Laura Bray comes from a family committed to investing in Milwaukee and its people. Growing up on the city’s East Side, Bray saw her father, a social worker and parole officer, build friendships with those he worked with, helping support their paths to a better life.
Her mom worked as provost and a nurse educator at Marquette University, and her brother eventually became a successful local musician.
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Bray’s college experience at Marquette immersed her in the city in a new way, igniting a spark for investing concretely in her local community. Upon graduating, she moved across the country to work with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps for a year, before spending three years consulting on a community development project in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
But something felt amiss. “As a person who cares about a sense of place and a sense of justice and a sense of thinking of ways to improve neighborhoods, I thought, ‘Why am I doing this in other parts of the country?’” says Bray.
Bray returned to her Milwaukee roots and eventually became executive director of Menomonee Valley Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to developing the area along the lower Menomonee River. There, she spearheaded major projects, partnering with local investors to transform a run-down industrial section of the city into a thriving urban district.
But again, she felt called to another type of role – one that would build bridges. “We could have ribbon cuttings all day long, but we needed systems in place to connect people to the jobs that were there and to serve the companies there to help them access workers,” Bray says.
She found that at Milwaukee Area Technical College, where she is vice president of college advancement and external communications and executive director of the MATC Foundation.
In those roles, Bray helps strengthen MATC – and by extension, Milwaukee itself. She’s secured tens of millions in funding for student scholarships that allow a diverse population of Milwaukeeans, many of whom wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to attend college, to pursue an education and land a lucrative career.
Bray also builds partnerships between MATC and the broader community. One project she’s especially proud of is the college’s Electrical Power Distribution Program. A partnership between MATC, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, We Energies, the city of Milwaukee and other local stakeholders, the program offers a training facility on 30th Street and North Avenue for students studying to be electrical line workers and provides an economic boost to the Metcalfe Park neighborhood.
While all her work has made important contributions to the city, Bray is of the mindset that investing in Milwaukee is something anyone can do – whether a parole officer, educator or musician. “Community development is a team sport,” she says.
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