Meet Victoria Walker: Victoria joined PD in 2015. Sheis Assistant Vice President/Branch Manager for U.S. Bank, Brown Deer Branch. She loves assisting customers with their financial needs. Her day consists of motivating, developing, supporting and coaching her team members to succeed in their roles. 

Walker is new in becoming involved with Professional Dimensions and has enjoyed attending the Bon Appetit Special Interest Group, which tries new restaurants every six weeks or so. At the latest Bon Appetit dinner at Third Coast Provisions, she heard many suggestions from other members on ways to become more involved in PD. 

Victoria’s leisure time is spent with her husband and walking their two dogs, Kolby, a Westie Terrier and Prince, a Cocker Spaniel. She reads the Milwaukee Business Journal and watches MSNBC to keep up with business and world news. Her favorite Milwaukee restaurant is Texas Roadhouse. When asked what is the best advice that she has been given, Victoria reports that it is to always treat people with respect and kindness. 

Professional Dimensions focused on “A happy community” as its final theme for the 2016-2017 year. Walker said that a happy community is one that is vibrant with activities attractive to visitors and residents. Victoria is also happy when she is shopping!

Meet new member Hope Liu: education professional, political activist, mother and wife. Hope is the Dean of the newly created School of Continuing and Online Learning at Cardinal Stritch University. As Dean, she is the strategy leader for the university’s online programs and courses. She collaborates with the other four Colleges to ensure that their online programs are of high quality and that their faculty are prepared to teach online. 

In her words, “I would say that my approach to higher education’s “business” is a little different. I don’t see boundaries for education. I like to experiment with curriculum design that works for any one of our diverse learners - our traditional Bachelor’s degree seeking students, our graduate students, regardless of whether they want to take their courses online or not. I like thinking about the forces of change acting on higher education and creating options that respond to those changes, anticipate the direction of higher ed, but also maintain a valuable experience for the learner. It’s tricky juggling all the variables and coming up with a solution, but I enjoy working with my team to generate new ideas and approaches that work for our learners.” 

Hope joined PD in December after being recruited by Theresa Reagan (they worked together previously at Children’s Hospital of WI). Hope recently started the Stritch Community Online Partnership (SCoOP) which encourages civic and arts organizations, and other non-profits to work with the School to use its technology and expertise to put their courses online. Some of their current partners are the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Milwaukee Zoo, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and, Make a Difference Wisconsin, led by PD’s Brenda Campbell.

After attending the Women’s March in Washington, DC, Hope became co-leader of the North Shore Huddle. Initially planned to be a group of 10-12, it now is a hub of activism for 175+ folks who live on the North Shore. Her commitment to keeping the members informed and engaged knows no bounds.

In reflecting on PD’s “Happiness in the community” series, Hope states “I think a happy community is one in which all members are healthy. And by healthy I mean they are safe. They are cared for. Their mental, emotional and spiritual needs are met and also challenged so they may grow. Healthy means that people are accepted as they are and can accept others for who they are. Everyone has the ability to become the best person possible through acceptance and support and working together. It’s a belief in the best of each other.”

Hope is married to CJ Wauters, an attorney at Godfrey and Kahn. They are parents to a daughter, Ellie, who is 6. Top news sources: CNN and JS Online. Favorite SE WI restaurant and/or bar: “I can’t believe I have to pick one...La Merenda because it’s lively, casual, and the food variety is amazing.”