Kathy Koshgarian

Kathy Koshgarian has led The Dohmen Co., where she serves as president and CEO, through rigorous change since 2019. She helped facilitate the Dohmen’s 2019 conversion from a six-generation, family-owned business into a benefit corporation owned by a private foundation. Under that structure, the company’s profits are donated to the foundation for charitable purposes. Dohmen was only the second organization in the nation to adopt this structure.

After Dohmen exited the pharma industry in 2019, Koshgarian changed the company’s focus. She led the creation and implementation of its Food For Health Milwaukee program. The program, in partnership with the insurance cooperative, Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, supplied thousands of meals to individuals at or below the federal poverty level. The Food Benefit Company is a first-of-its-kind employee benefit program providing healthy food for employees. It includes meals and snacks at work and family portions to enjoy at home. The program includes a wellness program with coaching, biometrics, on-site education and more.

“We transformed our business into a social enterprise to operationalize and increase our impact and social return,” the company said. “We are now uniquely structured to create solutions that change behavior at both the individual and health system levels and achieve self-sustained funding through the profits of our social businesses built to support our mission. We demonstrate our mission through our charitable Food For Health program, the Food Benefit Company employee benefit offering and community engagement.”

Change is not always smooth, and Koshgarian has navigated the occasional setback with practicality. She leans on three cultural components to navigate challenges.

“Most complex problems have simple solutions, but simple can be hard,” she said. “It is imperative to be clear on your purpose, committed to your core values and evoke a team that truly lives and believes in the mission. These three cultural components have led to our ability to advance in the face of adversity by remaining committed to our vision.”

Koshgarian developed and implemented the move of the organization’s headquarters from the Third Ward to a new campus at 2007 N. Dr. Martin Luther Jr. Drive. The new location houses operations for the Food Benefit Company social business, provides space for internal programming and has been made available for others to use for community events. Koshgarian is also overseeing the construction of Dohmen’s 334 W. Brown St. location, expected in late 2022, which will prompt the hiring of 25 new associates.

“Kathy has successfully facilitated extraordinary change over the last few years,” the company said. “She has navigated critical transitions using the power of purpose to realize impactful change. She is a rare combination of an executive that accomplishes big things in quiet ways. She has made amazing progress changing our company, our community and the world for the better.”