‘I always wanted to do work that impacts the community’
By Jeff Kurowski | For On Mission
Photography by Scott Eastman
GREEN BAY — Heather Milbach had mapped out her career path, but God had a change of plans.
“I always thought my future was to work in the nonprofit sector, in that space,” she said.
When Milbach was a student at St. Norbert College in De Pere, that changed when she started as an intern at Schreiber Foods in Green Bay.
“I fell in love with the culture, fell in love with the people, fell in love with how Schreiber shows up in our community,” Milbach said.
“I stayed. I’ve been here almost 19 years.”
Following college graduation, Milbach started in a supply chain position at Schreiber. She said that she “worked a little bit all over in the organization” prior to moving into her current position — community relations manager — nine years ago.
“It’s my dream job,” she said.
“I always wanted to do work that impacts the community.”
While she doesn’t work for a nonprofit, Milbach does have the opportunity to support community organizations and causes through her work in community relations.
“I get to manage our corporate side of giving,” she said. “We started the Schreiber Foods Foundation a few years ago. I get to do all of our granting work, financial giving in our community, as well as engaging our partners. We call our employees ‘partners.’ At Schreiber, we talk about doing good through food.”
Schreiber “partners” in Green Bay, across the country and around the world have the opportunity to volunteer. Four years ago, Milbach helped create Schreiber’s annual “Week of Giving,”
offered in October.
“One of the things I love about that and had the vision for that week was planting seeds,” Milbach said. “We get our partners out in our communities in a big way. I love the lasting change it’s had. It started with one week, but since then, it’s stories of teams going once a month to volunteer. It’s families now volunteering or becoming donors because of how impactful those experiences are for our partners.”
Milbach said that service is one of the ways she lives out her faith.
“In my role (at Schreiber), I see so much need in the community that you want to respond to it,” she said. “Personally, it’s hard for me not to get involved. I see something and think to myself, ‘I could help there.’ I’ve always been active in volunteering.”
Milbach grew up as a member of Holy Family Parish, Marinette. She credits her parents, Joe and Lynette Brosig, for their example of giving. She also points to her Confirmation sponsor, Perry Carlson, who led the youth coalition at the parish, and Kathy Lieburn who ministered with the youth group, as mentors.
During college, Milbach and her high school sweetheart, Zach (Milbach), became engaged. Following graduation, they started attending Mass at Resurrection Church in Allouez because it was close to where she lived at the time.
“We found it through proximity, but it was the culture and the people that caused us to stay,” she said. “It was easy to get involved. Deacon Don Ropson (who died in 2024) was a big part of our strong connection to the parish. I remember all the advice he gave us.”
Milbach’s involvement at Resurrection Parish includes serving as the Site Advisory Council liaison to the Parish Pastoral Council, on the Resurrection Human Capital Strategic Planning Team that makes recommendations for specific ministry priorities, which may require the hiring of additional staff, and as an “active member, planner and doer and inviter of others” within the parish Family Life Committee, according to her Faith That Works nomination. She is also a member of the Women’s Guild, which unites women of the parish through spiritual, volunteer and social opportunities.
Milbach, the mother of three, assists on Sundays with the liturgy for children. Prior to the first reading, she gathers the 3K through second grade youth and takes them to the chapel for interactive programming. Mass is important to her family, she said.
“Being at Mass, being present, isn’t something we have to do. It’s something we get to do,” she said. “You want your kids to grow up in the faith and keep that. There are so many outside influences. How do you create that foundation?”
Milbach serves on the Father Allouez Catholic School Site Advisory Council, which provides support related to policy, operations, budgets and programming at the school. She also coaches basketball at the school.
Her community involvement includes serving on the board of directors for Foundations Health and Wholeness, a “nonprofit focused on community, collaboration, leadership and innovation.” Milbach recently started serving Journey to Adult Success, an effort that helps youth in the foster system who are aging out.
“I have a lot of prayerful conversations and know what feels right,” Milbach said about how she chooses her volunteer commitments. “It has to be something that aligns with my values and aligns with my schedule. A lot of it is the Holy Spirit working.”
Milbach admits that she has a hard time saying no. She will do what she can to make it work. For example, for the “Goodies with Grown-ups” event for school parents and children, she arrived at 5:45 a.m. to set up for the gathering that followed the 8 a.m. Mass.
“If I need to say no, I’m going to help you find the right person,” she said with a laugh.
“The best testament to Heather’s faith is that she lives her faith through service and humility,” read the text on her nomination form. “She is someone you can always count on. She is a deeply loyal person. She is loyal to her faith, to her family, and to her friends and co-workers.”
“We all wish we had more time to do things,” Milbach said. “You may be running on empty and feel that you don’t have much more to give. It’s about saying, ‘God, this is for you,’ and the reward is always more than you imagined.”