About Us
The American Company of Irish Dance is the region’s only independent, nonprofit professional dance company whose mission is to create awareness and appreciation of Irish culture through the performance of Irish dance.
This not-for-profit, Irish dance company fulfills a demonstrated need for a year round cultural presence for professional Irish dance in the region and beyond. This professional performing arts group will give all energetic and experienced performers, regardless of where they trained, the opportunity to showcase their talents to an ever-increasing audience as well as provide the community with greater access to one of the most captivating performing art forms available.
With touring opportunities and the chance to perform new choreography, the American Company of Irish Dance seeks to further the experiences and careers of local Irish dancers.
The American Company of Irish Dance is predicated on giving an opportunity to all members of every local, Milwaukee-area Irish dance school to tour and demonstrate the art form that they love and to expand their horizons as artists and individuals.
These same, rare opportunities will be available to members of the Irish musical performance community as well. It is the goal of the American Company of Irish Dance to showcase Milwaukee as a cultural center in the United State for Irish dance, the Irish arts, and the preservation of Irish heritage.
Milwaukee will be one of few communities in the country that will offer the opportunity to young Irish dancers to tour, perform, and grow through this unique not-for-profit artistic endeavor.
Milwaukee has a rich and vibrant performing arts community. The American Company of Irish Dance is pleased to join this group and looks forward to living up to its high standards and to preserving and enhancing this unique art form.
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The American Company of Irish Dance Board of Directors
Joan Rudnitzki, CFRE President
Joan is the primary consultant for Rudnitzki & Associates where she provides consulting services to not-for-profit entities on issues relating to resource development and organizational management. She is currently providing executive director services to the Washington County Charitable Foundation. During her 35 years as a nonprofit executive, has raised millions of philanthropic dollars for the not-for-profit community in Southeastern Wisconsin. She has been elected to numerous boards of directors and served for 12 years on the board of Wisconsin Public Radio Association where she also served as Treasurer. Joan is a graduate of Cardinal Stritch University where she earned a degree in Business Management. Joan enjoys spending time with her three grandchildren – especially watching them in their sports and Irish dance activities.
Karen Prendergast, Vice President
Karen is a retired middle school English grammar and literature teacher. She served on the board of the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center of Wisconsin for 20 years and was president of the organization for 10 years. Karen enjoys Irish music and loves the beauty and athleticism of Irish dance. Two of her 4 children have been involved in Irish dance, having competed in world competitions while also enjoying the performance side of Irish dance on both big and small stages. Karen is a member of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians and likes to serve the Irish community. She is proud to be working with other AMCO board members to bring a world class Irish dance production to the stage.
Kelly Voss, Treasurer
Kelly has over two decades of experience in nonprofit management and brings unique insight to American Company of Irish Dance. She has run nonprofits varying in budget size from 250k – 13 million and has raised many millions of dollars toward missions doing good in the world. From her Masters in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University coupled with many years experience as a Director of Development and Executive Director makes for a powerful intersection in leadership of philanthropy and wisdom. She is the founder and Executive Director of MindOasis.org (http://MindOasis.org) and is the Director of Advancement for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).
Kelly is an accomplished mountaineer, scaling mountains in North and South America and Asia.
Ryan Rudnitzki, Secretary
Ryan Rudnitzki is vice president, business development for BHE Compression Services. Rudnitzki’s career spans more than 20 years, working most recently as senior vice president of sales – energy at RPower, which served the power generation space. Before that, he spent 18 years at Waukesha (INNIO Waukesha; GE Power, Waukesha Engines; Dresser Waukesha), starting in the engineering lab as a calibration engineer, before moving closer to the front end of the business, ultimately serving as key account manager at the end of his tenure.
Ryan holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he graduated with honors and a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ryan has served on the board of GPSA Midstream Suppliers for over 8 years and also served as president of that organization. Besides his service on the AMCO board, Ryan Kocha, soccer and basketball for his daughters and is engaged in their Irish dance activities.
Pat Brennan, Director
Pat is a shareholder and board member of Crivello, Nichols & Hall. With state and federal practice throughout Wisconsin, he has demonstrated expertise in professional liability, commercial litigation, construction disputes, insurance coverage issues, and personal injury litigation. Maintaining the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards, he has maintained the AV Preeminent Martindale Hubbel Award, was invited into the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel organization, and elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
Pat was honored in 2023 & 2024 by Irish Legal 100 as one of the Top 100 Irish lawyers in the country. Pat received his undergraduate degree from Marquette University in 1978 and his law degree, also from Marquette University in 1981. Pat is a member of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians.