When MKE Tech Hub Coalition was formed in 2019, it received initial funding from six founding members. By the time Kathy Henrich took over as the first CEO in 2020, the only component in place was a five-person board with IT backgrounds. “From these humble beginnings, we developed our mission and vision; built systems and processes; hired talent, built programs and scaled our membership to over 135 organizational members,” said Henrich. “Since we didn’t have any value to sell, we sold a vision of what could occur and the ability to build it together.”
MKE Tech Hub Coalition is a non-profit technology association with a mission to inclusively grow the tech economy in southeast Wisconsin in order to drive enduring economic prosperity and create life changing opportunities for individuals.
“When starting a new organization, everyone is skeptical of your ability to have an impact,” said Henrich. “For this reason, we felt it was really important to put early points on the board and build genuine community relationships.”
During the first summer, under Henrich’s leadership, the organization created an internship program, established volunteer committees and rooted all actions in data to help prioritize efforts. As a result, the local tech talent has grown over 5 percent annually, thus making a significant impact in the region.
“We truly believe that a small non-profit cannot change the region, but when aligned and partnered with other organizations, we believe we can have significant impact,” said Henrich. “While delivering on initial programs, we were also building the basis for long-term partnerships which would enable us to participate in larger opportunities.”
The fast growth has put the MKE Tech Hub Coalition on a national stage with organizations like the National Talent Collaborative which seeks legislative solutions to our talent shortages. “We regularly educate legislators at both the national and state level on how private-public investments can accelerate a tech ecosystem,” said Henrich. “We’ve leveraged this knowledge in the recent win of the NSF Economic Engine grant with over 20 organizational contributors and the EDA Tech Hub grant application.”
For Henrich, her most proud accomplishment is witnessing the growth of the non-profit firsthand. “I believe that there are many paths to a destination and not all of them are straight,” she said. “Enjoy the journey and just continue to learn along the way. My younger self was always concerned about speed, but I would not be in this position today if I had not had the opportunities along the way.”
For her continued devotion to this non-profit, Henrich has been named a titan.
