Emcee

Shravanthi Maniscalco 
Department Supervisor, Pieper Electric
Shravanthi Maniscalco is a department supervisor at Pieper Power. She was born and raised in Mysuru, India. She moved to Milwaukee in 2015 to attend MSOE and graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in 2019. Upon graduation, Shravanthi joined Pieper Power, where she has been for 5 years. Her primary focus is project management in renewable energy. In her free time, she loves reading and hiking with her puppy, Pepper.  

Keynote Session

Natalie Villegas
Director, CREATE Institute at MSOE
The key to success for Natalie Villegas is never losing site of who she is or what she wants—and not being afraid to change course along the way. She attended Milwaukee School of Engineering, earning her B. S. in Architectural Engineering, and worked in industry before becoming an educator. Natalie returned to her alma mater, MPS’ Alexander Hamilton High School, where she taught in, and led, the technical education department. She says she always knew, from a young age, that she wanted to do something in education and STEM but wasn’t sure what that exactly was. Natalie furthered her training by obtaining an M.A. in Education at Mount Mary University. 

Today, Natalie is director of the CREATE Institute at MSOE. She facilitates project-based experiential learning opportunities on campus with industry partners and oversees the CREATE Student Fellows program. A large part of her job is fostering the MSOE Mindset in students by building leaders of character, responsible professionals, passionate learners and value creators. She is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership from Marquette University.

During her keynote address at the Women Developing Wisconsin conference, Natalie will dive into the ways she learned to develop her self-identity, take risks and dream bigger. She’ll share advice, funny personal stories, and lessons learned along the way. You will walk away with tips to discover your own secret sauce to success, inspired to be unapologetically yourself, and confident to take the next step in your leadership journey.

Empowerment Panel

Athena Agoudemos
Director, Small Business Development Center, UWM
Athena Agoudemos’ areas of expertise are strategic planning, conflict resolution, financial management and project management. She is an engaged listener and creative problem solver who guides clients to take manageable and strategic steps forward in support of their goals. She loves connecting clients to meaningful resources and opportunities to advance their business goals. Helping clients with understanding their financials and the impact of setting budgets is very meaningful to Athena. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from UW-Milwaukee and is studying international relations and conflict resolution. Running is her medicine and she is a student of design thinking. Athena enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Liz Brodek
Development Director, City of Wausau
Liz Brodek was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin. She graduated cum laude from Beloit College in 2008 with her B.A. in Sociology. She worked multiple jobs (at the height of the recession) in Madison, eventually deciding to attend Marquette University Law School from which she graduated in 2012. Liz took many twists and turns in her career before falling in love with community development through her Business Improvement District and Main Street work in Wausau, Wisconsin. She’s ran and worked in 7 BIDs throughout Wisconsin and resettled in Wausau in August of 2021 as the city’s development director. She and her husband live in Wausau with two cats, Pumpkin and Bobbes, and a black lab, Zoe.

Rachel Hunter
Project Engineer, Husco; Executive Director, STEM to Stern
Rachel Hunter is a project engineer at Husco and the executive director of the non-profit organization, STEM to Stern. While pursuing her mechanical engineering degree at Milwaukee School of Engineering, she co-founded the STEM to Stern program with Will Bott of the Milwaukee Rowing Club. Today, the program has grown outside of Milwaukee into over 20 cities across the United States with the goal of removing barriers to entry in the sport of rowing. In addition to her engineering  job and non-profit work, Rachel has been an active volunteer for FIRST Robotics in Wisconsin since 2015. Rachel is passionate about STEM education and creating inclusive and welcoming environments for students of all backgrounds.

Krista Raver - Panel Moderator
Project Engineer, Ring & DuChateau LLP
Krista Raver is a project engineer with Ring & DuChateau LLP, a role she has held the past four years. Krista immediately began working in the construction industry after graduating in 2012 from MSOE with a B.S. in Architectural Engineering. Her main focus within the industry has always been on the design of electrical systems for higher education buildings. She has worked on projects for several campuses throughout Wisconsin including Gateway Technical College, UW-Milwaukee, MSOE, UW-Lacrosse, and currently for UW-Madison's new engineering building. A proud mother of two boys, Krista enjoys outdoor activities with family and friends such as hiking and camping. She also enjoys crafting and dabbling in photography.

Keynote Session

Wendy Harris
Regional Innovation Officer, Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub

Wendy Harris was named the Regional Innovation Officer for BioForward in November 2023 and is responsible for leading a consortium of 15 member companies and 30 supporting entities in the Biohealth Industry.  Her intense focus is to drive personalized medicine and technology in the state of Wisconsin. Wendy played a pivotal role in securing the designation of a Tech Hub for the state of Wisconsin in 2023.  She is responsible for leading large technology and economic growth projects and the overall strategy to advance our state as a global leader in personalized medicine. 

Wendy joined the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub after a 33 year career at GE Healthcare, including 25 years as an executive leader.  Wendy’s GE career consisted of roles in service, sales, operations, marketing, and quality - and spanned several of the GE Healthcare technologies and geographies, including global roles.  Almost half of her career was spent leading service teams and working with the U.S. healthcare customers. 

Wendy has a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) from UW-Madison, and an MBA from UW-Madison.  She currently serves on the UW-Madison industry advisory board for the College of Engineering and is vice-chair of the board.  She also serves on Waukesha County boards and advisory committees, and the Mount Mary finance and audit committee.  She has been active in many women's coaching and mentoring programs within GE and within the Milwaukee and Madison communities. Wendy lives in Waukesha County, and has 4 children, including one Medical College of WI medical student, one MSOE alumnus, and two current MSOE students and athletes.