Celebrate the Bettys
Tenacious B: Anne Zizzo
With a singular vision, Anne Zizzo has built Zizzo Group Engagement Marketing from a one-woman basement operation into a thriving firm serving clients across the country. The firm has a unit dedicated to serving nonprofit clients, and Zizzo serves on several high-profile local boards, even as she’s also branched out into commercial real estate.
Standout Sister: Carmen Pitre
Carmen Pitre has devoted her career to helping people, including 25 years protecting women and families at Sojourner Family Peace Center, the largest nonprofit of its kind in Wisconsin. She has helped transform domestic violence advocacy and services in Milwaukee, including spearheading Sojourner’s now 11-year-old facility in Milwaukee.
Groundbreaker: Kristin Thiel
As executive director of the Mequon Nature Preserve, Kristin Thiel has spent nearly 20 years leading the transformation of 510 acres of depleted farmland into a thriving community asset. Her focus is on ensuring community members young and old can learn about the natural world at the preserve, and on growing the 10,000 students it serves each year.
Bridge Builder: Chantell Jewell
Chantell Jewell knows firsthand how incarceration affects families and brings that experience to bear leading the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center, the county’s largest correctional facility. Under her direction, the CRC has created a Family Engagement Center while also expanding programs focusing on employment, education, housing and financial wellness to ensure inmates are prepared for life outside the criminal justice system.
Arts Advocate: Susan Kerns
After cutting her film teeth in Milwaukee more than a decade ago, Susan Kerns returned to take the helm of Milwaukee Film in 2025 after a difficult leadership transition. She quickly helped to stabilize the organization with increases in revenue and festival attendance and built programming that’s intentional about inviting the community in to experience the magic of movies.
Quadracci Family Award: Peggy Troy
Peggy Troy began at Children’s Wisconsin as a nurse, built a career in health administration and came home to serve for 15 years as CEO of Children’s. She transformed the organization, growing its reach statewide to increase access while reinventing internal culture and emphasizing a more comprehensive care model that includes mental health and other forms of wellness
