Shayna Hetzel

Shayna Hetzel (she/her) is Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). She brings more than 15 years of experience having led impactful and collaborative teams as a leader both at a Fortune 300 company and a top research, public university.

Shayna believes that building strong relationships requires proactive engagement and mutual trust - a competency that she has spent my entire career sharpening and utilizing whether that was to write, organize and pass a successful $100M referendum for the construction of a new Union south and the renovation of Memorial Union at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, or to enter and become fluent in the venture capital investor networks and catalytic public-private partnerships across the nation as part of a $105M corporate commitment to close racial equity gaps in education and for healthy youth development, or currently leading a public-private $100M venture capital investment initiative for Wisconsin startups in partnership with fund managers seeking to do the same.

Previously, she served as an executive policy and budget analyst for the Wisconsin State Budget Office assisting with the Executive 11-13 and 13-15 Biennial Budgets, and as a director leading community engagement and operational strategy for Union South at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Shayna is an imaginative community builder and a strong advocate for collective action. She is a current board member of the Volunteers of American Future Fund Innovation Incubator, a Trustee of the Wisconsin Union, and board treasurer for The Village Diaper Bank. Shayna was also named 40 under 40 by InBusiness Madison and was selected as one of Wisconsin's Most Influential Asian Leaders in 2022 by Madison365.

Shayna is a proud Wisconsinite, growing up in Wisconsin Rapids and as a double Badger, attending the University of Wisconsin - Madison for both a master’s of public affairs degree focused on public management and education policy from the La Follette School of Public Affairs, and a bachelor’s degree in political science.