Kathy Henrich, an experienced tech industry professional who previously held leadership positions at IBM and Accenture, has been named CEO of the MKE Tech Hub Coalition, a newly formed alliance designed to attract and retain technology professionals and companies in the Milwaukee region.
The coalition launched this past October, with Northwestern Mutual, Kohl's Corp., Rockwell Automation, Johnson Controls, Advocate Aurora Health and Accenture, which is incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, but has an office in Milwaukee, as the six founding companies. The companies have pledged a two-year commitment to contribute a combined $5 million to fund the nonprofit coalition.
The coalition will aid Milwaukee programs and initiatives that support tech workers and tech startup companies. One of its main purposes is to double the number of tech workers in the metropolitan area from roughly 76,000 today to 150,000 by 2025.
“Amazing visionaries in some of Milwaukee’s top corporations have made significant contributions to form the coalition, and together we’ll make a significant impact on Milwaukee to continue to grow our region as a tech hub to attract and retain talent needed for the future,” Henrich said in a statement.
Henrich has spent more than 25 years in the tech industry. Most recently, she served as senior manager of talent and organization, future of workforce at Accenture. Prior to Accenture, she worked in various roles at IBM, including sales and service partnerships. Henrich officially starts her new, full-time role on Jan. 27 and will make her first remarks to Milwaukee's tech community as CEO of the coalition at the upcoming MKE Tech Hub Coalition meeting Jan. 28 at Northwestern Mutual.
One of Henrich's first tasks is to build a "living, breathing strategy" for the coalition and hire a team to execute that strategy, which she expects to be in place within the next three months. Henrich intends to build the strategy using input from potential and existing partners of the coalition, which spans several industries, including education, government, nonprofit and technology. Eventually, she will also establish an office for the coalition somewhere in the Milwaukee area, she said.
“With her extensive background in talent development and expertise in the technology industry, I’m excited to see Milwaukee continue to advance as a tech hub under Kathy’s leadership,” said Karl Gouverneur, the vice president of digital workplace and corporate solutions at Northwestern Mutual and the chair of the MKE Tech Hub Coalition board. “Kathy has already been a great partner and advocate for this initiative, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue working with her.”
