The Cream City Foundation, the nation’s second oldest philanthropic organization serving the LGBTQ+ community, announced Charlie Nash as the new Board Chair and President and Laura Mayerle as the new Board of Directors Vice Chair, effective in February. In a January press release, the outgoing President and CEO DJ Quam said, “The Cream City Foundation Executive Board selected Charlie and Laura because of their demonstrated enthusiasm and actions to support the LGBTQ+ Community—both in their most recent roles as board members, but also in their personal and professional lives.” He continued, “Since joining our board, both Charlie and Laura have taken active roles in promoting Cream City Foundation both in the LGBTQ+ community in Milwaukee, but also among the corporate community, spanning multi-national corporations to locally owned businesses. In a time when Cream City Foundation seeks to cement our impact in our community, Charlie and Laura are well suited to lead us into the future.”

Charlie Nash, who has been on the board of directors since January of 2020, is the Senior Director of Digital Technology for GE Healthcare’s financing arm, and helps lead GE Healthcare’s LGBTQ+ resource group, called Pride Alliance. He also serves on the board of adoption agency Adoption Choice Inc, according to the release. “I am honored to have been given the opportunity to continue the nearly 40+ years of work of Cream City Foundation and thank DJ and Angie for their leadership and dedication,” Nash said. “We are very excited about continuing our marquee scholarship program, events, and work to support the funds and organizations within the Foundation and partners in the LGBTQ+ community of SE Wisconsin.”

Laura Mayerle joined the board in January of 2022 and is the Director of Corporate Training at Natera. Before working at Natera, she was a Performance Consultant and Coach for U.S. Bank. 

According to the release, Nash and Mayerle will succeed DJ Quam and Angie Harden, who will remain members at large of the board of directors.