Get to know: Jess Lambrecht
Executive officer, Division of Continuing Education & Community Engagement, UW-Green Bay
Jess Lambrecht’s goal is to connect businesses and individuals with education that is as fast and convenient as watching an online video, but with the quality and long-term impact provided by an accredited university.
“The programs that are offered out of the [Division of Continuing Education & Community Engagement at UW-Green Bay] are real time, industry-driven content that’s going to help someone in their current work world, but they can’t wait four years for a formal degree,” says Lambrecht, the division’s executive officer. “They need something on a more immediate basis.”
The Division of Continuing Education & Community Engagement is the largest division on the UWGB campus, serving roughly 80,000 learners annually. The division offers about a dozen non-credit certificate programs in areas such as data science, project management and nonprofit leadership.
Certificate programs are typically about 20 hours, with instruction taking place in various formats — fully online, hybrid or in person — to meet the needs of multiple audiences.
Prior to joining UWGB, Lambrecht worked as assistant vice president of cooperative education at Lakeland University, leading efforts to support work-based learning for students on the main campus in Sheboygan and additional campus locations statewide.
“I think that really set me up for success [at UWGB] because I get how to work with disadvantaged adults, underrepresented populations, financially challenged individuals and everyone in between,” Lambrecht says. “As a region, we have to continue to educate our community so that we have a viable economy and businesses can grow and thrive.”
Lambrecht, who has been in her role at UWGB for a year, says the division also creates custom training programs for businesses and organizations looking to upskill employees in specific areas.
“One of the reasons I’m so inspired by the work that we do is because it’s based on the rate of change that we’re living in,” she says. “In today’s era of employment, we have to be able to upskill even faster, and that’s why we’re seeing such amazing growth out of the continuing ed team.”
— Amelia Compton Wolff
BIPOC support
Brown County United Way is investing $50,000 in the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation’s Capacity Building Grants Program of the Nonprofit Impact Initiative to support BIPOC-led organizations based in Brown County. The goal is to empower BIPOC (Black, Indigenious and people of color) leaders in their work while supporting those organizations that welcome diverse experiences and perspectives. “Often the very organizations that provide the critical perspectives needed for inclusive, community-wide transformation are under-resourced,” said Robyn Davis, president & CEO of Brown County United Way. “This significant investment from Brown County United Way will provide support to a focused segment of our local nonprofit community much like other funding sources within the Nonprofit Impact Initiative’s grant program.” The program helps strengthen organizations by providing tools, resources and space to collaborate.
Hot invention
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Associate Mechanical Engineering Technology Professor Pawel Olszewski was granted a U.S. patent in February for his flameless impingement oven. Olszewski designed and built the oven in the Teaching and Energy Research Industrial Lab on the Oshkosh campus. Industrial ovens are used for, among other purposes, heat treating and melting materials like steel or aluminum. The benefits of Olszewski’s flameless impingement setup are faster heating to increase productivity, fewer emitted pollutants because the thorough heating reduces nitrogen oxides, and a reduction in fuel consumption with gases exhausted at lower temperatures. Olszewski began the patent process in 2019.
Growing leaders
Asian Corporate & Entrepreneur Leaders (ACEL) introduced a Northeast Wisconsin chapter in March with a launch event at Hinterland Brewery in Ashwaubenon. The national nonprofit organization provides Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) professionals with opportunities to work together to enhance AAPI leadership in their careers, communities and local government. ACEL offers a range of professional development programs; these include panels, workshops and seminars, as well as community activities such as a mentorship program and professional networking events. In April, ACEL debuted its monthly InspirASIAN Speakers Series featuring local AAPI leaders. For more information, visit ACELeaders.org.
