Meet The Board
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CO- CHAIR
Research Regulatory Specialist
Denise is a Research Regulatory Specialist in the Cardiovascular Clinical Trials department at Advocate Aurora Health Care. Her background is in bench research working in renal failure and neuro-oncology. After receiving her graduate degree in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Louisville she returned home to Milwaukee. She found joy and admiration while observing her aunts plant and harvest their own food and quickly grew to appreciate fresh food and the importance of having it available for all.
Denise is excited to be a part of the Victory Garden Initiative Board. As a lifelong learner she is sure that fulfillment of the initiative’s mission will also pave the way for learning many new things.
In her free time, Denise enjoys painting, watching movies with her husband and traveling with friends to see as many places as this lifetime will allow.
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BOARD MEMBER
Volunteer Program Manager, Urban Ecology Center
As a Milwaukee native, my love for nature comes from my time spent in Washington Park, the summers spent at camp, and visiting family in the Rocky Mountains. My dreams spanned from swimming with dolphins as a Marine Biologist, trekking into the great savannas of Africa as a big cat vet, and breathing in lots of old dust as an Egyptologist. I received her B.A. from Macalester College and M.S. from the University of Oregon, both degrees in Environmental Studies with concentrations in Biology, Ecological Restoration, and Environmental Justice. As my dreams changed, my need for adventure didn’t. I love to travel, to explore the world around me be it in New Zealand or Jamaica where I studied abroad, or right here in Milwaukee. One thing that is certain, my work has always focused on Nature and Environmental Justice with a connection to water and waterways. I’m excited to part of VGI and connect deeply to the mission. I live with my partner and two cats here in Milwaukee and love going to the movies!
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CO- CHAIR
Kitonga Alexander, a Milwaukee native, taught elementary, middle and high school students in Milwaukee for 11 years. He coordinated the Welcome Home Project, a program designed to reduce recidivism by working directly with citizens returning to the Milwaukee community from incarceration. He has a bachelor’s degree in Africology, a master’s degree in Business Management and is a History PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Kitonga’s research interests are African American migration, revolts and uprisings within the African Diaspora and African American cultural identity. He is the lead researcher and content creator for the Milwaukee Bronzeville Histories, an organization which documents historical people and places in historical communities. He is a researcher on the Living for the City Project. He created the Walk of Truth, a guided social expedition that participants returning to the community from incarceration take in order to create individual plans of productivity. He was the recipient of the first TMJ4 Positively Milwaukee Award in 2017 for teaching.
Kitonga serves on the Victory Garden Initiative Board and is the board president of City School, a private school in Milwaukee that educates predominantly African American students. He is also a member of the Racial Justice & Equity Advisory Committee for the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. As the founder of the organization UPP (United for Progress and Productivity), Kitonga is committed to establishing strong community relationships, with the aspirations of networking an array of resources for Milwaukee community members as they navigate their collective and individual journeys.
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BOARD TREASURER
Wade and his family have called Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood home since 2010, back when they were newlyweds with a garden full of good intentions and an 1892 Victorian full of surprises.
As a family, the Loofboro’s are deeply invested in their city and their block: they garden, cook, walk/run, bike neighborhood streets, and hold a firm belief that knowing where your food comes from actually matters (even when it means admitting the tomatoes didn’t quite make it this year). That love of place, community, and real food is what connects their family story to the one VGI has been writing in Harambee for years.
Wade joined VGI’s Board of Directors as Treasurer in early 2022, drawn in, as many great things are, by being a neighbor, and by a growing circle of friends from church and across the Milwaukee community who kept encouraging him to become part of VGI’s story. Professionally, he’s a Mechatronic Systems Project Manager at Beckhoff Automation and holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Marquette University. But what drives him at VGI goes beyond spreadsheets. Wade believes that when people put their hands to work together, they build something bigger than what they set out to build: relationships, trust, and community. VGI’s mission, building communities that grow their own food toward a food system that is just, sustainable, and nutritious for all, isn’t just a cause he supports. It’s a description of the neighborhood he’s been choosing, investing in, and raising his family in for fifteen years. That instinct for community-building isn’t new. Wade spent years as a Partnership Leader for a church partnership in Salta, Argentina, planning mission trips, managing budgets across languages and borders, and learning that showing up for a community is beautiful in South America or on the north side of Milwaukee. And he’s convinced that work has never mattered more than it does right now.
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BOARD MEMBER
Marques Bland is a native Milwaukeean and is eager to use his skills to help further VGI’s efforts. He is a certified Project Manager at The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center and has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, a Master of Business Administration in General Business, and a Master of Business Administration in Information Technology Management. While he was privileged to grow up in a food-secure environment, his parents grew up in households without that same nutritional security, who taught Marques the importance of creating positive change with the skills and abilities one possesses.
Returning to Milwaukee after nearly a decade in Austin, Texas, Marques is passionate about applying his strategic planning skills to support local efforts in sustainability and food security.
In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, lifting weights, playing video games, and taking naps.
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Information on Tara will be coming soon.
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BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Alexandra Menefee is an experienced organizational leader with a strong track record of driving strategic transformation across the healthcare and financial services industries. She currently serves as Strategic Initiatives Manager at Baird, where she leads cross-functional, firm-wide initiatives that align people, processes, and strategy to deliver results.
With 13 years in healthcare before transitioning to financial services, Dr. Menefee has built deep expertise in project and change management, guiding organizations through growth, transition, and complexity.
She holds a PhD in Organizational Leadership, a Master of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
