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Board
Richard Laabs
Founding CEO, Lutheran Urban Mission Initiative, Inc. (Retired) | Treasurer
Dick is a faith-based leader, entrepreneur and active volunteer who has served in CEO, COO, CFO, independent director and ownership positions. He recently retired as the founding CEO of LUMIN Schools, a network of urban Lutheran schools serving low income families in southeast Wisconsin and northern Indiana. Other industry experience includes banking, private equity, manufacturing, service and nonprofit. He has led several new business formations, leveraged buy-outs and corporate divestitures; and is skilled at strategic planning, financial management and business turnarounds.
Dick currently maintains a portfolio of for-profit and faith-based nonprofit clients, providing them with a variety of fee-based and volunteer services including board membership, executive coaching and business consulting.
Susan Mitchell
School Choice Wisconsin Founder | Secretary
Susan Mitchell is fortunate to have worked with so many friends and allies during the past three decades to advance parental choice.
Hired in 1993 by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), Mitchell helped organize a broad coalition of parents, educators, business executives, and other community leaders to expand parental choice. With strong support from Governor Tommy Thompson and legislative champions, the coalition advocated successfully for ground-breaking reform and then helped defend the gains from legal and regulatory challenges.
Mitchell subsequently directed the American Education Reform Foundation (AERF) and the American Education Reform Council (AERC) under the leadership of Bill Oberndorf and John Walton. The two nonprofits assisted advocates in selected states to develop sound policy, organize coalitions, and execute legislative strategy. In 2004, Mitchell stepped down to found School Choice Wisconsin to defend gains in Milwaukee and prepare to expand statewide. She currently chairs the SCW board.
Mitchell’s passion for parental choice grew from her work with her husband George in the Mitchell Company Inc. which specialized in public policy research, project management, and strategic planning. He has remained a valued partner and strategist throughout her work.
Mitchell also has held various executive positions in business and government, including service as Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance. She is a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Mitchell graduated with honors from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wl, with a major in French and minors in philosophy, religion, and art history. She holds a master’s degree from University of Wisconsin School of Journalism. The Mitchells live in Arizona and spend summers on their boat in Wisconsin.
Peter Farrow
Executive Chairman of MedWand Solutions, Inc.
Peter Farrow recently retired from almost thirty years in the field of insurance. He served as CEO and general manager of Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire for 22 years. Group Health Cooperative provides health insurance coverage and administration market for over 60,000 people in Western Wisconsin. During his tenure, the Cooperative grew its membership by over 400% while maintaining its nationally recognized high level of satisfaction and quality. In this role, Peter held several national and state industry leadership positions, including chairing America’s Health Insurance Plans Regional Plan Working Group and serving six terms as Board Chair of the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans.
Prior to joining Group Health Cooperative, Peter served as Assistant Deputy Insurance Commissioner for the State of Wisconsin. In this role, he oversaw the operation of the state’s four insurance funds: the Local Government Property Insurance Fund, the State Life Insurance Fund, the Patients Compensation Fund, and the Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan. Together, these plans had a combined budget of over $120 million. Peter oversaw the policy development for the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and played a key role in the implementation of newly enacted legislation. In addition to his insurance background, Peter is a former small business owner and served as press secretary for Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner from Wisconsin.
Peter has served in leadership positions in a number of local organizations including the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley, Junior Achievement of Western Wisconsin, and other local non-profits.
Peter received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Marquette University.
Today, Peter continues to live in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. He remains an active technology investor and advisor. He is currently Executive Chairman of MedWand Solutions, Inc., a medical device technology corporation. Along with his two adult sons, he races stage rally. Peter also participates in rollerblade marathons and enjoys a number of other outdoor activities.
Jim Kitzinger
Co-Founder, KLCM Advisors
Jim Kitzinger is a co-founder of KLCM Advisors, an investment management firm in Wisconsin. He is a CFA and CPA with forty years of experience on the Wisconsin financial scene and is regarded as one of the top money managers in the state. He began his career in investment analysis and portfolio management at First Wisconsin Bank and Trust Co. in Milwaukee in 1988 until co-founding KLCM Advisors Registered Investment Advisory Firm in 1993. He serves today as CEO and Chief Investment Officer at the firm.
James currently holds an advisory board position at Brass Ring Capital and is a board member and investor for Milwaukee Forge. He has also been a board member for Coastal States Bank, a trustee at St. Mary’s Church in Port Washington, and board chair for St. Thomas More High School, where he graduated in 1975.
