State of progress

Kathy Blumenfeld laughs when she describes her career as being quite modest, but there’s nothing modest about the size of her impact.

As Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA), Blumenfeld oversees a workforce of 34,000 employees, leads modernization efforts across state government and helps to shape initiatives reaching every corner of the state.

Yet the foundation of her leadership was built much earlier, growing up in Milwaukee in a family shaped by entrepreneurial immigrants with values deeply rooted in service.

“All they wanted for their children and grandchildren was the chance to live the American dream – to own a home, be good and kind people, take care of their families and communities and truly lead by example,” Blumenfeld tells The CEO Magazine.

Even after spending 35 years in the private sector, including a successful career in financial services, that mindset never left her. Blumenfeld always believed she’d eventually return to public service.

“I remember my grandparents and parents telling me that whatever I did, it’s not just about being good at your job and taking care of your family – it has to be about taking care of your community too,” she recalls.

Building thriving communities

In a serendipitous moment, her calling finally caught up with her in the form of a call from Governor Tony Evers’ transition team, shortly after his election.

“At first, I thought it was a prank,” she admits. But, it wasn’t. After serving as Secretary of the Department of Financial Institutions, Blumenfeld was later asked by the governor to lead the Department of Administration – one of the state’s most complex and most multifaceted agencies.

“Out of the blue one day, Governor Evers called me, telling me that he was moving me to be Secretary of the Department of Administration,” Blumenfeld recalls.

“Never, not for one minute, had I ever contemplated that. But he was like, this is plan A and there is no plan B. And you do what the governor says.”

Ask Blumenfeld how she measures success in the public sector, and she’ll say it’s both simpler and more complex than any private-sector metric. The DOA publishes customer service benchmarks and holds itself to rigorous fiscal standards – Wisconsin currently holds its highest bond rating in history, with a rainy day fund running over capacity and a surplus exceeding US$2 billion.

But the number that means the most to Blumenfeld is harder to quantify. When the federal government distributed American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds – Wisconsin’s share totaling approximately US$2.5 billion – the DOA was entrusted with deploying more than US$1 billion of that across all 72 of its counties.

The governing philosophy was straightforward: think of a thriving community like a cake. Every ingredient is necessary – quality childcare, accessible healthcare, broadband, affordable housing, strong schools, good roads. Miss one and the whole thing falls flat.

“One of the sayings in our administration is ‘connect the dots,’ and that means that all of our state agencies work together like brothers and sisters to solve problems in the community,” she explains.

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“The Wisconsin Department of Administration is a model for what modern government should look like. From championing transformation to shaping strategic AI policy to deploying AI agents that benefit residents, Secretary Blumenfeld and her team don’t just embrace innovation – they drive it. It’s the kind of leadership that reminds us why this work matters.” – Tommy Fern, Executive Vice President – United States State & Local Government and Education, Salesforce

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“In this case, we worked with each community to understand what their particular needs were for these grants. And now, fast forward a few years later, and we’re seeing new healthcare, new housing and thriving small businesses.”

The DOA has also made significant investments in main streets, libraries, senior centers, tourism infrastructure and agricultural communities, with a complementary program called Grants for Local Projects continuing this work today.

Saying that it’s the communities that fuel her on the harder days, Blumenfeld describes visiting a rural fire station in the far northeastern corner of the state where residents once had to wait up to four hours for emergency services. On the opening of the new station, the entire community turned out.

“There were tears,” she recalls. “People were so grateful. I call them shiver moments, and I could replicate that story 100 times over around the state.”

Modernizing from the inside out

Alongside its community-facing work, the DOA, under Blumenfeld’s leadership, has undergone a sweeping internal transformation with Governor Evers’ program called Vision 2030, guiding modernization efforts.

“We have transformed our work, our workforce and our workplace,” Blumenfeld says. “And it’s really modernizing the way we work and making hybrid work and remote work part of the offering that we have in the state.”

The shift is also reducing the state’s office footprint, with major facilities being sold to save taxpayers more than US$500 million in deferred maintenance.

At the same time, the state has introduced Hire Anywhere in Wisconsin, allowing public sector roles to move beyond the state’s two largest cities Madison and Milwaukee.

“We’re able to bring family-sustaining jobs to all 72 counties and really spread out our workforce, making it reflective of all the people in Wisconsin,” she says.

“It takes a lot of intentionality and a lot of time and energy to do this, but it really pays off,” she says.

Technology is another critical piece of Blumenfeld’s agenda. Two years ago, she co-chaired the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence, bringing together public sector, private sector and academic leaders to prepare Wisconsin for AI.

The Department has since created an inter-agency workgroup focused on education, governance and innovation.

“How do we educate and train our workforce for AI? How do we govern it? How do we make sure it doesn’t go off the rails?” she says. “But at the same time, how do we leverage it for innovation?”

Looking ahead, the DOA is deep into the Front Door Project – an initiative designed to unify Wisconsin’s 17 agency websites into a single, intuitive digital experience.

“The Front Door Project is all about modernizing our internet presence so there’s no wrong door,” she explains. “Wherever you come in, you’ll find a family of services.”

As Wisconsin marks the Year of the Neighbor, Blumenfeld says the focus is on building trust, strengthening communities and making government work better for the people it serves.

“It all lends itself perfectly to being a good neighbor,” she says.