Children’s Wisconsin announces historic engagement and philanthropy campaign

Brighter Than Ever is supporting revolutionary approach to treating all aspects of kids’ health — physical, dental, social and mental

Children’s Wisconsin has launched Brighter Than Ever, the most ambitious and comprehensive engagement and philanthropy campaign in the organization’s history. To date, the campaign has secured more than $266 million of its goal to raise $300 million by Dec. 31, 2025.

The Brighter Than Ever campaign is designed to galvanize the community’s generosity, volunteerism and advocacy to support the revolutionary approach Children’s Wisconsin is taking to provide care for all aspects of a child’s health — physical, dental, social and mental. Through its Milwaukee and Fox Valley hospitals, primary care, specialty care and mental health clinics, and community services locations, Children’s Wisconsin has 6.5 million connections with kids and families throughout the state each year.

“Children’s Wisconsin is committed to doing what’s best for the health and well-being of kids and families so they can reach their full potential,” said Gil Peri, president and CEO of Children’s Wisconsin. “So much of the innovative and essential work being done inside our walls and out in the community wouldn’t be possible without philanthropic support. Brighter Than Ever will enable our talented team to do even more.”

“The Children’s Wisconsin story started 130 years ago in a rented house on Brady Street in Milwaukee — a dream brought to life by seven women volunteers and philanthropists who thought kids deserved a different kind of care and a pastor who found kids safe and loving homes. Now, we look to the next 130 years with gratitude, hope and optimism,” said Meg Brzyski Nelson, president of the Children’s Wisconsin Foundation and senior vice president of Children’s Wisconsin. “Every day, Children’s is working to realize our vision that the kids of Wisconsin will be the healthiest in the nation.”

Meeting the needs of Wisconsin’s kids and families

Wisconsin’s kids are facing unprecedented health challenges, and Children’s Wisconsin is the only pediatric health system in the state devoted 100 percent to kids.

Through the Brighter Than Ever campaign, Children’s Wisconsin is dedicating resources to the following priority areas.

Brighter Than Ever Immediate Impact for Kids
These funds help Children’s Wisconsin be nimble and responsive to what kids and families need the most right now, such as driving research for cures to childhood cancer and supporting patient volumes in real time, including adding staff members during viral season or emergency situations.

Spark Forward: Eradicating disease and innovating health care
Researchers and scientists are identifying better ways to prevent, treat and eliminate childhood diseases, working to drive clinical discoveries that give kids the best quality of life today and the longest life possible. Children’s Wisconsin is a major teaching affiliate of the Medical College of Wisconsin, which is helping power the workforce of tomorrow.

Glow Beyond: Caring for the whole child and empowering families to build strong communities
Only 10 percent of a child’s health is determined by access to quality clinical care. The remaining 90 percent is due to factors beyond kids’ control, like genetics and underlying social, economic and environmental conditions. Children’s Wisconsin meets kids and families where they are and when they need help most. This includes providing child life specialists to support kids with comfort and compassion after a serious diagnosis and connecting families to community resources like housing, food and transportation.

Shine Through: Creating solutions for mental and behavioral health
Knowing that mental and behavioral health are just as important as physical health, Children’s Wisconsin made a commitment to address this critical need in 2019. These services now are integrated across the Children’s Wisconsin footprint and throughout the community, setting a standard that physicians and health systems locally, regionally and nationally can follow.

“Brighter Than Ever helps fuel our programs, from research and critical care for the sickest kids and babies, to community initiatives designed to keep kids healthy, to mental health resources that are accessible when and where kids and teens need them most. Our expert providers offer this care because it’s the right thing to do for kids,” said Dave Werner, chair of the Children’s Wisconsin Foundation Board of Directors. “Your support makes Children’s Wisconsin a hospital and so much more.”

To learn more about the Brighter Than Ever engagement and philanthropy campaign for Children’s Wisconsin, including how to become a volunteer, please visit childrenswi.org/brighterthanever.

Children's Wisconsin Media Relations

Supporting Children’s Wisconsin — whether through direct donations, event participation, fundraising or volunteerism — is the investment of a lifetime. When you make that investment, you are supporting critical and preventive care programs that make a difference in the lives of kids and families.