For Francesca Mayca Wegner, community is “an action, it’s a noun, it’s people, it’s place. It’s something that you pour into and that also pours into you. I see it as very reciprocal.”
The Illinois native found a home at Marquette University and has been living in Milwaukee ever since.
“Community is everything about my role,” said Wegner, president and chief possibilities officer for Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee. “We’ve kind of coined this term of giving voice to dreams, and that’s really for us what community is all about. We’re not here to dictate what prosperity or success looks like to you, but we’re there to hold the mirror so that you can discover those things and then unlock the potential and power that’s already within you.”
The Foundation has supported HPGM’s efforts to empower Hispanic and Latino leaders and professionals to attain their full economic and educational potential. This support includes workforce development grants that help expand access to jobs, internships, scholarships, leadership development and mentoring opportunities.
The Foundation was a founding funder of HPGM’s Board Pipeline Initiative, aimed at training Latino professionals and other underrepresented professionals to be effective board members.
“That five-week program started because of funding from the Foundation,” Wegner said. “It used to be held at the Foundation until COVID, when we went virtual, but we held our BPI graduation at ThriveOn King this year, and we were able to bring in almost 15 nonprofits to meet the graduates and hopefully match them with committees and boards.”
Beyond engaging the community through her work, Wegner is committed to empowering and engaging community through her service. This includes serving as a mentor for graduates of Nativity Jesuit Academy and as a board member for groups such as My Way Out, Marquette University’s Institute for Women’s Leadership, National Alliance for Latino Leadership (Lideramos) and more.
“All my commitments have been related to helping people step into their power,” she said.