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Featured Speaker:
Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck
Director of Corporate Philanthropy at Johnson Controls
Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck is director of Corporate Philanthropy at Johnson Controls, where she is part of the department of Public Affairs, Diversity & Inclusion and the Johnson Controls Foundation. Annemarie is responsible for strategy and execution of community-facing initiatives. She is the architect of Johnson Controls’ philanthropic approach to the neighboring communities of Johnson Controls’ corporate headquarters. Annemarie led a multi-use sport court complex project with the Housing Authority of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Bucks that won the Milwaukee Award for Neighborhood Development Innovation in 2019. She is responsible for employee-giving campaigns, including the U.S. United Way employee campaign. Johnson Controls is a global leader with $23 billion in revenue and 105,000 employees working to create intelligent buildings, efficient energy solutions and integrated infrastructure to deliver on the promise of smart cities and communities in 150 countries. Johnson Controls has been recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies; as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens; and is listed on Fortune’s Change the World list.
Annemarie is also a regular contributor to U.S. Catholic and the Milwaukee Catholic Herald on issues of faith and family life. Before joining Johnson Controls in 2006, she worked regularly as a freelance writer. Her book, “Discovering Motherhood: An Extraordinary Journey Through Everyday Life,” chronicles her family’s experience with foster care and adoption. Her writing has won numerous local and national awards. She was named a Woman of Influence by the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2019, and she and her husband Bill were named outstanding adoptive parents of the year by the state of Wisconsin in 2017.
As a young adult, Annemarie participated in a year of service through Amate House in Chicago, where she was a middle school teacher at St. Margaret of Scotland. She then taught at Blessed Trinity in Milwaukee and at University School of Milwaukee from 1991 through 1998. She graduated from Dominican High School and Marquette University, where she ran track and cross country and was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society.
She and her husband Bill have been married 26 years and have four young adult children: Jacob, Liam, Teenasia and Jamilet. In her spare time, Annemarie enjoys running, camping and reading.