WWHEL Steering Committee
Diana Borders
Office of Charter Schools
Yeeilianna G. Hamilton
College of Health Professions & Sciences
Angela Kelber
School of Continuing Education
Kathy Litzau
Athletics
Chia Vang
Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Kate Ganski
UWM Libraries
Natalie Hey
Government and External Relations
Liza Longhini
School of Continuing Education
Meet the WWHEL Steering Committee
Diana Borders, Director of Business Service – Office of Charter Schools
Diana Borders is the Assistant Director of Business Services for the Office of Charter Schools located in the School of Education. Diana provides specialized services associated in managing all contract compliance reporting of the 15 charter schools under the authorization of UW-Milwaukee. She manages and coordinates the internal operations for the Office including financial reporting, and fiscal policy activities that ensure regulatory conformity with the Federal Government, the Department of Public Instruction, UW-Systems and other governing entities. Prior to her work in the office, she managed several grants and initiatives at UWM.
Diana is committed to sharing her expertise to support initiatives that benefit and improve the overall campus environment. She served a three-year term as the Academic Staff Senator representing the School of Education. Recently reelected, Diana will continue to serve as a co-chair of the African Diaspora Council (ADC), an employee resource group at UWM. Diana passionately believes in the mission of ADC to promote and enhance a sense of community and equity on campus, develop professional and educational opportunities, provide senior level students with scholarships, and support the communities where members live and work by providing forums for discussion of issues and ideas to generate actions
Kate Ganski, UWM Libraries and Alumni Relations
Kate L Ganski is Assistant Director of Libraries for User Services and began her tenure at UWM in 2007. Kate has served on various Academic Staff committees and has found university service to be a great way to advocate and recognize her colleagues.
Yeeilianna G. Hamilton, College of Health Professions & Sciences
Yeeilianna Hamilton is an Administrative Assistant II for the Physical Therapy, Athletic Training and Performance Psychology programs in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences & Technology. During her time at UWM, she has served on Search & Screen committees for the College of Health Professions & Sciences (CHPS) (formerly College of Health Sciences) and the University Staff Committee.
Along with serving on WWHEL, she also serves as Co-Chair of CHPS’ Equity Alliance Committee (EAC) which is dedicated to creating a safe space to discuss Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Due to Yeeilianna’s commitment to advance Diversity and Inclusion on campus, she attended the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Planning institute in Spring 2022. Her work in the institute was instrumental in a partnership between the EAC and the School of Continuing Education to develop and implement DEIB programming for the Faculty and Staff of CHPS, Zilber College of Public Health and College of Community Engagement & Professions.
Natalie Hey, Government and External Relations
After graduating from UW-Milwaukee in the Spring of 2023, Natalie stepped into her role as the Administrative Assistant for Government and External Relations. Natalie supports government relations, neighbor relations, and management of official functions and public records. During her time at UWM, Natalie was a member of the Women’s Swim and Dive team and a student employee in External and Government Relations. Natalie is committed to supporting and advocating for women on campus, drawing from her own experiences to foster empowerment and unity.
Angela Kelber, School of Continuing Education
Angela Kelber is the Associate Director of the Department of Continuing Education and Professional Development at UWM’s School of Continuing Education, overseeing the Business, Engineering, Health and Human Services, Languages, Nonprofit, College for Kids, PK-12, and Customized Training programs. Angela previously worked as director of the Community and Professional Development department and program manager for Trauma and Human Services. She has years of professional experience in business, career services, marketing, training, and project management for large universities in the U.S. and Brazil. She has served on several boards, primarily for organizations focusing on adult education, marketing, and career transitions. Since May of 2022, Angela has been an active board member of the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education (WWHEL-UWM-Chapter)
Angela is a Master Trainer professional through UWM’s School of Continuing Education. Angela holds a master’s degree in Marketing from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She earned her second master’s degree at UWM in Adult and Continuing Education Leadership. Angela also earned a graduate certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education through the Administrative Leadership department at UWM.
