The Wisconsin School of Business is proud to recognize Amy Jo Pedone (BBA ’96) with the WSB Impact Award.
This award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated service to the Wisconsin School of Business, and have volunteered their time and talent to advance the school’s priorities.
Throughout her successful career, Pedone—the CEO and certified master chocolatier of Valenza Chocolatier, Inc.—has maintained deep relationships with both UW–Madison and WSB. Her experiences giving back are shaped by her time as a finance student and a UW Spirit Squad member. Today, she’s a major supporter of alumni engagement opportunities and entrepreneurship initiatives at WSB, and continues to serve the dance team through its alumni association board.
Pedone joined WSB’s Wisconsin Business Alumni (WBA) Board in 2021, and served as the board’s vice chair during the 2022-23 term before becoming chair in 2023. During this tenure, she has played a major role in advancing the school’s priorities—including creating experiential learning projects for students—and has contributed significantly to the board’s recent effort to refine its structure, vision, and mission.
She has also inspired WSB students through her participation in the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship’s Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch program, and has provided students and alumni with countless insights from her own experience launching a business.
But ask anyone who knows her, and they’ll tell you that it’s her contagious enthusiasm and passion that has truly defined her service to UW–Madison and WSB.
“If there was a poster child for Business Badger pride, it would be Amy Jo,” says Betsy Lundgren (BA ’03, MA ’05), director of alumni relations at WSB. “Her dedication to and excitement for the Wisconsin School of Business is unparalleled. Amy Jo has devoted countless hours in service to WSB students and alumni—inspiring others to action with her energy, optimism, and can-do attitude. Her leadership on the board, in particular, has advanced our mission and positioned the alumni network for broader impact and engagement.”
“If there was a poster child for Business Badger pride,
—Betsy Lundgren (BA ’03, MA ’05), director of alumni relations at WSB
it would be Amy Jo.”
Prior to launching Valenza Chocolatier in 2013, Pedone spent nearly 15 years in the commercial real estate lending industry, where she worked for firms like EY, Heller Financial, GE Capital Real Estate, and Merrill Lynch Capital.
She’s also proud of her family’s longstanding ties to UW–Madison. Pedone’s grandmother served as the head chef at Ogg Hall, while her father—a first-generation college student at UW–Madison who played trumpet in the band.
Read about the other 2024 WSB Alumni Award recipients.
From the Dean
“Amy Jo has distinguished herself as an enthusiastic Badger who is willing to roll up her sleeves to help and we have felt her impact in many areas of the school. She truly understands the power of the alumni network and leverages her leadership skills, charisma, and tenacity to grow engagement among the Badger community.”