Dennis J. Conta, President

Dennis Conta is President of Conta and Associates, Inc.  Conta and Associates is a Milwaukee-based  company that provides management and consulting services in three areas:

• Development of Public Charter Schools
• Governmental Relations
• Public Policy Studies

Mr. Conta began his professional career in the area of public service. In 1968 he was elected as a State Representative from the City of Milwaukee and served four terms in the State Assembly. After serving three of his four terms as the Co-Chairman of the important Joint Committee of Finance, he was then appointed Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue by Governor Lucey and maintained hie position until Governor Dreyfus was elected in 1979.

In 1980 Mr. Conta then ran for Mayor of Milwaukee and defeated Mayor Henry Maier in the primary but lost in the general election.

After running for Mayor, Mr. Conta continued to serve the State of Wisconsin in a variety of positions. He was appointed by Governor Jim Doyle to be Chairperson of the State of Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk Sharing Program Authority (HIRSP). The Authority was governed by a Board of Directors consisting of HIRSP policyholders, health care providers, insurers and small business leaders. The program was annually funded with over $200 million in revenue from premiums, fees and assessments and provided insurance to over 18,000 Wisconsin citizens who were unable to obtain individual health insurance from private health insurance companies because of adverse medical histories or who lost access to group insurance coverage.

Gov. Doyle also appointed Mr. Conta to the Board of Governors of the Wisconsin Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund (PCF). The PCF oversees health care liability plans for health care providers in Wisconsin and also supervises payments made for medical malpractice claims in excess of a provider’s underlying coverage. The fund maintains and administers assessments of over $800 million dollars. During his tenure, Mr. Conta served as Chairperson of the Finance, Investment and Audit Committee of the PCF.

Mr. Conta also established Conta and Associates, Inc, in 1980 and began to provide consulting services to a broad range of large corporations, trade associations, non-profit agencies and governmental agencies in the areas of project management, research and analysis, contract procurement, and strategic planning

Beginning in 1995, Mr. Conta advanced his interest in Milwaukee area charter schools and accepted the position as Executive Director of the Milwaukee Charter School Advocates (MCSA). He was also appointed to the Boards of both the Wisconsin Charter School Association (WCSA) and Seeds of Health, Inc. (SOH), a network of charter schools in the City of Milwaukee.

Mr. Conta also the co-founded Tenor High School in 2006, a school chartered by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and administered by Seeds of Health, Inc. The charter high school offers students a unique curriculum which blends traditional academic studies with courses at Milwaukee Area Technical College in various trade and technology areas. Students who complete the program graduate with two credentials, a high school diploma and an MATC certificate. Tenor High School was named Charter School of the Year in 2009.

That same year Mr. Conta was named Charter School Person of the Year.

While Mr. Conta maintains Conta and Associates, most of his time is now devoted to avocations. He facilitates group studies in the area of philosophy and aesthetics and organizing a monthly discussion group that focuses on politics, political elections and political advocacy.