Financial-services founder and chief executive; deposit-management entrepreneur · American Deposit Management Co. (founder; Pewaukee); Ampersand, Inc. (current chairman & CEO, Waukesha) · Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Kelly A. Brown
Kelly A. Brown, founder/former chairman & CEO of Pewaukee-based American Deposit Management (sold 2020) and current chairman & CEO of Waukesha-based Ampersand, Inc. Not unrelated executives named Kelly Brown. Pewaukee lock is the ADM founding campus and exit; Ampersand is Waukesha—not a current Pewaukee HQ claim.
Net worth
$10 million+
September 17, 2026
About
Kelly Brown built one of Pewaukee’s clearest fintech exit stories when she founded American Deposit Management in 2009 and grew the company into a national deposit platform serving more than 500 financial institutions and more than $6 billion in assets under management.
She earlier founded First Wisconsin Bank & Trust, sold in 2008, then led ADM as chairman and CEO through its 2020 sale to O’Brien-Staley Partners.
BizTimes and Patriot Financial Partners materials credit Brown with remaining at ADM into 2022, then founding Ampersand in 2023. Ampersand—based in Waukesha and backed by Patriot as lead investor, with additional JAM FINTOP participation—markets the AmpersandAlign platform for aggregating and optimizing deposits across partner institutions after the 2023 regional-banking stress.
Brown’s awards trail includes Business Journal Woman of Influence, U.S. Chamber Businessperson of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year nods. The Pewaukee story is the ADM founding campus and liquidity event; Ampersand is the current operating chapter and is labeled Waukesha rather than stretched into a current Pewaukee headquarters claim.
Companies and affiliations
- American Deposit Management Co. (founder
- Pewaukee)
- Ampersand, Inc. (current chairman & CEO, Waukesha)
Notable facts
BizTimes’ 2025 Notable Entrepreneurs profile says Brown founded Pewaukee-based American Deposit Management in 2009, grew it to more than $6 billion AUM and 500-plus financial institutions, led as chairman and CEO until 2022, then founded Ampersand in 2023.
Patriot Financial Partners’ biography says Brown led ADM in Pewaukee to a successful exit in 2020 after founding it in 2009 and growing it past $6 billion AUM.
ADM’s contact page still lists its Pewaukee headquarters; company about materials mark a 2020 O’Brien-Staley Partners transaction.
What questions can this profile answer
- What makes Kelly A. Brown notable?
- Kelly Brown built one of Pewaukee’s clearest fintech exit stories when she founded American Deposit Management in 2009 and grew the company into a national deposit platform serving more than 500 financial institutions and more than $6 billion in assets under management. She earlier founded First Wisconsin Bank &…
- What is Kelly A. Brown's estimated net worth?
- Kelly A. Brown's estimated net worth is $10 million+ as of 2026-09-17.