Our Team

Dr. Mary DeWaters

President

Mary is from Rockford Illinois, so she’s more rude than you cartoon character Wisconsinites (sorry not sorry). Have no fear, Mary does not care about SportsBall, so we will not fight, whatever team you like is clearly The Good Team who Deserves to win all the points.

Mary graduated from doctor school. In undergrad, she led a volunteer organization that had 250 college kids volunteering for four hours a week all school year, AND she helped organize a week-long fundraiser that funded a soup kitchen for an entire year!

One time, as a work assignment, she made the main organizer of the Green Bay Packers philanthropy projects cry and give her organization $100,000.

She sews reasonably well and is going to try woodworking with tools from the Tool Library because furniture is expensive and she is both very picky and very cheap.

Her dog is names Darcy and Mary will show you photos of her cute little face, even when you don’t want to see them. That is both a threat and a promise.

Ask Mary about Tom Bombadil and why he is The Greatest Fictional Character of all time.

Esther West

Board member and Chief Community Officer

Esther West (she/they) has been a Loan Officer at Shared Capital Cooperative since 2022. She has been a worker-owner at Equal Exchange and The Ajani Group, and has taught Environmental Studies at San Francisco State University, using her urban planning and environmental justice specializations.

Esther has researched and mapped cooperatives, including Latinx and rural cooperatives, with Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard and as a Cooperative Development Specialist at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.

Their masters degrees from Cleveland State University are in Urban Planning, Design and Development, Environmental Studies, and they have a Masters Certificate in GIS.

Past Board roles include the USFWC, MadWorC, and Listen Up! Youth Media, and they are currently an Association of Cooperative Educators Board Member in addition totheir position on the board of the Milwaukee Tool Library.

This proud Chicana currently lives in Milwaukee, where they are a Rock, Paper Scissors champion.

Faisal Qureshi

Board member and Chief Technology Officer

Faisal is a relatively new transplant to the Milwaukee area.

He is an avid builder of things big and small, focusing on DIY projects where he makes what he can with the tool at his disposal, with a passion for helping others realize their own potential.

Meg Zimont

Board member and Chief Organization Officer

Meg Zimont is a creative strategist and experiential marketer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with extensive professional experience as a digital designer, brand manager, creative director, events coordinator, and community artist.

After earning a BFA from UW-Milwaukee, Meg co-founded Yours Truly Studios in Riverwest, with the goal of making art accessible, inclusive, and community-oriented.

Over the past decade, she’s led creative projects with local organizations including BlackPaint Studios, Artists Working in Education, Riverwest24 and Hundred Acre Hydroponic Farm.

Her love of nature and psychology paired with her passion for organization, resource networks, and social justice have driven her work spanning industries from data analytics and academia, to food trucks and urban farming.

In her free time, you’ll find Meg salvaging treasures from estate sales, kayaking on Wisconsin waterways, or volunteering to count frogs for the DNR.

Maya Looney

Board member and Director of Culture and Governance

Maya Looney is a queer, Mexican-American artist living in Milwaukee, WI.

After receiving her BFA in Fibers from SCAD in 2021, Looney continues her textile art practice with a focus on experimental printmaking and material manipulation.

Looney also serves on the Board of Directors at the Milwaukee Makerspace as the Communications Director.

Evan Maruszewski

Director of Operations

Born and raised in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood, Evan has held many jobs and titles through their career.

Besides being lucky enough to operate the Tool Library, they are also the maker space technician at Bayview High School.