Heather Wentler, Executive Director and Co-Founder
Heather Wentler has also founded past ventures Fractal and the community program Madison SOUP. Heather has always encouraged others to reach for what they want to become. Through teaching early-childhood through middle school in disadvantaged schools, her role was more than just teacher for the students and co-workers she spent her days with. She became a parent figure, role model, coach and educator all rolled into one to make sure the lives she was touching were creating impact on their futures.
As an advocate for all who identify as "female" or "woman," Heather’s passion for entrepreneurship and supporting women in business became more prevalent in her career as she was founding Fractal and transitioning out of teaching in a traditional classroom. Heather has served as an active leader and organizer of Forward Fest, Advisory Board member of Launch Wisconsin, judged various business plan competitions across Wisconsin, and sat on the WED (Women Entrepreneurship Day) Wisconsin and Early Stage Symposium Advisory Boards, and the B Corp Wisconsin Movement committee.
Heather has served as a coach, mentor, and resource for 10 years specifically for pre-launch and early-stage ventures. Her attention to detail, lived experience, and past work support creating a roadmap and identifying key resources for personal and professional growth of entrepreneurs. Heather believes it's only once an entrepreneur's skills and talents are fully acknowledged and unlocked that a venture's strategic planning towards successful growth and exit planning are achievable.
Heather serves as the Executive Director of Doyenne and President & Treasurer of the Doyenne Board of Directors.
Amy Gannon, Co-founder
{In Memoriam} Dr. Amy Gannon was a change agent dedicated to identifying and unleashing entrepreneurial talent, particularly in places where others weren’t looking for it. Her work focused on building pathways to entrepreneurship for those traditionally ignored by existing entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Dr. Gannon was a Co-founder for Doyenne. With more than 10 years experience working with startup businesses, Dr. Gannon had expertise in moving entrepreneurs through the idea validation, launch and growth stages. She designed, planned and facilitated developmental opportunities for entrepreneurs, within Doyenne and with other organizations in the Madison area including the Social Good Accelerator, Madison Urban Ministry (MUM), and others.
Dr. Gannon's passion for supporting all women and lifting them up to reach new hights and beliefs in themselves and the ventures they run is truly missed within our community, but never forgotten as she lives on through all of the work she did while here and the impact she's made on all she touched.
Dr. Gannon and her daughter were tragically killed in a helicopter accident while on a family vacation in Hawaii on December 26, 2019. While she is no longer physically with us, she is felt within every aspect of Doyenne and continues to influence the work we do and how we create impact in communities.
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