About
Khary Penebaker.
Builder, advocate, father. Real story. No script. This is the short version.
The facts, in five lines.
October 22, 1977
Joyce may have given me life, but Paula taught me how to live.
No script.
About 200 words. The whole story, with the hard parts included, is one click away.
I was born in Cincinnati on October 22, 1977. I was 22 months old when my mother, Joyce, died by firearm suicide, and that loss became the thing that shaped everything. My father, Eric, raised me in Cincinnati. When I was 7 he married my mom, Paula, and they raised me together until we moved to Milwaukee when I was 12.
In 2002 I started a commercial roofing and sheet metal company out of my garage with nothing, and built it into one of the top five roofing firms in Wisconsin. When the recession hit, it ended in an involuntary Chapter 7 in 2011.
I climbed back, learned sheet metal inside out, and went on to help grow another company from about $5 million to $35 million with 180 people, working across EPDM, TPO, GAF products, JM insulation, and the full building envelope.
In 2016 I ran for Congress in Wisconsin's 5th district. I lost, and I learned more about leadership in that campaign than in a decade of business. From 2017 to 2023 I served as DNC Representative for Wisconsin.
Now I am Division President at MetalMaster-RoofMaster, running the Upper Midwest division of a commercial roofing and architectural sheet metal company out of McHenry, Illinois. What I care about has not changed: leadership under pressure, mental health, racial equity, and what resilience actually looks like when it is tested.
My mother died by firearm suicide when I was 22 months old. That is not where my story ends. It is where it starts.
The record.
Every job, every loss, every campaign, in order. Sourced entries sit in the credentials section below.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio. October 22.
My mother, Joyce, died by firearm suicide on September 8. I was 22 months old.
Graduated Marquette University High School. All-state sprinter, two-time state champion. Got into roofing the same year.
Marketing degree, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ran track. The 200 was my race.
Started Penebaker Enterprises out of my garage, January 1, with nothing.
Supplier of the Year, Wisconsin Supplier Development Council.
Madison FAAIR Award, and Minority Business Contractor of the Year, The Daily Reporter.
Involuntary Chapter 7. The company I built from nothing came apart.
Metal-Era. Took a product line from $350,000 to $1.5 million in a year, and worked with the Canadian government on roofing codes.
Started speaking out on gun violence prevention, with Moms Demand Action and Everytown.
President, Roofed Right America. Grew it from about $5 million to $35 million in revenue, 180 people.
Ran for Congress, Wisconsin's 5th district. Lost to Jim Sensenbrenner, 260,706 votes to 114,477, about 29.3 percent.
DNC member for Wisconsin, June through June 2023. Executive board, Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Biden elector. Cast Wisconsin's electoral vote for Joe Biden, December 14.
Board president, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin C4.
Filed Penebaker v. Hitt, May 17, through Law Forward, against Wisconsin's fake electors.
The electors settled, December 6. They acknowledged Biden won.
Roofed Right America sold to private equity. I resigned at the end of October.
Great Day Improvements, Upper Midwest region, three-season rooms.
Division President, MetalMaster-RoofMaster. Upper Midwest division, out of McHenry, Illinois, a 49-year-old employee-owned company managed by Wolkow Braker.
What I
stand for.
No scripts, no performance. What you see is what happened.
Getting knocked down is guaranteed. Getting back up is a choice.
Real equity work is uncomfortable. That is how you know it is working.
The point of having a platform is using it for people who do not have one.
On the record.
-
Oct 12, 2017
I wrote about my mother for TIME, "What I Learned From My Mother's Suicide."
She had tried to kill herself twice before; the last time, she got a gun.
TIME -
Nov 7, 2016
Told my mother's story to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Doesn't tell me what her favorite color is. Doesn't tell me that she loved me.
WPR -
May 31, 2017
Testified against Wisconsin Senate Bill 169, on concealed carry.
Legislature record -
2017
BizTimes Milwaukee Master Mettle award, Roofed Right America.
BizTimes -
Dec 14, 2020
Cast Wisconsin's electoral vote for Joe Biden, as a Biden elector.
Milwaukee Independent -
May 17, 2022 to Dec 6, 2023
Filed Penebaker v. Hitt, through Law Forward, against the ten Republican fake electors and two lawyers. The electors settled and acknowledged Biden won.
Case filed Settlement
Josie, Kyan,
Sydney, and Anne.
I am engaged to Anne. We are getting married November 21, 2026. My three kids, Sydney, Kyan, and Josie, keep me honest, and my ex-wife Amanda and I are on great terms about raising them.
I still figure out parenting one day at a time, same as everyone else.
Want the whole story?
All of it: the $35 million, the campaign, the grief, the rebuild. In my own words, with sources.