Made in MKE: Walter Taylor

Seeing Milwaukee through a variety of lenses to better understand its strengths and challenges.

Growing up in Milwaukee, Walter Taylor ’17 spent most of his early childhood in predominantly Black neighborhoods on the north side of the city, rarely venturing beyond those borders. “If you would’ve asked me as a 10- or 11-year old, I would’ve told you that Milwaukee was mostly Black people,” he said.

His parents relocated to Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin when Walter was in 2nd grade, where they were the only Black family in a city of 7,000, for access to a better education. There, Walter thrived academically, socially, and athletically. When he transferred to USM as a sophomore in 2014, again for a better education, it was a big adjustment. The school’s block schedule was unfamiliar, the academics were harder, and the workload was heavier. “I begged my parents to take me out of USM that first semester,” he recalled. By junior year, things had improved. Walter found his academic footing with support from Upper School teachers including Tom Lewandowski and Jean Plum, and he loved being part of a more diverse student body. 

As a senior, Walter enrolled in Applied Mathematics and Data Analysis taught by (now retired) Upper School math teacher Steve Bertucci. A field trip to Baird exposed him to how course concepts were implemented in the real world, and eventually led to a summer internship there. Seeing Milwaukee through the lens of a corporate professional changed his understanding of race in the city. “The internship really opened my eyes to what corporate Milwaukee looked like, because it didn’t look like me.” When he was hired full-time at Baird, he moved to the Yankee Hill neighborhood and walked to work. “I would try to get lost on purpose. I was just so intrigued learning about places in Milwaukee I had never heard of or visited before. I realized that if I know better, I can do better.”

Walter has put his knowledge to work in a big way. While currently working as a financial advisor at RBC Wealth Management in Mequon, Wisconsin, he also serves on the boards of Forward Scholars, Safe and Sound, and USM’s Alumni Association, and is an assistant coach with USM’s boys’ basketball team. He participated in the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Community Adviser & Ambassador Network, and was honored at the 41st annual Black Excellence Awards in the category of aspiring game changers. “I believe that giving back is what it’s all about. Because living in certain communities and seeing how they are and how they’ve changed, I feel as if I had some type of impact on that. It really makes me feel good.”