Brakebush Brothers’ Dan Ludwig was also reelected by The Alliance membership.
MADISON, Wis. (Oct. 26, 2025) – Nicholas Ouellette, Ph.D., Superintendent/CEO of the School District of Hudson, has been elected to a three-year term on The Alliance Board of Directors by the cooperative’s membership.
The School District of Hudson serves approximately 5,200 students and 750 staff members in western Wisconsin. Ouellette has served the school district since 2015. He leads a district with an $80 million-plus operating budget and oversees strategic, financial and operational priorities. He has guided the passage of three successful referenda totaling $119 million.
Ouellette is a longtime leader in public education and professional associations. He served as president of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA) from 2022 to 2023 and served on its Board of Directors from 2016 to 2024. He currently serves on the executive committee of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and has held multiple national leadership roles with the organization.
Ouellette will fill a seat being vacated by UW Credit Union Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer Pam Peterson. She joined The Alliance Board in January 2024, serving through 2026.
The Alliance membership also reelected Dan Ludwig, Director of Benefits and Safety, Brakebush Brothers, Inc., to a three-year term. Brakebush Brothers, Inc. is a value-added, socially-responsible processor of great-tasting chicken products with headquarters in Westfield, Wis.
Ludwig joined Brakebush Brothers in 2004, transitioning into controlling health plan expenses in 2014 as the company ventured from fully insured to self-insured. Ludwig developed Brakebush’s Centers of Excellence program which includes steerage to high-value providers as well as an international pharmacy.
In 2018, Brakebush was awarded The Alliance Healthcare Transformation Award. The following year, Ludwig was presented with the Employer/Purchaser Excellence Award (National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions) in recognition of innovation in healthcare strategy. Ludwig currently serves as Chair of The Alliance Board of Directors and is a member of the Board of Advancing Free Market Healthcare.
The election results were announced at the cooperative’s annual meeting on Oct. 20. The newly elected terms will start in January and run until the end of 2029.
As a cooperative, The Alliance Board of Directors is elected by and made up of its employer-members, who represent a diverse range of industries and geographic areas. This ensures effective representation for all employer-members and strengthens The Alliance’s ability to meet the needs of its membership.
The rest of The Alliance board members include:
- Jim Beier, Chief Financial Officer, Fall River Group
- Mike Beighley, Superintendent of Schools, Whitehall School District
- Vicki Bernards, Chief Financial and People Officer, WPS Health Solutions
- Diana Clark, Associate Director of Benefits, Promega Corporation
- Jake Nolin, Vice President of Human Resources, Rice Lake Weighing Systems
- Kyle Reading, CEO, Spuncast Inc.
- Frances Salinas, President and CEO, Wesley Willows
- Mike Tomsyck, Vice President of Transportation & Risk Management, Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co., Inc.
- Bryan Trainor, Senior Manager of Talent Wellbeing & Compensation, Kwik Trip
- You can view biographies of all of the Board of Directors on the Our Team page of The Alliance website at the-alliance.org.
About The Alliance
The Alliance serves as the voice for self-funded employers who want more control over their healthcare costs. Using Smarter NetworksSM and sophisticated data mining and analysis, they provide transparent, creative approaches to network and benefit plan design to unlock savings where others can’t – or won’t. The Alliance remains a trusted, objective partner for its 500+ employers and their brokers, who seek improved access to high-quality healthcare by contracting with a network of healthcare providers across the Midwest.
