Three Bankers Named 2025 Wisconsin Woman of Impact Award Winners

The Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) is pleased to announce three bankers as 2025 Wisconsin Woman of Impact Award winners. The awards were presented at WBA’s 19th Annual Women in Banking Conference.

“I am thrilled for Susan, Rose, and Theresa to have received this award in recognition of their years of dedication to their colleagues, the banking industry and their communities,” said Rose Oswald Poels, WBA president and CEO. “Each exemplifies the skills, knowledge, and character of what it means to be a woman of impact.”

Susan T. Doyle, senior vice president – retail banking, North Shore Bank, Brookfield

With 41 years of banking experience, Susan has driven innovation and growth at North Shore Bank, embracing new technology and transforming the financial industry. She spearheaded the installation of Wisconsin’s first Interactive Teller Machine, offering customers seven-day banking service while creating a more efficient staffing model. She also optimized the bank’s distribution network, aligning branch moves and remodels with customer preferences for digital and in-person banking. Her strategies led to cost savings, improved production by more than 10%, and supported as much as 100% customer growth in targeted markets.

Susan is a dedicated advocate for community engagement. She serves on the boards of the Milwaukee Zoological Society and Riverworks Development Corporation, helping revitalize Milwaukee’s northeast industrial corridor. For 20 years, she has supported Next Door Milwaukee, helping under-resourced children receive a strong start, as a Program Committee member, past board member, and Books for Kids volunteer. She also helped establish bank partnerships with the Latino Chamber of Commerce, the Historic King Drive BID, and ELEVATE Wisconsin to expand financial literacy and small business support.

Susan is a committed mentor and advocate for women in banking. As a past TEMPO Envision president, she helped develop female executives, including bank employees. A member of Professional Dimensions, she connects women at the bank with networking opportunities that foster leadership growth. She is an executive co-sponsor of the bank’s Emerging Leaders Group, 75% of which are women, and supports professional development, executive exposure, networking, and more. She also engages
members in WBA programs like Capitol Day, helping cultivate the next generation of banking leaders.

Rose Petitte, director of business development, Horicon Bank, Horicon

Rose began her career with Horicon Bank in 2011 as branch manager and business banker in West Bend where the bank had $41M in deposits and 3.87% market share. Today, the bank has $132M in deposits and 10.34% market share thanks to Rose’s commitment to growing customer relationships. Rose has led the bank’s retail network (growing the total branch count from 14 to 21), helped launch an ITM network, transitioned to ITM-only grocery store locations, and spearheaded customer adoption of e-statements (from a 42% adoption rate to 70%), among other valuable initiatives. Rose has 44 years of banking experience, is a Graduate School of Banking at University Wisconsin-Madison graduate and has served on the WBA’s Retail Banking Committee.

Horicon Bank staff share that Rose praises generously, listens actively, and cares deeply. Rose supports employees as people first as she advocates for the careers and personal development of staff.

Rose is also deeply involved and dedicated to the West Bend community. She serves as president for the WB COLUMNS Scholarship Foundation (and has served this organization for 11 years); is a Board Member for The Threshold, Inc. in West Bend (and has served this organization for 14 years); is an active member of West Bend Noon Kiwanis for over 14 years (and has served as president of the organization); has previously served as a West Bend Chamber Ambassador; co-chaired the United Way Washington County Campaign; and volunteers for Junior Achievement.

Theresa Wiese, managing director of risk and compliance, First Business Bank, Madison

Theresa has been a pivotal employee since joining First Business Bank 32 years ago when it was $50MM ($3.7B today) and has led the areas of client services, branch operations, deposit operations, IT, facilities management, loan review, risk, and compliance. Theresa has also served as the bank’s security, compliance, and BSA officers and has led external audits, loan reviews, and regulatory exams for over 15 years. Theresa currently leads the bank’s compliance oversight and senior management risk committees and engages regularly with the bank’s board of directors to ensure strong risk and compliance oversight.

Theresa is a long-time active participant of the WBA Government Relations Committee and has attended bi-annual trips to Washington, D.C. to meet with regulators and congressional leaders since 2011. Theresa is also active with ABA working groups relating to risk and compliance.

Theresa has served as a peer mentor at First Business Bank to many new employees. In this role, she has helped many women learn the culture of the bank and how to navigate the organization to be successful. Theresa is a founding member of the bank’s Women in Leadership Committee, which was responsible for various educational opportunities for women and is an advocate for career development for women. Over her 32 years with the bank, 50-75% of the employees under Theresa’s leadership were women and all were provided opportunities for development and learning, and countless were promoted.

Theresa supports her community as a parish board member and member of the finance committee for over 10 years at Our Lady Queen of Peace; an American Red Cross donor for over 10 years; a finance committee member and financial literacy volunteer for the Catholic Muti-cultural Center; and a volunteer at Second Harvest Foodbank and the Lussier Community Education Center & Middleton Outreach Center since 2020.

The WBA Woman of Impact Award has been established to celebrate WBA members who have made significant contributions and positive impacts in their organizations, communities, and the banking industry.