Foundation welcomes new Board members, salutes service of another

This summer, Cristy Garcia-Thomas and Blaine Gibson became the newest members of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Board.

Gibson is vice president – financial advisor at WE Wealth Management Group and a certified financial planner practitioner with more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is a past president of the board of directors of the Cedarburg Art Museum. In addition to serving on the board of trustees for Ripon College, Gibson is an honorary committee chair for the Fellowship Open, founded to promote and inspire young men in business and foster support, diversity and inclusion in the business community. In 2022, he received the Foundation’s Outstanding Professional Adviser of the Year Award.

Garcia-Thomas is president, Advocate National Center for Health Equity, and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for Advocate Health. She has over 25 years of executive experience in the media, nonprofit and health care industries. Her health care career started in 2005, when she joined the Aurora Health Care board of directors before joining the organization as an executive in 2011. Previously, she served as CEO of United Performing Arts Fund and publisher of the specialty media division of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She serves on the boards of Delta Dental, WEC Energy Group, Chicago United, Greater Milwaukee Committee, United Community Center, Hispanic Collaborative and United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. She has won numerous awards, including most recently the 2023 Linda T. Mellowes Woman Leader of the Year Award.

The Foundation also extends its deepest gratitude and appreciation for Gregory S. Marcus, who concluded nine years of extraordinary service on the Foundation’s Board in June. During that time, Marcus provided leadership to the Marketing and Communications Committee as well as served on the Foundation’s Racial Equity and Inclusion, Campaign and Investment committees. He also generously hosted kickoff events at Marcus Corporation properties each year during the Foundation’s On the Table MKE initiative. This May, he was appointed chairman of the board of The Marcus Corporation and continues to serve as chief executive officer and president.

Meet our full Board of Directors.