Nick Demske

Background

About Nick Demske

As an outcomes-driven organizational leader and public servant with over 16 years of community service experience, my passion lies in cultivating cross-cultural, collaborative partnerships centered around racial, economic and environmental justice. I embed equity and anti-racism into organizational cultures, focus on capacity building, and love stakeholder engagement. As Deputy Director of the Racine Public Library I am responsible for 45 of our 68 staff members and as Racine's First District County Supervisor, I represent 9.5K constituents and help oversee a $220M budget.Some of my areas of expertise include:Equitable Recruitment and Leadership Development || Every ecosystem's health depends on its diversity. And the people closest to the problems are nearly always closest to the solutions. I have a passion and track record for identifying community members who are often overlooked for leadership recruitment and fostering them up to change the composition of organizations and even entire political landscapes.Facilitation and Culture-building || I attended so many dysfunctional meetings before I ever got exposed to what a healthy meeting looks and feels like. And having chaired hundreds of meetings in various organizations myself now, I know how to set up group engagements to produce meaningful outcomes instead of frustration and chaos. Poor facilitation erodes morale and discourages even the most resilient team members. Whether it's a committee meeting, public event, training or other group engagement, I've developed a great ability to design agendas and guide the energy so that work gets accomplished and people leave wanting to do/give more.Capacity Building and Sustainability || I don't build from the top, but from the bottom up-constantly working to strengthen and expand the foundations of whatever work I'm doing. I want my team members to feel safe, joyful and inspired about the work they're doing, so I infuse grace and mercy into every organization I'm helping lead. I am militant about wellness practices and work/life balance because I'm unwilling to lose our most dedicated members of the movement to burnout.