Visit Milwaukee Announces New Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Human Resources

MILWAUKEE (August 21, 2024) –Visit Milwaukee announced five new promotions and two new hires, expanding the capabilities of its marketing, human resources and partnership departments, and mirroring the anticipated future growth for Milwaukee’s travel and tourism industry, which contributes over $6 billion to the local economy.

Earlier this year, Visit Milwaukee promoted Josh Albrecht to chief marketing officer, Kathryn Lavey to creative director, Bryan Kubel to senior partnership manager, Alex Zimdars to performance marketing manager and Ina Li to social media manager.

Recently, Visit Milwaukee hired Christina Cooper as vice president of human resources and Monica Bullington as marketing projects manager.

“These promotions recognize the years of dedication and the caliber of Josh, Kathryn, Bryan, Alex, and Ina’s service to Visit Milwaukee, while adding Christina and Monica to the team has already better positioned Visit Milwaukee for the years ahead,” says Visit Milwaukee President and CEO Peggy Williams-Smith. “I’m so proud of the work these talented individuals do every day, and because of them I know our future is bright.”

Albrecht started with Visit Milwaukee as vice president of marketing and communications in 2022. Today, as chief marketing officer, he oversees a team of marketing, advocacy, communications, community engagement, and social media professionals who work every day to elevate the city’s reputation and increase visitation to Milwaukee. In his time at Visit Milwaukee, he established a new brand for Visit Milwaukee, competitively positioned the city as a national leader, and fostered excellent relationships with key strategic partners to market and promote the Greater Milwaukee area as a convention and tourism destination. In addition to this, Albrecht serves on the boards of Bavarian United SC, The Friends of Lakeshore State Park, and Milwaukee Riverwalk District Inc.

As vice president of human resources, Christina Cooper will spearhead initiatives to foster a dynamic and inclusive workplace culture, enhance employee development programs and drive innovative HR strategies to support our mission of promoting our city as a premier destination.  With over two decades of experience in strategic HR leadership, Cooper brings a wealth of expertise in talent management, organizational development, and employee engagement.  Cooper graduated from Cardinal Stritch University, where she received a bachelor’s of management degree and a certificate of human resource management.

Kathryn Lavey joined Visit Milwaukee in 2016 as a graphic design manager and was promoted to senior creative manager in 2020 before being promoted to creative director earlier this year. As creative director, she leads the marketing team in brand development, multichannel marketing, and creative management. Lavey led the efforts for the recent Visit Milwaukee rebrand and served as a crucial connector between the research, execution, and rollout phases throughout the process. In her newly expanded role, Lavey also oversees photography, videography, graphic design, content, social and website development. In addition to this, Lavey also serves on the Wauwatosa West Allis Chamber of Commerce board and Milwaukee Downtown, Bid #21’s Downtown Placemaking Task Force.

Bryan Kubel joined Visit Milwaukee in 2021 as the organization’s partnership sales manager. In his position as senior partnership manager, he researches, secures, and implements opportunities for organizational growth, including regional municipal relationships, key industry partners, private funds, and corporate partnerships. During his tenure at Visit Milwaukee, partnership numbers have grown nearly 65% from 581 to 950 partners from across Southeastern Wisconsin. Kubel has also unveiled the SPARK program, a sponsored partnership program for key committees and stakeholders to bring on new partners at no charge, and added corporate partners of Carma Laboratories, CG Schmidt, Hackbarth Hospitality Group, and Meetings & Incentives Worldwide. In addition to this, Kubel also serves on the boards of the Walker’s Point Association and Ball State University Young Alumni Council and is a representative on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s I-794 Lake Interchange Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

Alex Zimdars joined Visit Milwaukee in 2019 as a graphic designer and will manage all performance marketing and data analytics for the organization as the new performance marketing manager. In her new role, she will provide visitor, product channel, marketing analytics & insights and provide deep analytical expertise as it relates visitors, prospects, markets, and channels. In her time at Visit Milwaukee, she launched the Milwaukee Made video series and has contributed to the founding and leadership of the Milwaukee Theater District.

Ina Li joined Visit Milwaukee in 2022 as social media coordinator and oversees social strategy, social content creation, paid social promotions, and channel management for Visit Milwaukee’s social media channels and partnership brands. In her time at Visit Milwaukee, she has grown follower counts 132% on Instagram and 16% on Facebook respectively. I was responsible for launching Visit Milwaukee’s TikTok channel and managing the Good Things Brewing, Milwaukee Theater District, and Dear MKE channels. Visit Milwaukee has a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and YouTube and nearly 300k followers on all channels combined.

Monica Bullington will play an essential role in creating and executing key projects, initiatives, and community collaborations for Visit Milwaukee as the marketing project manager. Prior to joining Visit Milwaukee, Bullington provided workplace consultation services and led a community centered real estate team. Bullington graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University, where she earned a bachelors in anthropology, and international development.

To schedule an interview, contact Ian Thompson (ithompson@milwaukee.org). Download high-resolution headshots here.

About Visit Milwaukee

Visit Milwaukee creates economic impact and supports a stronger, more inclusive community by promoting the Greater Milwaukee area as a premier tourism destination. Strengthened by Visit Milwaukee’s dynamic convention and leisure marketing initiatives, tourism to Milwaukee contributes $6.388 billion to the local economy, supporting nearly 44,000 hospitality employees. Visit Milwaukee has over 900 members, including hotels/motels, restaurants, attractions, services, and area businesses. The Wisconsin Center District, with its recently completed $456 million Baird Center expansion, the city of Wauwatosa, and the Potawatomi Casino | Hotel, are strategic partners with Visit Milwaukee, providing funding support for conventions and tourism programs. For more information, call (800) 554-1448 or visit www.visitmilwaukee.org.