Help me fundraise for Aurora Health Care

Welcome to the page of

Please Support Me

2025 Stepping with the Stars- Gladys Manzanet

Gladys I. Manzanet is a Senior Director of Field Diversity & Inclusion at Northwestern Mutual. She is a well-respected field champion, demonstrating a combination of emotional intelligence, leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit to help drive growth and excellence within the field force. She has a passion for creating more inclusive, diverse, and equitable environments. She consults, coaches, and supports our field leadership in their diversity and inclusion efforts. She develops and executes field strategies that will continue to position our exclusive distribution system as a leader in advancing women and historically excluded communities.

Since 2015, she’s been a leader at Northwestern Mutual providing cultural competency guidance, marketing consultation and training to help advisors increase sales and brand awareness within a variety of diverse segments -- Hispanic, African American, Asian (multiple sub-segments), Women, and LGBTQ+. She currently works directly with 21 Network Offices on their diversity and inclusion journey. And has helped develop and support strategies to grow the Hispanic segment of financial advisors by more than 121.6%. Gladys has also been a driver of the vision, planning, and content creation for field-focused affinity spaces, including every iteration of the Affinity Summits, Annual and Regional Meeting Real Talks, Multicultural Mixers, etc.

Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, Gladys honed a wealth of experience in diverse community engagement, strategic planning, and leadership development. She helped found both the Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee (2001) and Latino Veterans Legacy of Valor Foundation (2014) with local Hispanic leaders. She helped launch and run the Latino Nonprofit Leadership Program and led her own multicultural outreach firm serving charitable organizations, start-ups, civil engineering firms and government agencies. She attended Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations. She also earned her Diversity & Inclusion Graduate Certificate from Cornell University, Brain-Based Coaching Certificate from The Neuroleadership Institute and is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory®.

Gladys is a lifelong Milwaukee resident and avid community advocate − having served on dozens of task forces, committees/subcommittees, civic appointments, and charitable boards over more than 20 years. She’s among The Milwaukee Business Journal’s 2022 Women of Influence. She, her spouse Gene Manzanet, Ph.D., and four children were also recognized as the 2019 UMOS Hispanic Family of the Year for the positive impact they’ve had in Greater Milwaukee.

Affiliations:

Latino Arts, Inc. – Board Member

Latino Veterans Legacy of Valor Foundation – Co-Founder, Honorary Board Member

Hispanic Collaborative – Civic Engagement Committee Member

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church – Finance Committee Member

In appreciation of

In honor of Gladys Gonzalez

$2,000

Madeline Manzanet

$150

Anonymous

$120

The Brodsky Family

$100

Leana Nakielski Mesdjian

$50

Mr. Gaulien "Gee" Smith

$50

Joan M Lugo

$25

Honey Chyle

$25

Brenda Rodriguez

$25

Dream Team

$25

Mr. Gabriel Manzanet

$25

Reggie Adams

$15

Anonymous

$10

Calvin A. Lee

$10

Anonymous

$10

Mr. Michael Washington

$10

Anonymous

$10

Join me as I support Stepping with the Stars