October 10, 2024October 10, 2024

2024 Business Equality Luncheon

October 10, 2024
11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Presented By

Thursday, October 10th @ The Saint Kate Arts Hotel

Registration & Networking Begins 11:00 AM

Doors Open 11:30 AM

Program Ends 1:00 PM

We are excited to welcome you this year to the Saint Kate Arts Hotel, as we host our 2024 Business Equality Luncheon with an exciting panel of dynamic LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who will share their passions of food, hospitality, and philanthropy featuring three amazing panelist (see below!) and emcee, WISN anchor Gerron Jordan.

Our largest convening event of the year, the BEL celebrates and promotes southeastern Wisconsin as equal, inclusive and fair for all workers in the business community, with a focus on the LGBTQ+ communities.

The BEL is also an opportunity to highlight our recent recipients and growth of the Cream City Foundation LGBTQ+ Scholarship Program and share with your our most recent news of our historic partnership with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

We are honored to have the Saint Kate Arts Hotel host us for this wonderful and important event. Sponsorships and individual tickets can be registered below.

Click here to purchase tickets or sponsorships

If you would like to register for a sponsorship and require an invoice or would like to pay via check – please contact us at hello@creamcityfdn.org.

Luncheon Menu

Togarashi Yuzu Salad with Togarashi Chicken Thighs, Yuzu Vinaigrette, Cabbage, Carrots, Turnips, Leeks, Iceberg Lettuce, and Candied Ginger (gluten & dairy-free) – Vegetarian/Vegan option available on request (sub fried tofu)
Dessert

2024 Emcee

Gerron Jordan – WISN

Gerron Jordan is an EMMY and Murrow award-winning journalist who joined WISN 12 in November 2021. You can see him anchoring 12 News This Morning weekdays, and co-hosting the statewide politics and public affairs program, UPFRONT, on Sundays.

A native of Chicago, he’s thrilled to now call Milwaukee home after spending the last decade telling stories across the south and Midwest. Gerron came to WISN 12 after two stints in Louisiana, the most recent included four years as the morning anchor at WVLA/WGMB in Baton Rouge. There, Gerron launched the station’s “Candid Conversations” series; reporting on issues like mass incarceration, environmental racism, and their disproportionate impacts on communities of color. His reporting on “cancer alley” was honored with a 2021 regional EMMY nomination.

Gerron is a proud member of the National Association of Black Journalists. He’s also a proud alum of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with honors with his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.

Read Gerron’s full bio.

2024 Program Features

This year we are trying something a little different! Instead of a single keynote – we are sharing the spotlight small business, especially local LGBTQ+ food and hospitality entrepreneurs in an exciting panel discussion covering the intersection of identity, passion, and philanthropy.

Feature Panelists

Gregory León

Chef Gregory Leon was born in Tulsa, OK. At the age of 5 Gregory’s father moved the family to his native country, Venezuela where the family spent 14 years building a beautiful life around their kitchen table.

Gregory’s dream of a brick and mortar was realized in August 2015. Amilinda quickly became a Milwaukee hot spot earning 3 stars from Carol Deptolla of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and a spot on Thrillist 21 Best New Restaurants in America 2015. This celebrated restaurant remained on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Top 30 restaurants through 2019. In 2022 Amilinda was named one of Milwaukee’s quintessential restaurants by Thrillist and has been on Eaters same list for 9 years running. Chef Gregory was nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef Midwest in 2022 and 2023, and in 2024 was nominated for the James Beard award for Outstanding Chef.

Gregory Leon is talented, hardworking, and outspoken. He is a tireless supporter of Vivent Health, HRC (Human Rights Campaign) and organizations that care for and place dogs. In 2019 he created Tables Across Borders, welcoming refugees living in Milwaukee to cook their country’s food in his restaurant. These guest cooks receive one hundred percent of their ticket sales. In 2020, during the Covid pandemic, Gregory started Hungry Hearts with 9 other restaurants to help restaurants stay open while feeding Milwaukeeans in need. To pay back the kindness that he received; Chef Leon allows restaurants to host pop up events in Amilinda. Amelinda’s limited, ever-changing menu and Chef Leon’s passion keeps customers coming back.

Caitlin Cullen

Caitlin Cullen is an educator, chef, entrepreneur, and activist who uses food to help dismantle wealth and health disparities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2016 she opened the social enterprise restaurant, the Tandem, where she provided on-the-job culinary and hospitality training for over 150 young, nontraditional workforce candidates in Milwaukee’s central city. In March 2020, Cullen shifted her restaurant’s focus to an emergency hunger response organization, eventually serving over 125,000 meals to Milwaukeeans affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and fundraising over $1 million to support local small food businesses struggling to survive. She is currently the Food Center Director for Kinship Community Food Center, where she continues to use food as a medium to create a more equitable, just, and inclusive Milwaukee for all.

Chris Harris Morse

William C. (Chris) Morse has a strong business sense, garnered from time spent as a military officer (disabled veteran), corporate management experience in Fortune 500 companies (Vanguard, Pfizer, & Stryker), working as an administrator and educator on college campuses (Oregon State University, The Air Force Academy, & Western Michigan University), and serving as the CEO of a nonprofit (Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo Michigan). He has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from East Carolina University and a Masters in Human Resource Development from Webster University. Chris is a strong African American male, who has lived on his own since he was 16. Over a 23-year stretch, he served as a foster (20+ kids) and adoptive parent. Chris is still identified as a father figure to 10+ kids. His entire life has been devoted to giving back to any community he has been a part of. Now, he has chosen to settle in Milwaukee, with his husband, and work to build up his local community.

Chris opened North Avenue Market, currently serving as a restaurant and event space, on the corner of 59^th Street and North Avenue, as a way to build community. Prior to relocating to Milwaukee, Chris recognized Milwaukee had been identified as “The Most Segregated City in America.” His objective was to help enrich the community by creating an inclusive environment whose foundation was to connect Milwaukeeans from various walks of life. A goal the state of Wisconsin’s Economic Deveolpment Corporation (WEDC) recognized by bestowing North Avenue Market with the Governor’s Diverse Business Champion of The Year Award for 2022.

Ticket & Sponsorship Information

Click here to purchase tickets and sponsorships!