The Center for Black Excellence and Culture announced $1 million in personal gifts to the project by the Executives for Black Excellence Initiative. The group donation is the latest gift to the center’s $36 million capital campaign.
The Executives for Black Excellence Initiative is a collective of Dane County business leaders who are giving their resources to the center and leveraging their leadership and community connections to raise $3 million. The first executive donors are encouraging other business leaders to join them in this collective effort, and they include:
- Jim Yehle, (president and CEO, J.H. Findorff & Son Inc.) and Jessica Yehle;
- Kevin Conroy (CEO and president, Exact Sciences) and Sheila Conroy;
- Kim Sponem (president & CEO, Summit Credit Union) and Mark Sponem (professional engineer – civil, Wisconsin Department of Transportation);
- Peter Tropman and Virginia Graves (former owners, TMG Inc.);
- Betty Harris Custer and Corkey Custer (Custer Financial Services);
- Mike Victorson (CEO, M3 Insurance) and Karin Victorson;
- Dave Beck-Engel (past-president, J.H. Findorff & Son Inc.) and Terri Beck-Engel;
- Mark Bakken (managing partner, HealthX Ventures) and Peggy Merrick-Bakken;
- Marla Frank and Larry Frank (Frank Productions); and
- Dan Rashke (CEO and co-owner, TASC) and Patti Rashke (co-owner, TASC).
The Center for Black Excellence and Culture project is also applying for New Markets Tax Credits, which is expected to bring in $6 million of additional funding.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that this is the largest gift so far to the capital campaign for the Center for Black Excellence and Culture.
