Kirby Toon was well on her way up the corporate ladder when family tragedy brought everything to a halt.
The former Middleton High School and University of Wisconsin volleyball standout – and daughter of beloved UW wide receiver Al Toon – was working at medical device company Coloplast in Minneapolis when, in April 2021, her sister Molly died suddenly.
In addition to coming to terms with and grieving that loss with her entire family, she left her job, adopted Molly’s infant son and returned to the Madison area.
“When I moved home, I was transitioning into motherhood, too. Isaac is now 2 and some change. And he is as spicy as ever. He’s a perfect, thriving, happy, hilarious 2-year-old,” she said in an interview last week. “But that was obviously a huge transition on top of everything else that we were navigating. I felt very grateful for the support of not only my family and friends, but the community at large. We had so much support from the Madison community during that time. I don’t know that we’ll ever be able to adequately express how grateful we are for this community and the love and support that they showed us during that time.”
Now engaged to be married in the spring and helping to raise her fiance’s two children as well, Toon has eased her way back into the workforce – but in a job where she finds a great deal of meaning, as director of marketing and communications for Forward Community Investments.
Corporate life wasn’t “scratching the itch”
After earning a business degree from UW, Toon spent several years with Kimberly-Clark, including stints in Charlotte, Nashville and the Twin Cities.
“I worked with great people, (and) the opportunity for growth was great. It’s a great company, but it was not scratching the itch that I needed it to scratch,” she said. “We made great products, and what we did was inherently important; so many people use their products every day, but I personally didn’t feel super connected to the impact of the work that I was doing. Too many degrees removed from the tangible, being able to see and touch and feel the impact of my work.”
In 2018 she went back to school at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis for an MBA and then joined medical device maker Coloplast, where she felt more fulfilled in helping people cope with and overcome significant health issues.
Suddenly thrust into motherhood, though, she left that job to focus on family.
A year later, she connected with FCI’s new CEO, Ryan Zerwer, and started doing a bit of consulting for the community development financial institution (CDFI), a nonprofit organization that grants and lends money for community development projects across Wisconsin.
Zerwer had just taken the helm, and felt that the organization needed to ramp up its communication efforts, especially in hopes to expand its footprint beyond Dane and Milwaukee Counties.
“Kirby is wildly, wickedly smart,” Zerwer said. “Kirby brings real experience in your bigger corporate environments. And the fact that we’re able to kind of get that level of talent and perspective and expertise engaged on more mission-based work is a real win for a smaller nonprofit like us. What she really brings to the team is an entrepreneurial mindset.”
Toon joined the team officially in early September.
“I feel like I’ve sort of found a sweet spot where I get to be in my hometown, working toward making the community I grew up and loved … a more just and equitable version of itself,” she said. “We’ve got some big gaps here, and to be able to be part of the solution … I’m really thrilled about it.”
Adaptable, coachable
Toon grew up in a family well-known and loved by Badger fans – and a family deeply rooted in sports. After a stellar career with the Badgers, her dad Al played nine years for the New York Jets before returning to the Madison area and investing in several businesses, including Capitol Bank and Olson Toon Landscaping. Her brother Nick was also a Badger who went on to a four-year NFL career. Both Kirby and Molly were volleyball stars, Kirby for the Badgers and Molly for the Wolverines of Michigan.
Kirby Toon said growing up as an athlete, surrounded by athletes, she learned a lot that’s translated to a business career.
“Competing as an athlete at that level makes you adaptable. You have to be adaptable, you have to be coachable,” she said. “I feel like it has enabled me in my life in so many different ways, professionally and personally, to be able to pivot and shift and move with the tides. As an athlete at that level, you have to know your role, and you have to be able to adjust and move as the team needs. That’s no different in your family life and your professional life. I think it’s enabled me to have that ability to really jump and move and shift and pivot as I need to in my personal life and my career. Teamwork and leadership and communication and all of those things are transferable to pretty much any part of your life.”
She’s also quite enjoyed watching her former team reach the pinnacle of success, winning the NCAA title last year and looking to threaten again this year. With three small kids it’s hard to get to the Field House as often as she’d like, but still, “we watch a lot of volleyball” at home, she said.
Meanwhile, she’s also excited to grow into her new job.
“I’m so grateful to Ryan and this team for this opportunity. I look forward to seeing how it’ll challenge me and help me to grow as a professional, but also personally,” she said. “We have a super talented, super passionate team. I feel very excited about the direction we’re going. Even in my first six weeks, it’s been really easy to get on board quickly and get really excited about what we’re doing.”
