Josh Visnaw
Chicago,IL
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Project Director
Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Public Interest Tech Lab
08.2021 - 04.2025
- Led implementation of a suite of voter protection projects, which included strategic planning, budget development, coalition building, communication strategies, data management, pilot execution and partner adoption.
- Served as policy expert in election administration and voting rights on the federal and state level.
- Established multi-faceted partnerships with civil society organizations and state government officials.
- Strengthened faculty efforts in development, fundraising and board compliance, securing $1.5 million in 2023.
Organizing Director
Harris 2024/Nebraska Democratic Party
09.2024 - 12.2024
- Directed field organizing program in the 2nd congressional district, engineering a 5-point victory for the Harris campaign.
- Trained and developed 15 organizing staff, who completed over 200,000 direct voter contact attempts.
- Coordinated campaign planning with director level leadership in Political, Communications, Digital and Data.
Regional Director of Voter Activation
Biden 2020/Wisconsin Democratic Party
09.2020 - 12.2020
- Headed project operations to coordinate and train election observers and legal defense team.
- Advised and coached over 40 organizing staff through strategy and goal setting on the largest coordinated campaign in state history, leading to a less than 1 percent victory.
State Director
Bernie 2020
04.2019 - 04.2019
- Designed statewide campaign strategy in partnership with national senior leadership.
- Devised implementation of organizing programs, alongside communications and political plans.
- Arranged candidate and surrogate trips and provided policy briefings.
- Launched early outreach organizing rallies in Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.
Deputy Field Director
Michigan Democratic Party One Campaign
07.2018 - 11.2018
- Hired, trained and supervised 36 field staff, who served in organizing capacities across 33 counties.
- Collaborated on statewide leadership meetings to engineer organizational strategy for over 200 staff, with an operating budget of over $10 million.
- Secured election victories for US Senate, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General and State Supreme Court and passed ballot initiatives to end gerrymandering and expand same day voter registration.
Lead Project Manager & Youth Specialist
UN Food and Agriculture Organization
10.2017 - 03.2018
- Pioneered a study on rural youth livelihoods to guide a technical cooperation program between civil society and government stakeholders.
- Conducted 8 participatory field workshops between stakeholders (rural youth, farmers, elected officials, lenders and community leaders) for the collection of qualitative data.
- Advocated key findings to government agencies and development partners across 7 countries.
Fulbright Public Policy Fellow
United States Department of State
08.2016 - 07.2017
- Delegated as a special advisor to the Secretary of Youth and Labor.
- Produced a National Youth Action Plan to align with decentralization mandate of Parliament.
- Facilitated civic engagement and democracy training in 6 country districts in advance of a national election.
- Represented Department of Youth and Labor as spokesperson inside United Nations Country Office.
State Coordinator, Regional Field Director, Field Organizer
Bernie 2016
09.2015 - 07.2016
- Directed in a political/community organizing capacity, managing staff, planning voter contact efforts and operating internal campaign data analytics software in three primaries and two caucuses.
- Managed and recruited over 1,000 volunteers and executed large-scale rallies and community events.
- Built coalitions between grassroots community organizations, unions and independent associations.
Field Project Manager & Deputy Chief of Logistics
Peacework International
05.2014 - 06.2015
- Administered multiple development projects in health and education between Belize government agencies and U.S. university partners, with a total budget of over $250,000.
- Mobilized logistics operations of a $1.3 million corporate social responsibility project where over 300 PwC employees delivered financial literacy and environmental sustainability training to more than 1,200 students and teachers.
- Connected youth and academic stakeholders to cultural development opportunities with rural Mayan healers of Punta Gorda and the Garifuna community in Dangriga.
Program Manager
Loyola University
02.2012 - 08.2012
- Trained and supervised 20 AmeriCorps literacy tutors, serving at 10 facilities across the city.
- Forged partnerships with educational institution supervisors to adapt professional development training and improve program efficacy in service of early childhood education, adult education and ESL.
AmeriCorps
Rebuilding Together New Orleans
05.2009 - 12.2011
- Served three national service terms as site supervisor and community liaison on rehabilitation projects for low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners.
- Guided over 700 volunteers from corporate, faith and higher education sectors in home restoration.
Education
Certificate - Essentials of Policy Development
National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
12.2016
Master of Public Service - undefined
University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service
Little Rock, AR05.2014
Bachelor of Science - Journalism, Media Design & Technology minor
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI12.2008
Timeline
Organizing Director
Harris 2024/Nebraska Democratic Party
09.2024 - 12.2024
Project Director
Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Public Interest Tech Lab
08.2021 - 04.2025
Regional Director of Voter Activation
Biden 2020/Wisconsin Democratic Party
09.2020 - 12.2020
State Director
Bernie 2020
04.2019 - 04.2019
Deputy Field Director
Michigan Democratic Party One Campaign
07.2018 - 11.2018
Lead Project Manager & Youth Specialist
UN Food and Agriculture Organization
10.2017 - 03.2018
Fulbright Public Policy Fellow
United States Department of State
08.2016 - 07.2017
State Coordinator, Regional Field Director, Field Organizer
Bernie 2016
09.2015 - 07.2016
Field Project Manager & Deputy Chief of Logistics
Peacework International
05.2014 - 06.2015
Program Manager
Loyola University
02.2012 - 08.2012
AmeriCorps
Rebuilding Together New Orleans
05.2009 - 12.2011
Master of Public Service - undefined
University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service
Bachelor of Science - Journalism, Media Design & Technology minor
Central Michigan University
Certificate - Essentials of Policy Development
National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
RELEVANT INTERESTS
- Commentator - featured in The New York Times, NPR’s On Point & Marketplace, GovTech and MediaWell.
- Co-author - published papers in Tech Science Journal: Voter List Maintenance and the Erroneous Removal Rate in Ohio and Texting to Activate: Experiments on Voter Registrations in Rhode Island and Ohio, 2024.
- US Leadership Corps - Climate Reality Project, VP Al Gore’s global advocacy initiative, 2024.
- Volunteer - Big Brothers Big Sisters, a type 1 diabetes youth mentoring program, 2022-present.
- Trustee - T1International, a type 1 diabetes organization that campaigns for systemic change, 2016-2018.
- Ambassador of National Service - Aspen Institute’s Franklin Project, a year-long leadership initiative to foster national service as a cultural expectation and civic rite of passage, 2015-2016.
- President’s Volunteer Service Award, 2011.
- Youth Program Intern - NFL Detroit Lions, 2008.
- Division II college athlete - Hillsdale College, 2004-2005.
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