Jeanette Mitchell, known by many as “Dr. J,” saw the possibility in others that they might not have seen in themselves.
That also went for Milwaukee, the city in which she lived, worked and raised her three daughters.
Described by friends, family and colleagues as a trailblazer in Milwaukee’s leadership landscape and a leader of leaders, Mitchell built a career and reputation from creating leaders, fostering connections and bringing about change in the region.
The Dr. Jeanette Mitchell Legacy Fund, a donor advised fund her daughters created at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation after her death in August 2024, is a way to continue Mitchell’s work in Milwaukee.
“Our mother was all about making change — real change — and channeling energy and resources into making an impact,” said daughter Pamela Mitchell. “The fund is the vehicle through which we will continue to maintain and grow her legacy.”
To celebrate her memory, Mitchell’s family has encouraged family and friends to help build the fund.
“It really is the mechanism that allows her vision for what is possible and her values to continue to live in perpetuity,” said daughter Yvette Murrell.
All corners of community
Mitchell was a leader throughout her long career, which spanned the corporate, philanthropic, education and nonprofit sectors. She spent 30 years with Ameritech, directing teams ranging from five to 500, both statewide and regionally. She also was the first Black woman at the company to become a district manager. During that time, she also served her community as an elected representative to the Milwaukee Public Schools board. She spent three terms as board president, under three different superintendents. Mitchell later moved on to the world of philanthropy, where she became the first education program officer at Bader Philanthropies.
But it was her work over the past two decades around leadership development that perhaps has had the strongest ripple effect locally.
“She had a lot of love to give,” Murrell said. “Once she was done growing us, she needed more people to grow. That was part of her gift. She needed to continue to give it.”
Mitchell received her doctorate in leadership from Cardinal Stritch University, and soon afterward, she established the university’s Leadership Center in 2001. While there, she helped design and manage several leadership development programs. The Latino Nonprofit Leadership Program, created in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Roberto Hernandez Center, worked with individuals in nonprofits who served the Latino community. The Neighborhood Leadership Institute, created in partnership with the Foundation and several other local funders, focused on building the capacity of community and nonprofit leaders to influence and strengthen Milwaukee neighborhoods.
“Boots-on-the-ground leaders is what she was really committed to growing,” said daughter Yvonne Mitchell. “That is the most sustainable way to bring about change.”
Growing the next generation
She is most known and celebrated, however, for creating the African American Leadership Program, a nine-month program in which more than 250 Milwaukee-area African American professionals, from an array of businesses, professions and organizations, have participated since 2008.
It grew out of her deep love for Milwaukee and her concern that many Black professionals felt that they needed to leave the city to grow and lead. Mitchell believed that by building leaders and fostering connections between those individuals, a whole new generation of leaders are developed who can work together to begin to tackle the region’s toughest, most persistent issues and change the narrative.
“A lot of leaders that came through that program you now see out here pushing for change in Milwaukee,” said Margaret Henningsen, who, along with Mitchell, has been an adviser to the Legacy Foundation Fund, a Foundation donor advised fund, since 2011.
Darlene Russell, the Foundation’s director of community engagement, worked with Mitchell to create the Neighborhood Leadership Institute in 2013 and participated in AALP in 2016. She said the lessons she learned and conversations she had with Mitchell still reverberate and contribute to her work in community.
“I didn’t always get it in the moment, but the seeds were planted, and I could reach back on those conversations and really grow,” Russell said.
In addition to supporting AALP, Mitchell’s daughters plan to use the fund to advance other areas of passion, such as education.
“The fund serves as a vehicle to ensure that her impact, legacy and influence endure for generations to come,” Pamela said.