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What will the Milwaukee Bucks look like in 10 years?
That was the question on the minds of the participants at the meeting. Meeting this week in MilwaukeeRound table arrangement by technical.ly on Tuesday. The result was a lively and wide-ranging conversation that explored the city’s journey to become the next major tech hub—while highlighting the challenges Milwaukee’s business community faces in building a prosperous and equitable economic future.
But what does fairness really look like? And when will we stop talking about equal opportunity and put our money where our mouth is?
Balanced Milwaukee means exposure and reach.
The event took place on October 4 Northwest Joint Cream City Labwas part of the procession. Milwaukee Tech Weeka week-long celebration of technology Milwaukee Tech Hub Alliance Designed to celebrate innovation in Southeast Wisconsin. Technical.ly is an in-person event in Milwaukee that brings together startup founders, students, business leaders, and nonprofit professionals in one room.
Before the round table discussion with all the audience, several topics of our past reports. It also adds to that Nikki PurvisPresident and CEO African American Council of Wisconsin; Quentin PrinceDirector General Milwaukee Youth Sports Association; Teresa EsserManaging Director at ESG Financial Inc.; And Tarsha WigginsFounder and CEO at Speak Health Behavioral Health Counselor; as well as Shakya CurtisMember Engagement Manager at Milwaukee Tech Hub.
(Graphic via Technical.ly)
The panel brought to life several new themes from our report, including a sense of urgency among the business community to move beyond Milwaukee’s status quo and embrace new perspectives and ways to grow its economy.
As he began the talk, the panelists were asked to describe what a just future would look like here in Milwaukee. The first step in building Milwaukee’s tech ecosystem is bringing more diverse voices to the table, Purvis said.
“If there was fair, diverse background representation on all of these issues, we wouldn’t have to be having these discussions anymore,” she said. “It takes energy, it takes a willingness to give up power when you’re in a high position, and when there’s diversity and equity, we get the results we want to see.
Nikki Purvis. (Photo by Anna Lardinois)
Exposure, mentorship and partnerships are also key, adds Curtis. As a young woman growing up in the central city, Curtis Chapter 220 A program to show her possibilities beyond the limited view of her environment. Still, it’s important to extend those opportunities in the city, he said.
Isr pointed out that there is a need to address social issues such as home ownership in conjunction with the region’s business initiatives. While the homeownership rate in the black community hovers at 26 percent, for example, white homeowners in the city are a whopping 75 percent, she said. Milwaukee’s housing gap and high rents among marginalized groups are the result of structural racism, she added.
“A person who does not own a house cannot benefit from inflation, cannot benefit from income. [equity] structure,” said Esser. “Equity means making the structure fair to everyone.”
Teresa Acer. (Photo by Anna Lardinois)
“We don’t know what it will look like, but we have to be willing and intentional about our way of doing it [equity]” said Prince. Later, he sought to clarify his thoughts in a LinkedIn post: “In my head, I wanted to say, ‘I don’t know – I’ve never seen it.’ We can all imagine what it’s like, where we deliberately seek attention in the process. A mentor once told me, ‘In your mind, your business idea is perfect, that’s where you should live.’ Let us live justice. I want to go out my front door and point everywhere.”
For Wiggins, the city’s businesses and organizations must reach beyond the opportunistic.
“Now that we know what opportunities are out there, can we get them?” she asked. “Those two things [exposure and access] If we’re going to talk about making things fairer, we have to be present.
Quentin Prince and Shakkiah Curtis. (Photo by Anna Lardinois)
Milwaukee needs job creation – and a new name
Creating equal and fair access to opportunities was the main theme when the participants of the Summit proposed solutions to the following questions.
- What is the best way for the Milwaukee business community to come together to address pressing social issues?
- What steps are needed to attract new talent and build a more diverse pipeline in the city?
- How do we get better at telling our own stories?
Tarsha Wiggins. (Photo by Anna Lardinois)
Some of the emerging ideas: pooling resources for startups, adapting new education models focused on technology outside of traditional higher education, and expanding opportunities for business capital – accelerating startup investments in early-stage operations – will help close persistent gaps in the city’s entrepreneurial landscape.
Building a viable tech ecosystem could be the key to breaking down many of the city’s barriers. In addition to contributing to social innovation initiatives, the rise of well-paying remote tech jobs removes barriers such as transportation, opening up opportunities for a larger and more diverse group of people.
Many in the audience suggested that Milwaukee needed to be rebranded from its longtime reputation as the home of beer, cheese and the Green Bay Packers — or become another round in the Rust Belt. It’s great that we have so many breweries, said one attendee, but the tourism marketing of our city misses the point in highlighting the diverse businesses, cultural amenities, and people that make Milwaukee such an attractive and unique destination.
Summit participants will discuss. (Photo by Anna Lardinois)
Despite the city’s challenges, panelists and attendees said they felt energized by the work being done to change Milwaukee’s narrative and inspired to play a role in embracing innovation in the region.
What I’ve been able to witness over the years is the ups and downs of entrepreneurs and their path to success,” Purvis said. “That’s what motivates me. To know that the jobs that come from these entrepreneurs, the growth for our economy… is really inspiring.”
So, what will the Milwaukee title look like in 10 years? If any of the attendees at this week’s Milwaukee Rising Summit were to comment, it doesn’t seem like it’s running today.
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Special thanks to Creme City Labs, the Milwaukee Tech Hub Consortium for organizing the week’s event, and our panelists for joining the conversation.
Do you have any thoughts on the above questions? Share them with us at milwaukee@technical.ly.
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