Kathy Koshgarian, the president and chief operating officer of the Milwaukee-based Dohmen Company Foundation, will be honored as BizTimes Milwaukee’s 11th Woman Executive of the Year award winner.
Koshgarian will be recognized at the Women in Business Symposium, to be held on Thursday, Aug. 19, from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Italian Community Center. Click here to register.
Koshgarian joined Dohmen in 2012. During her tenure with the company, she oversaw the launch of Dohmen Life Science Services.
Koshgarian helped facilitate The Dohmen Co.’s 2019 conversion from a six-generation family-owned business into a benefit corporation owned by a private foundation. Under that structure, the company’s profits are donated to the foundation for charitable purposes. Dohmen was only the second organization in the nation to adopt that structure.
After Dohman exited the pharma industry in 2019, Koshgarian changed the company’s focus. With the transition of the company to a philanthropic enterprise, Koshgarian led the creation and implementation of its Food for Health Milwaukee program. The program, a partnership with insurance cooperative Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, supplied thousands of meals to individuals at or below the federal poverty line.
“She changed Dohmen’s historically treatment focused market strategy to a new, preventive health offering using food as a superior way to reverse chronic disease and preserve human health,” said Cynthia LaConte, who retired in 2020 from running Dohmen’s daily operations. Koshgarian took on the role of president of Dohmen, following LaConte’s retirement.
Koshgarian was also responsible for developing plans to move the foundation’s headquarters from the Third Ward to the former Fein Brothers building on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
“(Koshgarian) has successfully facilitated extraordinary change over the last few years,” said LaConte. “She has navigated critical transitions using the power of purpose to realize impactful change. Kathy is a rare combination of an executive that accomplishes big things in quiet ways. She has made amazing progress changing our company, our community and the world for the better.”
Previous recipients of the BizTimes Woman Executive of the Year Award have included: Patty Cadorin, senior advisor at BMO Harris Bank; Mary Lou Young, former chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County; Juli Kaufmann, president of Fix Development ; Wendy Baumann, the president and chief visionary officer of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp.; Paula Penebaker, president and chief executive officer of YWCA Southeast Wisconsin; Dr. Eve Hall, former president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin; Nanette Gardetto, founder of Baptista’s Bakery Inc.; Maria Monreal-Cameron, former president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Wisconsin; Gail Lione, a former Harley-Davidson Inc. executive; and Cynthia LaConte, president and CEO of Dohmen.
The Women in Business Symposium is sponsored by CJ & Associates, Davis|Kuelthau, MATC and Summit Credit Union. Partners for the event include Milwaukee Women inc, Professional Dimensions and TEMPO Milwaukee. Click here to register.
