2015 Black & White Ball raises $326,000 for Milwaukee Urban League

Picture (from left) are Milwaukee Urban League President and CEO Ralph Hollmon, We Energies Vice President Local Affairs Thelma Sias, and Urban League board chair and Johnson Controls assistant chief human resources officer Simon Davis.

The Milwaukee Urban League’s 30th Anniversary Black & White Ball proved to be a fun-filled night with more than $326,000 raised for the League’s programs. A record-breaking 21 major sponsors provided substantial support for this year’s event, which welcomed a crowd of more than 800 guests. Seven companies presented special gifts to the Milwaukee Urban League during the ball.
“We are so thankful for the continued support of our community and corporate friends in Milwaukee,” said Milwaukee Urban League President and CEO Ralph Hollmon. “To consistently garner this level of support inspires us to work even harder to serve underserved parts of our community and help increase graduation rates, decrease unemployment rates and promote the entrepreneurial strength that comes from a diverse community.”
The Black & White Ball’s 21 major sponsors this year were: American Family Insurance, Associated Bank, Aurora Health Care, BMO Harris Bank, BMO Harris Bradley Center, Brewers Community Foundation, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Forest County Potawatomi Community Foundation, Harley Davidson Motor Company, JP Morgan Chase, KS Energy Services, ManpowerGroup, MillerCoors, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Time Warner Cable, UPS, US Bank, We Energies and Wisconsin Energy Foundation.
The following organizations contributed special gifts at the ball: JP Morgan Chase Bank ($25,000); MillerCoors ($25,000), We Energies/Wisconsin Energy Foundation ($25,000); US Bank ($26,000), Harley-Davidson Motor Company ($40,000), Forest County Potawatomi Community Foundation ($50,000) and Johnson Controls ($60,000). Ten local companies stepped up by purchasing multiple tables to support this year’s event: GE Healthcare with nine tables; Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual and Forest County Potawatomi with three each; and Aurora Health Care, Harley-Davidson, MillerCoors, We Energies, SC Johnson and Froedtert & The Medical College each purchased two tables.
Guests also helped boost the evening’s revenues, contributing $21,858 through their participation in a silent auction and a special laptop computer donation. The laptops will be distributed to outstanding students headed to college. Ulice and Carmella Payne, longtime Milwaukee business leaders served as honorary co-chairs of the event. Vivian King of Aurora Health Care and Chantel Byrd of Manpower Group were co-chairs of the Black & White Ball Planning Committee.
The crowd enjoyed an electric performance by 1980s crowd favorite, Morris Day & The Time, in addition to sounds from The Larry Moore Trio during the champagne reception and D.J. Phil Anderson during the post-ball reception.