Dr. Phyllis King, Vice Provost, Academic Affairs
Dr. King serves as an administrative and strategic officer for academic partnerships and innovations. She plans, directs and provides administrative, operational, and strategic leadership for institutional and cross-institutional initiatives such as the Moon Shot for Equity, Higher Education Regional Alliance, and M3, a partnership between Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College and UW-Milwaukee. Dr. King represents UWM in local, regional and national partnerships to develop an education pipeline, pathways, curricular reforms, and articulation agreements between K-12 schools and post-secondary institutions. She leads special initiatives and/or grant-funded programs with respect to program design, planning, coordination, and interaction with internal and external stakeholders. Dr. King provides leadership to curricular innovations that expand UWM’s reach and impact through micro-credentialing, badging and other academic innovations. She is a full professor in the Occupational Therapy Program, the immediate past President of the Association for Schools Advancing Health Professions, and Director of the Occupational Ergonomics Laboratory
Kathy Litzau, Athletics
Kathy Litzau, Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator, oversees academic support services, sports medicine and strength and conditioning. She oversees the departments strategic planning process and also serves as the sport administrator for men’s soccer, women’s basketball and swimming and diving. Along with serving on WWHEL, she also serves on the Student Affairs Alignment & Action Team, Community Support and Impact Group, and conference committees: Horizon League Board of Directors, Executive Council and chair of Senior Woman Administrators.
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” -Rosalynn Carter
Liza Longhini, UWM School of Continuing Education
Liza Longhini joined the UWM School of Continuing Education (SCE) in 2005 and currently serves a dual role as the Director of Development for the school as well as a Customized Training Consultant. In this latter role, she partners with organizations to explore their educational needs and designs custom programs to meet the changing demands of today’s workforce. Liza specializes in delivering courses with dynamic instructors and curricula enabling businesses and their employees to stay current in the marketplace.
Along with recently joining WWHEL, Liza is a founding board member of the We Care Fund at the Medical College of Wisconsin raising money for the Department of Surgery. She also sits on the advisory committees for Aurora’s School of Diagnostic Medical Sonography and Radiologic Technology, the UWM Women Leaders Conference, and UWM Trauma Conference.
Liza is a Wisconsin native but spent her formative years in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a true Yooper at heart. She and Mark and their Springer Spaniel, Jerry, live in downtown Milwaukee and cherish spending time with family and friends.
Yolanda Medina, Student Affairs
Yolanda Medina is the Director of the Military and Veterans Resource Center and a Marine Corps Veteran. Yolanda co-chairs the Veterans Advisory Council to the Chancellor and sits on the Chancellor’s Council for Hispanic Serving Initiatives at UWM. Her passion for women veterans, the Latinx community, and veteran mental health and wellness has led Yolanda to serve on the boards of the Latino Veterans Legacy of Valor Organization, the American GI Forum for Hispanic Veterans, Forward Latino, as advisor to Latinx Veteran issues, and the Southeastern Wisconsin Task Force on Veteran Suicide Prevention. Yolanda is also one of the first women in Wisconsin to be featured in the Department of Veterans Affairs “I Am Not Invisible” pictorial campaign to bring awareness and increase dialogue about women veterans throughout the United States.
Dr. Chia Vang, Vice Chancellor, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Dr. Chia Youyee Vang is Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She oversees the division that is responsible for advancing diversity and equity and fostering inclusion for all members of the campus community. She recently led the development and implementation of UW-Milwaukee’s Racial Justice and Equity Program that is required professional development for all employees. Her teaching and research interests include twentieth century U.S. international history, the Cold War in Asia, Asian American history, Hmong history, refugee migration and transnational and diasporic communities. Dr. Vang has received numerous recognitions for scholarship excellence and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education: Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer (2022), Wisconsin Community Leadership Choice Award (Woman of Excellence, 2021), Office of Research/UWM Research Foundation Senior Faculty Award (2021), Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Professional of the Year (2021), Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee Special Recognition Award-Disruptors, Changing the Power Dynamics (2021), UWM Foundation Research Excellence Award (2016), University of Wisconsin Board of Regents Diversity Award-Individual (2016), Wisconsin Women Making History (2015); and UW System Outstanding Woman of Color in Education Award (2014).
Stephanie Warner, University Information Technology Services
Stephanie Warner, IT Solutions Architect for University Information Technology Services is committed to increasing campus data literacy and fostering an environment for data influenced decisions. She serves as the inaugural Chair of the UWM Data Governance Custodial Committee (DGCC) and facilitates meetings for the UWM Warehouse End-User Reporting Initiative Team (WERIT). She is a current member of Higher Education Data Warehousing (HEDW) and Higher Education Data Governance (HEDGe) international groups.