fuel milwaukee's biddle raises profile of young leaders
By: Shanya Boyd
Coming from a tough background, Corry Joe Biddle never imagined she’d become the strong, young Milwaukee leader she is today.
As executive director of FUEL Milwaukee, Biddle has come a long way from her humble beginnings in a north side Milwaukee housing project.
“I knew that I was poor. I lived in the projects,” Biddle said. “I felt inferior in that environment. I had the whole single family, all of the stuff you hear on TV about the ills of poverty. I started to develop this story about myself and where I had come from.”
Biddle is a product of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Biddle described her first school as standard and said she fell behind other students who came from inferior schools. But she didn’t let that keep her from excelling.
In third grade, Biddle tested into the gifted and talented track and transferred to Golda Meir School. This put her on the path to achievement throughout school. Biddle is a graduate of Rufus King High School.
Today, Biddle is one of Milwaukee’s up-and-coming young leaders and she is giving a voice to young professionals in Milwaukee. Through her role at FUEL Milwaukee, she is helping to raise the profile of young professionals in Milwaukee.
FUEL Milwaukee, an affiliate of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, is a community engagement organization for young professionals. It aims to attract and retain young and diverse talent in the Milwaukee region by helping young professionals to discover Milwaukee’s unique attractions and connect with other like-minded Milwaukeeans and regional leaders who want to create a more vibrant, inclusive Milwaukee.
Since its launch in 2007, Fuel has grown to a network of over 40,000 regional professionals, 60 employer partners and 7,000 registered members.
As FUEL starts to get older, Biddle wants to rebrand the organization to be more inclusive of professionals of various ages, up to 40 years old.
“People think, ‘I’m 31 now, I’m not young anymore and that means I’m not professional anymore,” Biddle said. “Now, we’re going up to 40 years old.”
Biddle believes Milwaukee has a lot to offer, but she says progress has been slow, particularly for communities of color.
“Milwaukee is still a segregated city and that poverty and segregation still persist in communities of color,” Biddle said.
Biddle knows from first-hand experience the difficulty in keeping young professionals in Milwaukee. She almost left after college because she didn’t see opportunity here.
“I didn’t see opportunity because of the side of town I came from,” Biddle said.
But her view of the city changed for the better after opportunities opened up for her in college. Biddle received her bachelor’s degree in English from Mount Mary College.
During college, Biddle did her first internship at the Black Holocaust Museum. She left the Black Holocaust Museum her senior year to take an internship with North American Sales Organization. This paved the way to a full time job with the company. In that job, Biddle was responsible for soliciting companies to use Manpower Inc. for their staffing needs. The job opened Biddle’s eyes to the possibilities in Milwaukee.
Biddle later returned to the Black Holocaust Museum as a grant writer. She was promoted to the museum’s executive director in 2005. As executive director, Biddle was responsible for marketing the museum and found that she enjoyed this part of the job. This led to an opportunity to do marketing for FUEL. In 2008, Biddle joined FUEL as managing director and became executive director in 2010.
Considering that she almost left Milwaukee based on what she perceived as a lack of opportunity, many people now are glad Biddle made the choice to stay.
Coming from a tough background, Corry Joe Biddle never imagined she’d become the strong, young Milwaukee leader she is today.
As executive director of FUEL Milwaukee, Biddle has come a long way from her humble beginnings in a north side Milwaukee housing project.
“I knew that I was poor. I lived in the projects,” Biddle said. “I felt inferior in that environment. I had the whole single family, all of the stuff you hear on TV about the ills of poverty. I started to develop this story about myself and where I had come from.”
Biddle is a product of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Biddle described her first school as standard and said she fell behind other students who came from inferior schools. But she didn’t let that keep her from excelling.
In third grade, Biddle tested into the gifted and talented track and transferred to Golda Meir School. This put her on the path to achievement throughout school. Biddle is a graduate of Rufus King High School.
Today, Biddle is one of Milwaukee’s up-and-coming young leaders and she is giving a voice to young professionals in Milwaukee. Through her role at FUEL Milwaukee, she is helping to raise the profile of young professionals in Milwaukee.
FUEL Milwaukee, an affiliate of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, is a community engagement organization for young professionals. It aims to attract and retain young and diverse talent in the Milwaukee region by helping young professionals to discover Milwaukee’s unique attractions and connect with other like-minded Milwaukeeans and regional leaders who want to create a more vibrant, inclusive Milwaukee.
Since its launch in 2007, Fuel has grown to a network of over 40,000 regional professionals, 60 employer partners and 7,000 registered members.
As FUEL starts to get older, Biddle wants to rebrand the organization to be more inclusive of professionals of various ages, up to 40 years old.
“People think, ‘I’m 31 now, I’m not young anymore and that means I’m not professional anymore,” Biddle said. “Now, we’re going up to 40 years old.”
Biddle believes Milwaukee has a lot to offer, but she says progress has been slow, particularly for communities of color.
“Milwaukee is still a segregated city and that poverty and segregation still persist in communities of color,” Biddle said.
Biddle knows from first-hand experience the difficulty in keeping young professionals in Milwaukee. She almost left after college because she didn’t see opportunity here.
“I didn’t see opportunity because of the side of town I came from,” Biddle said.
But her view of the city changed for the better after opportunities opened up for her in college. Biddle received her bachelor’s degree in English from Mount Mary College.
During college, Biddle did her first internship at the Black Holocaust Museum. She left the Black Holocaust Museum her senior year to take an internship with North American Sales Organization. This paved the way to a full time job with the company. In that job, Biddle was responsible for soliciting companies to use Manpower Inc. for their staffing needs. The job opened Biddle’s eyes to the possibilities in Milwaukee.
Biddle later returned to the Black Holocaust Museum as a grant writer. She was promoted to the museum’s executive director in 2005. As executive director, Biddle was responsible for marketing the museum and found that she enjoyed this part of the job. This led to an opportunity to do marketing for FUEL. In 2008, Biddle joined FUEL as managing director and became executive director in 2010.
Considering that she almost left Milwaukee based on what she perceived as a lack of opportunity, many people now are glad Biddle made the choice to stay.