Charles P. Ries

Charles P. Ries is a co-founder of The Commons, an entrepreneurial skills accelerator program in Southeast Wisconsin, established in April 2014. In addition, Charles serves as an Advisory Board Member for Startup Milwaukee, contributing to the support of local entrepreneurs since October 2013. As Senior Director of Development Design and Innovation at Marquette University since 1998, Charles focuses on fundraising and creating value-based programming that benefits both donors and the institution. An accomplished writer, Charles has published narrative poems, short stories, interviews, and poetry reviews in over two hundred publications, earning five Pushcart Prize nominations. Previous roles include Vice President for Advancement at the John Wayne Cancer Institute and Senior Vice President at The Oram Group. Charles P. Ries holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earned in 1976.