We Can Do This, By Nelson Williams

“We Can Do This”

Nelson Williams is CEO of Briohn Building Corporation, a member of the MCW Cancer Center Board, and Co-Chair of the Audaxity Ride.

By Nelson Williams, Briohn Building Corporation

Briohn is a Brookfield-based design-build general contractor. Our team of architects, engineers and construction professionals builds a lot of manufacturing, office, and retail buildings in our community, and our employees all live here.

So, naturally, we want to make the community where we work a better place to live. We spend our time and resources supporting things that make the community better—things that are important to our stakeholders, employees, clients, vendors, and partners. Cancer research and care have been important to us for decades, and we’re proud to support initiatives like the Trek 100 and the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. We try to keep our resources local to benefit the community.

I have supported MCW ever since my wife was diagnosed with cancer two weeks after her 40th birthday. It took an otherwise very healthy, very active woman and flipped her life upside down. We had to quickly adapt and find Katy the best options given a heavy diagnosis.

We found outstanding care at MCW. Dr. Kathleen Christians, Dr. Jim Thomas and others have been excellent resources during and after Katy’s care. We spent seven months going through chemo after a very radical surgery.

Then, she was diagnosed with an ocular cancer. Dr. William Wirostko and others at the Eye Institute have been unparalleled. We feel tremendously blessed.

I was already a member of the MCW Cancer Center Philanthropic Board when Dr. Gustavo Leone (Director of the MCW Cancer Center) found out I was a cyclist. He introduced me to Audaxity, an ambitious cycling fundraiser for cancer research. Naturally, I said yes, given the personal appeal on both fronts.

When I heard Gustavo talk about curing cancer with optimism that we could do this right here in Milwaukee, that really struck me.

I like the boldness that Gustavo and the other researchers at MCW share, which is, yeah, we can do this. We’re all working together to do this. So that, to me, is the goal—how do we throw resources and a spotlight on cancer research to end the disease right here at home?

Our Briohn team will be out there in August, riding as one audacious team to raise awareness and funds for MCW to make more, meaningful cancer discoveries. Whether you ride, volunteer, make a gift or show up to cheer us on, I invite you to join us. 

– Nelson Williams, Audaxity Co-Chair