Emerging Industries | Technology
Manager of TechSpark Wisconsin (Microsoft)
Green Bay
Michelle Schuler leads TechSpark Wisconsin, an initiative of Microsoft that works to promote economic and workforce development in northeast Wisconsin through computer science education, job skilling, digital equity and access, and supporting the startup ecosystem. Some of its investments include TitletownTech, Microsoft TEALS program, CW Talent Ecosystem Youth and gener8tor Upskilling. Schuler is also a co-founder and state president of Women in Technology Wisconsin Inc., the state’s largest member organization of female leaders in the industry.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Two business leaders you would like to have dinner with: “Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO. The culture that he brings to Microsoft is one that I admire. … Reshma Saujani, Girls Who Code founder. I admire her strength and power to build a nonprofit.”
Favorite destinations: “My love for the outdoors takes me to Sister Bay, Door County; downtown Hatfield riding UTVs; and Pelican Lake hanging at the cottage. My mother’s Italian roots has my heart in Italy where I enjoy visiting family.”
First car: “My father told me to come to the farm. He threw me the keys to a Ford Mustang. I went out to the car, walked back by my dad and threw him the keys. … I said, ‘It’s stick, and I don’t know how to drive it.’ He threw me the keys and said ‘learn.’ I drove that car for five years.”
How you’d spend a one-year sabbatical: “Travel the world, finding the best local food joints along the way.”
