Mary Ellen Stanek Award for Diversity in Corporate Governance Announces 2024 Award Recipients

MILWAUKEE (October 29, 2024) – The Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) in conjunction with Milwaukee Women inc (MWi) awarded the 11th annual Mary Ellen Stanek Award for Diversity in Corporate Governance to Ray Manista, Executive Vice President – Chief Legal and Public Affairs Officer at Northwestern Mutual on October 23 at MilwaukeeWomen inc’s Research and Recognition luncheon. The Mary Ellen Stanek Award is given to individuals and entities demonstrating a commitment to promoting equity and inclusion in their corporate structure resulting in increased gender and racial diversity in leadership and on corporate boards in the Milwaukee Region.

Past winners include the award’s namesake Mary Ellen Stanek, Managing Director of Baird; Cecelia Gore, executive director of the Brewers Community Foundation; Ellen Gilligan, president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation; Linda Gorens-Levey, partner at General Capital Group; Gale Klappa, Executive Chairman of WEC Energy Group; John Daniels, Jr., Chairman Emeritus of Quarles & Brady; and Gina Peter, Executive Vice President of Wells Fargo. Previous corporate winners include Froedtert Health, ManpowerGroup, Northwestern Mutual, Associated Bank, and Aurora Healthcare; Joan Prince, UWM vice chairman emeritus; and Dr. Michael Lovell, Marquette University.

About the winner:

Ray Manista is an instrumental leader in bringing diversity to the Northwestern Mutual board. Today, its board of directors seats four women, one more than the recommended “Power of Three.” Studies have shown that boards with at least three women are proven to outperform those with a lower representation. As part of his role, Ray is responsible for formulating strategy and business plans, overseeing corporate governance, and holding accountability for philanthropic and related social impact strategies and investments. He refers to himself as “a community-minded businessperson who also wears a lawyer’s hat and helps connect the dots across the enterprise.”

With Ray’s courageous leadership, the success of gender equity strategies can be seen in various ways at Northwestern Mutual, including the Women’s Employee Resource Group, Black Women’s Group, Women in Technology, and its Male Allies groups. Together, they represent a collective ecosystem that works together on joint programming and objectives. Earlier this year, Northwestern Mutual held a Women’s Summit on its campus, bringing together over 2,800 women where allies focused on personal and professional well-being. Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers for women, 50% of the roles across the company’s corporate offices belong to women. Ray’s leadership has been crucial in sustaining and growing this number.

While it’s generally accepted that gender equity advances results, it’s important to note the importance of supporting racial and ethnic differences within gender equity. Northwestern Mutual has been recognized for programming that brings together cohorts of 100 Black women and 100 Latinas in a year-long leadership program.

Ray describes Northwestern Mutual as “A company built on helping people achieve their full potential – both within the walls of our company and within the community.” Ray noted in a recent interview with Leaders Magazine that Northwestern Mutual has an opportunity to lead by example, and Ray Manista is doing just that.

MWi and the GMC leadership team review nominees for the Mary Ellen Stanek Award annually.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.