Women United Bruncheon
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United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County

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Women United Bruncheon

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United Way's Women United host an annual bruncheon to brings together women and community members passionate about local issue effect women and girls in our communities. The Linda T. Mellowes Woman Leader of the Year Award is also recognized at this event.

2024 Women United Bruncheon

Thursday, May 23, 2024

This year's event will feature guest speakers who will talk about their family's journey to mental wellness. We will announce our goal for Empowering Minds, United Way’s initiative supporting school-based youth mental health, and share the progress from our pilot year.

The Pfister Hotel
Grand Ballroom, 7th Floor 424 E Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202

11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Registration & Networking
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. | Brunch & Program

Registration is closed.  Please contact Erin Keating if you have any questions. 

In-person Ticket: $60.00 
Table Sponsorships: Gold Sponsor $4,000 • Silver Sponsor $2,500 
Sponsorship registration is closed.

​2024 Special Guest Speakers

 
Moderator: DeVona Wright Cottrell, GMR Marketing
2024 United Way Campaign Co-chair

 


 

Headshot of Deb MuellerDeb Mueller 

Author, Love Hard 

Deb Mueller is an author and women’s mental health advocate. In her new book, Love Hard, Deb courageously shares her journey of loving and raising a daughter who faced mental health struggles. She believes that by sharing her story and advocating for greater awareness, she can help break the silence and stigma surrounding mental health, guiding families toward healing, understanding, and hope.  

Deb and her daughter Mia speak regularly throughout Wisconsin, telling their story and talking about the crucial need for more dialogue and education around the topic of mental health, as well as more resources for our youth.  

She is currently a board member for the non-profit Serve. Deb is also a member of the International OCD Foundation Advocate Program and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Wisconsin Speakers Bureau. She volunteers regularly with organizations that support early childhood education and at-risk women and girls.  

Deb earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing from Concordia University Wisconsin. She is an online health coach, and mother of three.  

 


 

Headshot of Mia Mueller

Mia Mueller 

For over a decade, Mia Mueller struggled with mental health issues, going mis- or undiagnosed for twelve years. Now she is an advocate for mental health awareness and education, and frequently speaks with her mom, Deb, author of Love Hard. She shares her perspective on how mental health played a role in her childhood, what tools and resources worked and didn’t work, what school was like, and how she manages today. She hopes her story will start more conversations, uplift other parents and teens, show them that they are not alone, and that there can be hope.  

Mia Mueller is a 2022 graduate of Concordia University Wisconsin with a bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture and Design. She currently lives in Brown Deer and works for a home staging company in Mequon.  


 

2024 Linda T. Mellowes Woman of the Year Award Honoree
 

Headshot of Linda E. BenfieldLinda E. Benfield

Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP

Linda Benfield is a partner and environmental lawyer at Foley & Lardner LLP. Linda currently serves on the firm’s national Management Committee and has previously led the firm’s Milwaukee office and national Environmental Practice Group. 

Linda has been recognized as “one of the most established and effective environmental lawyers in the state,” according to Chambers USA. She has been honored multiple times as “Lawyer of the Year” by her peers for her legal abilities, professionalism, and integrity. 

Linda co-chaired the United Way annual campaign in 2013 and served as United Way board chair from 2020 to 2022. During that time, United Way and all our other community nonprofits were navigating the pandemic and developing new techniques to continue to provide services in our community. 

Linda has been involved with several other nonprofits. She is the vice chair of the board of Children’s Wisconsin. She is a trustee for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, and chairs the firm’s national partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. For over a decade, Linda has served on the board of the Milwaukee Ballet and is a former chair of the Ballet board.

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