Nobody's better prepared to roll up their sleeves And get to work for Wisconsin

Joel Brennan is a fifth-generation Wisconsinite who grew up the 10th of 11 kids in Milwaukee. His dad was born in Manitowoc, and his mom was born in Milwaukee. His dad wrote children's books while his mom held everything together, walking a mile to work every day and raising 11 kids without making a big deal about it. Growing up in that house, Joel learned early that if you worked hard and showed up, Wisconsin would give you a shot.

To put himself through college, he worked 5 jobs, like landscaping, retail, making copies, and deep-frying egg rolls. When he hung up his sneakers after playing basketball, he picked up a coach's whistle, and he's been coaching Milwaukee kids ever since. He and his wife, Audra, raised their kids, Allison and Conor, here. Wisconsin is home, and it always has been.

For 25 years, Joel has shown up for Wisconsin communities, professionally and personally. He ran Discovery World, the state's largest science museum, for 11 years — including through the 2008 financial crisis, when the museum faced some of the toughest times imaginable. He took a pay cut, made the hard calls, and brought it back on solid footing. He has led the Greater Milwaukee Committee, bringing together businesses, nonprofits, and civic leaders to tackle the real challenges facing Milwaukee's economy and community. Away from work, Joel has spent the better part of three decades showing up for his community. He's been a volunteer coach since he was 18, basketball, soccer, baseball, whatever was needed. Since 1999, he and Audra have been part of Big Brothers Big Sisters. He's worked as a poll worker. And when cars were speeding through his neighborhood, and it wasn't safe for families to play outside, he pushed to have speed bumps installed to keep kids safe.

In 2018, Tony Evers was elected governor and tapped Joel to be his top cabinet official,  Secretary of the Department of Administration, a position the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes as “one of the most powerful positions in state government.” The job was to rebuild what Scott Walker and his right-wing legislature had spent eight years gutting. Joel said yes and got to work. Together with Governor Evers, they grew the rainy-day fund to $1.7 billion and built a budget surplus of nearly $4 billion. When COVID hit, Joel stood up to the extremists in the legislature and delivered aid to tens of thousands of small businesses, farmers, and families across all 72 counties.

Now Joel is running for governor because he knows what it means when the numbers don't add up for Wisconsin families. He didn't grow up with a safety net. He's spent his career fixing problems other people couldn’t or wouldn’t. He's not running because it's his turn; he's running because he knows how to do the job, and because, for the first time in 16 years, Wisconsin has a real shot at a Democratic majority in the legislature and a chance to deliver real change for every Badger State family.

He's been showing up for Wisconsin his whole life. He's not about to stop now.