Teig Whaley-Smith

Teig’s passion is building and leading collaborative teams to make Milwaukee the best place on planet earth.  He believes that for Milwaukee to achieve its full potential, there needs to be a focus on the people and neighborhoods that have been left out of the larger political, social, and economic systems.  Teig was raised and continues to live in the Sherman Park neighborhood and is a proud Milwaukee Public Schools alumni and parent.

In 2022, Teig was named the Chief Alliance Executive for the Community Development Alliance (CDA).  CDA is an affiliation of community development funders and practitioner in the Milwaukee Area that led Milwaukee’s first Collective Affordable Housing Plan, with the goal of advancing racial equity by providing a quality affordable home for every Milwaukeean.  The plan lays out a transformative road map to support 32,000 new Black & Latino homeowners, and 32,000 homes for families making less than $15 per hour.  CDA continues to successfully bring together funders and partners to implement the innovative approaches within the plan.  

Prior to joining CDA, Teig served as the chief operating officer of Milwaukee County where he managed a $1.2 billion annual budget, serving one million residents.  Teig supported the expansion of mental health services, the elimination of chronic homelessness, and was a core member of the leadership team that was the first municipality in the country to declare racism as a public health crisis and develop a strategic plan to combat racism.  Teig also served as the Economic Development Director of Milwaukee County and led the efforts to develop more than $1 billion in the former Park East corridor, including Fiserv Forum.  In his private sector career, Teig led a community economic development firm that developed $60 million of affordable housing and main street development.