Student speaker Kylie Bilello is grateful she was encouraged to try new things, do her best and serve others

May 01, 2025

Whether it means rolling up her sleeves and helping women on the other side of the globe or promoting the importance of a life-saving technique, Kylie Bilello readily and willingly gives of her time.

The Menomonee Falls High School graduate looks back on her time at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with gratitude as she earns her Bachelor of Business Administration in management with an emphasis in nonprofit.

Bilello will share her inspiring story as student speaker at the UW-Whitewater spring 2025 commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 17.

Throughout her time on campus, Bilello has been involved in the American Marketing Association’s UW-Whitewater chapter, where she serves as the social impact division president. In her final weeks as an undergraduate student, she and other AMA members hosted a CPR and AED training event on campus.

For Bilello, spreading the word about the importance of having such rapid response skills is very personal.

“Nine years ago, I suffered a sudden cardiac arrest when I was 12 years old,” she said.

“I ended up having open-heart surgery. The only reason I’m here is CPR. I think it’s a really important and valuable skill that you can learn.”

While the AMA has been a powerful part of Bilello’s on-campus experience, the organization also has taken her to other locales. Last summer, for instance, she and three other UW-Whitewater students as well as an advisor traveled to Antigua, Guatemala, to volunteer.

The group worked with a Guatemalan group known as ProChapina, or For the Women. Bilello and the other AMA students helped create a website and assisted in social marketing outreach to further bolster ProChapina’s message.

 

 

“This organization supports single mothers and helps them start their own business,” Bilello said. “By doing this, it helps them bring money into their families. I’ve done a lot of selling their products here on campus.”

Bilello said her time in Guatemala remains top of mind and has helped develop a global perspective.

“It was all just very eye-opening, in terms of how different life is there, versus here,” she said.

 

 

Bilello also has represented AMA’s UW-Whitewater chapter multiple years at the International Collegiate Conference. In April, she traveled with the chapter to New Orleans for the national competition, where UW-Whitewater students have been named Chapter of the Year for 14 consecutive years.

Bilello credits a number of UW-Whitewater faculty in helping her forge her own career goals and navigate life as a college student in the process.

She said she is especially thankful to John DeGraff, who recently retired from UW-Whitewater’s College of Business and Economics. He was a longtime advisor of AMA.

“He just always believed in me and wanted to see me succeed,” Bilello said. “He’d push me to try new things, do new things, experience new things. He really opened my eyes and helped me realize I’m capable of doing so many things.”

Bilello said Ruth Hansen, an associate professor of management, helped instill an appreciation for nonprofits.

“She’s been a wonderful instructor,” Bilello said. “She knows her stuff, and she really just wants me to succeed. She pushes me to do my best.”

Megan Matthews, a senior lecturer of management, also had an important role in shaping Bilello’s career goals.

“She was a bundle of joy,” Bilello said. “She had so much energy and reminded me that I can have that as well. I don’t have to hide that part of me.”

Bilello, who is looking to further her education in graduate school, said she is grateful for the cornucopia of different experiences she has had on campus.

“When I toured the campus and experienced it for the first time, it just felt like home,” she said. “It felt like a community where you can do what you want to do; you can have all of the opportunities if you go and get them. There will always be people supporting you, helping you do the best you can do.”