Greg Wesley on Building Community Through Collaboration: The ThriveOn King Story

Greg Wesley became president and chief executive officer of Greater Milwaukee Foundation in June 2023, bringing extensive experience from his previous role as senior vice president of strategic alliances and business development at the Medical College of Wisconsin. In that position, he served as a key strategic leader, ambassador and advisor while overseeing the execution of critical initiatives through both established and emerging partnerships.

One of Wesley's most significant achievements was helping to forge a historic collaboration between the foundation, the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Royal Capital Group—a partnership that became the catalyst for ThriveOn King. This ambitious project transformed a former department store in the heart of Bronzeville on North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive into a vibrant mixed-use development.

Today, ThriveOn King houses community-serving resources and tenants on its first floor, mixed-income housing for seniors and families on upper levels, offices for select Medical College of Wisconsin centers and programs, and serves as the foundation's new headquarters.

Wesley was one of the guests on “Milwaukee Made.” The following Q&A is from his chat with show host David Caruso. 

Q: The ThriveOn facility is incredible. The energy is infectious. It's such a cool place to visit. Tell me what ThriveOn is? 

Wesley: “The ThriveOn collaboration and specifically ThriveOn King is a collaboration between the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Medical College of Wisconsin and Royal Capital Group and it is based in health equity, in racial equity and inclusion. It is a tangible example of bringing community together across multiple opportunities, whether it's around food access, employment opportunities, early childhood education, community gathering, employment. It's just a great space. The building sits at the intersection of three different neighborhoods, Halyard Park, Harambe, which is to the north, and Brewer’s Hill to the east. And it's the largest building that sits in any of the neighborhoods that we've been able to repurpose with, like I said, tangible examples of community.” 

Q: In the development phase, this really was a place where the project was really centered around what the community wanted and needed. Tell me a little bit about how the community was incorporated into the development of this amazing space. 

Wesley: “We created a community advisory council very early of residents of each of the neighborhoods and also some other community leaders. And we kept them a part of our project from the very beginning. They informed pretty much everything that we have done. We had some ideas about what we wanted to do. They had ideas that they said, you should think about and if we could do it, we did it. An example would be the artwork that you see in the building. Initially when we were gathering and saying what we wanted in the building, art wasn't a major component of our initial thinking. But the community told us that this is an area that has deep stories, and we want those stories told, not just through people coming in and out of the building, but in the art to represent people's hopes, their dreams, past, present, and future aspirations. The community just has been critical to our ability to advance.” 

Q: In the short period of time, how fun and special is it for you to see people experiencing ThriveOn King? 

Wesley: “I can't really describe it except that I better be on every day when I walk in the door. No days off really because I'm going to run into somebody and they're going to share their experience and their story and the ability to hear it and receive it and then also be present when they want to tell it, because they're being so authentic and so genuine. It's allowed me to grow as a person because someone, no matter who they are in Milwaukee, if they come in the building, they'll talk about how their grandmother brought them here for a shopping experience. They got their first job. They meant their first significant other. They had some kind of experience here that connected them in a unique way. And the ability to advance that when this building was underutilized. And to bring it back to life in this part of Milwaukee, it is hard to describe the amazing feeling.” 

Q: From the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s perspective, what does a place like this mean to the progress of our city? 

Wesley: “I think it means that for donors that we are being forward thinking about having a community impact but also showing them that we are still true to our roots of being a place as a philanthropic bank. But we're also leaning into where the community needs additional investment and that it can be done in a way that's economically viable, that connects people, that stands in the gap on some of the challenges that we have in this community and positions it in a way that's a positive example. Because a lot of times you hear, I call it the negative narrative with no forward projection of how we're going to get out of it. This is an example of collaborating fundamentals around housing, food, access, employment, all the things that a community needs to be successful in action and working. And because the foundation took a risk, really, it wasn't that great of a risk people think it was, but because the foundation said it was going to use its leases and a generational commitment to helping the development go forward, it's just fantastic.” 

Q: How would you encourage people to make sure this is a stop on their visit to Milwaukee? 

Wesley: “I would tell, if they're interested in art, they have to stop here. We have essentially 21 pieces that were commissioned and artists that have poured in their heart and soul to reflect what they heard from residents and Brewer’s Hill, Harambe and Halyard Park in a unique way and they won't be disappointed. Most of the artwork is intergenerational in nature. We have pieces by, well-known artists like Reggie Baylor, working in collaboration with some of his other artists. We have people like Evelyn Terry, who's just internationally known, and we have her signature piece in the front display window. If you love art and you want to see it from a unique perspective, you got to stop here.”