Rita Aleman Named Lubar Center Program Manager

WISN Rita AlemanRita Aleman has been named the program manager of Marquette Law School’s new Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education.

Since early 2016, Aleman has been executive producer for “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien,” a Hearst Television weekly political news magazine based in Washington, D.C. Aleman was executive producer for special projects at WISN 12 television in Milwaukee from 2002 to 2016.

In her new role, Aleman will work with colleagues at the Law School to create, organize, and carry out events of the Lubar Center and extend the center’s reach, including an increased presence on the internet. Aleman is scheduled to begin work in January.

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Entrepreneurs Say They’re Bullish on Milwaukee, But Startup Scene Needs More

Just the fact that the second annual Startup Week Milwaukee will begin on Monday, Nov. 6, along with the first Startup Week Wisconsin (with programs in nine cities, plus Milwaukee), says that there is increasing energy and importance attached to launching businesses and encouraging entrepreneurs here.

At least business start-ups are creating more buzz around Wisconsin these days than they did for many years.

But there is a lot to be done to make the entrepreneurial climate comparable to that of some other places. In recent years, both Milwaukee and Wisconsin have been near the bottom of rankings for business startups.

Thoughts on both the increased momentum for startups and what needs to be done to move things farther were offered Thursday in an “On the Issue with Mike Gousha” program at the Lubar Center in Eckstein Hall. Three entrepreneurs involved in startups in the Milwaukee area described evidence that the landscape is improving. They said they expect that by several years from now, the rankings for Milwaukee and Wisconsin will be more encouraging.

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Lubar Center and Its New Milwaukee Area Project Launched at Law School Conference

Tuesday was a huge day for the future of the Milwaukee area, if you think developing strong, extensive knowledge on major issues is important and if you think coming together to work on dealing with those issues is important. Just ask R. T. Rybak.

Rybak, president/CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation and former mayor of Minneapolis, was the keynote speaker at a morning-long conference in the Lubar Center at Marquette Law School, which included  the debut of the Milwaukee Area Project, a long-term research project that will be part of the new Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education.

The conference included ceremonies thanking Milwaukee philanthropists Sheldon and Marianne Lubar for the $7 million in grants that are providing an endowment to support the work of the public policy center.

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