Enterprising Leadership Grant Applications Now Open
The WI SHRM Enterprising Leadership Grant was established in 2008. This grant awards a chapter or chapters financial support for a “partnership” with another Wisconsin-based organization that promotes communication and collaboration between HR and other business professionals / organizations across the State of Wisconsin. The grant may be used to fund innovative initiatives that strive to bring business professionals together toward a common cause, led by the HR community.
Up to $2,500 from a pool of $7,500 is available for WI SHRM Chapters to implement an activity or initiative in support of Enterprising HR Leadership.
Criteria include:
Creating a partnership with an organization outside of SHRM that has goals/objectives that help advance the HR profession, and;
Developing a joint planned activity or initiative with that organization that demonstrates Enterprising HR Leadership Communication, Collaboration and/or Education of/for business professionals.
The WI SHRM Enterprising Leadership Grant Application can be found on www.wishrm.org by clicking HERE. Completed applications and supporting documents must be returned to Jeff Palkowski, WI SHRM State Director, at statedirector@wishrm.org by no later than Friday, November 7, 2025.
Jeff Palkowski,MHRM, SHRM-SCP, PHR, PMQ
State Director
Ph: 414.467.5247
Em: statedirector@wishrm.org
Term Start: 1/1/2025
Jeff Palkowski, MHRM, SHRM-SCP, PMQ, PHR, recently retired from public service after several HR positions with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the State of Wisconsin. He has worked in private and public sector human resources roles and has been an active member of SHRM at the national, state, and local chapter levels since 2003.
Jeff will serve as the State Director of the Wisconsin State Council SHRM in 2025-2026, is the Ambassador for Individual Giving for the SHRM Foundation, and is a SHRM Foundation Leadership Circle member. He previously served as the Director of Government Affairs, District Director South West and South East, Communications and Social Media Director, State Director-Elect for Wisconsin State Council SHRM, and a volunteer leader for the Greater Madison Area SHRM and Blackhawk HRA chapters.
Jeff is active on social media and is Hootsuite Social Marketing Certified. He has been invited to serve on the SHRM Annual Conference Influencer Teams since 2019 and brought this concept to Wisconsin to establish the WI SHRM State Conference SMILE Team in 2021. He has appeared on HR-related podcasts, including We’re Only Human Show, HR Mixtape, SHRM HR Storytellers, HR Social Hour, Life in the Leadership Lane, HR Like a Boss, Be Well with Mel, and HR Break Room. He has also been cited in numerous media publications and is a contributor to the book “Drive with Purpose: Move Your Career from Success to Significance” by Bruce Waller. Jeff posts on his blog, HRSushiBar.com, and you can follow him on X (@JeffPally) and LinkedIn.
Jeff serves on the board for DisruptHR Madison and was a featured speaker for their 2024 re-launch event. He is an advocate and supporter of the HR Conference Cruise. Jeff received the HRUnite! Ambassador Award in 2022 and 2024 for volunteer service to the HR profession.
Jeff is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), SHRM People Manager Qualified (PMQ), and a State of Wisconsin Notary Public. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications-Journalism (BA) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM) with distinction from the Keller Graduate School of Management. Jeff has completed additional coursework at Cardinal Stritch University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
