GOLD2023

HISTORIC MILWAUKEE INC

aka HMI   |   Milwaukee, WI   |  www.historicmilwaukee.org

Mission

Since 1974, Historic Milwaukee, Inc. has been dedicated to increasing awareness of and commitment to Milwaukee's history, architecture and the preservation of our built environment through educational tours and programs.

Ruling year info

1974

Executive Director

Ms. Stacy A Swadish

Main address

235 E. Michigan St.

Milwaukee, WI 53202 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

39-1212338

NTEE code info

Historical Societies and Related Activities (A80)

Other Art, Culture, Humanities Organizations/Services N.E.C. (A99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

In a city with a history of segregated neighborhoods, HMI works to share the history and stories of all of Milwaukee's neighborhoods through tours and other educational programs.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Neighborhood Walking Tours

Our long-standing walking tours explore Milwaukee's unique and vibrant neighborhoods. Other regular walking tours included Downtown, Downtown Sculpture, River walk tour, Bay View, Brady Street , the Third Ward, North Point Mansions and Milwaukee sculpture. We added a new tour using the city's streetcar in 2019. Our winter season runs from October to May and offers a Skywaukee tour, allowing visitors to explore Milwaukee from the vantage point of the skywalk system.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Student tours are tailored for third through fifth grade curriculum and starts with a guided tour of downtown that focuses on local history, civic government, architecture and geography. The program includes a classroom curriculum packet that continues the learning experience. Our student tour guides are volunteers who have completed a thorough guide-training course. Many are retired educators who continue to share their love of teaching with Milwaukee's children. Last year more than 1,200 students participated in tours. The tours are especially appealing to MPS and other schools with limited field trip budgets; they are priced at $5 per student for the tour and curriculum packet.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

oric Milwaukee is also well known for presenting the Spaces & Traces Annual Neighborhood Open House. Over the past 39 years, hundreds of volunteers have helped thousands of tour goers become more familiar with the unique characteristics of dozens of historic areas in Milwaukee's richly textured neighborhoods. Tour attendees have been educated about the "historical traces" of areas as varied as the Third Ward, Yankee Hill, Lincoln Avenue, Bay View, Rufus King, Newberry Boulevard, Sherman Park, and Story Hill as well as the areas along the rivers in downtown, Brady Street, Riverwest, and Walker's Point. The 2019 Spaces & Traces took place May 11 in the Wauwatosa Highlands neighborhood. The event drew 1,700 attendees—a record number for a Spaces & Traces tour. The May 2020 Spaces & Traces tour will take place in Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods May 9.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Doors Open Milwaukee is a two-day public celebration of Milwaukee’s art, architecture, culture and history. This premier event offers behind the scenes tours of more than 150 buildings throughout Milwaukee’s downtown and diverse neighborhoods. Doors Open also offers lectures and in-depth tours featuring prominent local artists, architects, historians, and community leaders. The program is FREE, making this a uniquely inclusive event, accessible to families, seniors and individuals, regardless of income level.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Families

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Association of Architectural Organizations 2023

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

HMI works to promote Milwaukee's history, architecture and the built environment through tours and programs including Doors Open and Spaces & Traces.
Our 2023 goal for Doors Open, our largest program, has goals of opening more than 100 buildings throughout metro Milwaukee, to the public Sept. 23-24th, 2003.

We partner with other organizations to promote Milwaukee's diverse neighborhoods during Doors Open. Each year, we develop app-based walking tours in new neighborhoods, using local residents to share their stories.

HMI has presented Doors Open for 13 years and has received highly competitive grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts for the past seven years.

HMI has developed more than 12 app-based walking tours and plans to debut two more this fall as part of Doors Open. Past tours include:
Avenues West
Beerline Trail
Clarke Square (in English, Spanish and Laotian)
Harbor District (in English and Spanish)
Indigenous Milwaukee
Metcalfe Park
Silver City (in English and Spanish)
This year's neighborhoods will feature the Layton Boulevard neighborhood (in English and Spanish) and the Lindsey Heights.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently

Financials

HISTORIC MILWAUKEE INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

HISTORIC MILWAUKEE INC

Board of directors
as of 09/08/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr Tim Cotter

Walker Dunlop

Term: 2023 - 2026

Tim Cotter

Walker & Dunlop

Stewart Dempsey

Walnut Hill Ltd.

Brian Hatzung

Zimmerman Architectural Studios, Inc.

Karin Censky

Michael Best

Madeleine Gordon

Kohl's

Kirsten Thompson

City of Milwaukee LIbrary

Gregory Davis

One 5 Olive

David Griggs

One 5 Olive

Ahmad Omari

National Business Furniture

Kenneth Wirth

Johnson Controls

Steve Kessel

Community volunteer

Jennifer Buchanan

WE Energies

Mason Khan

Rockwell Automation

Shaneeka White

Associated Bank

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 8/8/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 09/08/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.