Antony joined HSA Bank in 2018, bringing with him more than 25 years of global IT leadership experience.
He previously worked at Johnson Controls for 15 years, where he held various IT leadership positions in North America and Asia. In his leadership roles, Antony had led business and technology transformation programs, and built teams to run IT at scale. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences from Western Michigan University. Antony is part of Technology United, a donor network group of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, focused on bridging the technology divide in our local community. Antony also volunteers with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, serving as co-chair of the Spotlight committee and on the Development committee. In his free time, Antony enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and trying different cuisines. A native of Malaysia, Antony lives in Mequon with his wife, their two children and dog.