Andrew Neumann
Ph.D.Executive Chair & CEO, Open Sky Education
Andrew is an educational entrepreneur driven to ensure all children in America have access to excellent learning opportunities which maximize their potential to fulfill Greater Purpose and live flourishing lives.
Committed to this mission, he began his career as a teacher serving students at the high school and college levels while finishing his Ph.D. in educational mathematics. In 2006, he joined Educational Enterprises and serves its Executive Chair/CEO working to support the team to advance its mission nationally by growing its school networks (HOPE Christian Schools and EAGLE public charter schools), Christian wraparound programs (Compass Educational Programs), and the Character Formation Project. In 2016, Educational Enterprises changed its name to Open Sky Education.
Nathan Schwanz
Director of Government Relations, Medical College of Wisconsin
Nathan is a government relations and public policy professional with 15 years of experience at all levels of government in Wisconsin. He is known for his strong policy research and analysis skills and for collaborating with diverse groups of stakeholders to address complex public policy problems. During his tenure as a staff member in the State Legislature, Nathan played a role in crafting and negotiating significant reforms to Wisconsin’s school choice laws, including reforms to simplify and expand the program. Most recently, Nathan led negotiations for the largest funding increase for Wisconsin’s school choice program since the program’s inception, guiding its passage through a Republican Legislature and signed into law by a Democrat Governor.
Nathan’s professional experience includes time working for a Member of Congress, the State Budget Office in the Department of Administration, and both houses of the State Legislature. While working as a staff member in the State Legislature, Nathan helped draft and negotiate four state budgets, legislation providing historic funding increases for public and choice schools, legislation to address the state’s opioid epidemic, and bipartisan legislation to address Milwaukee’s financial challenges.
Nathan is a graduate of Concordia University of Wisconsin with degrees in Political Science and Business Communication. He and his wife reside in Dane county with their three children.
Heather Weininger
Executive Director, Wisconsin Right To Life
Heather has served as Wisconsin Right to Life’s Executive Director since July 2014. During this time, she has led the team at Wisconsin Right to Life to expand reaching a target audience in changing hearts and minds to favor life.
Important accomplishments that have happened during Heather’s tenure include: taking the Veritas Society program from TV to the digital realm to reach women in abortion facilities and college campuses with a message of hope and an opportunity for life for their unborn child; leading the charge in ensuring unborn babies who are capable of feeling pain during an abortion are protected in the womb; as well as expanded the grant program for Life on Campus to ensure more people hear the message of life while going to college.
Heather began her career working on Capitol Hill for former Congressman Mark Green. After returning home to Wisconsin to get married, she worked on the Bush-Cheney ’04 re-election campaign, followed by serving as the Finance Director to a Congressional Campaign, and assisted with state-wide candidates and state legislative campaigns. Her background also includes training candidates to run for local, state-wide and national offices. Heather and her husband, Chad, are also small business owners.
During Heather’s time on Capitol Hill she handled right-to-life issues while the pro-life movement was working on the passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban in Congress. It was here where she truly began to understand the work on the legislative level as well as in the grassroots movement to educate the public on life.
Heather began her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and earned her BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She is married to Chad, and they have three daughters and one son.
Brenda White
Retired, Siena Catholic Schools of Racine
Brenda White has spent over three decades in education leadership. She is the retired President of Siena Catholic Schools of Racine, a system of six schools that serves students in grades 3K-12. Brenda was an associate superintendent for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee before joining Siena Catholic Schools in 2017. From 1989 to 2008, Brenda served as principal for St. Margaret Mary School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Hills Middle School in Brookfield, and for Holy Apostles School in New Berlin.
Brenda holds a Master of Science degree in administrative leadership and an Education Specialist degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in education and special education from Central Michigan University.
Cate Zeuske
Former Secretary of Revenue, State Treasurer, and State Representative
Cate Zeuske began her career in public office at age 23, when she was elected to the State Legislature for 4 terms, until she was elected statewide as State Treasurer. Cate was appointed by Governor Thompson and served as the Secretary of the State Department of Revenue. Cate joined a national non-profit organization and served as the director of administration. Cate was appointed by Governor Walker to serve as the Deputy Secretary for the State Department of Administration until she retired.
Cate currently serves on the Wisconsin School Choice board; the Wisconsin State Historical Society Board of Curators and the UW-Green Bay Board of Trustees.
A native of Shawano and graduate of UW-Madison. Cate resides in Green Bay with her husband former State Assembly Speaker, John Gard. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.