Nolan Petersen is a farm-raised, urban-acclimated community organizer. Nolan has scooped up every activity that has come his way and cherishes all of the friendships that sprung from those opportunities. Among his identifiers are Brother (Delta Lambda Phi), queer, writer, NPR lover, kitchen haunt, biker by necessity, and dessert aficionado.
After completing a baccalaureate in December 2013, he set off to travel the world with Up with People doing a mixture of service and performance. After moving back to Iowa City in 2015, Nolan worked in a variety of jobs that all centered around people and their goals, eventually finding himself in a position helping many people at once while working as a Development Associate with The Englert Theatre and FilmScene’s joint capital and programmatic campaign in “Building the Greatest Small City for the Arts.”
With a passion for nonprofit work, Nolan has also served in leadership in his fraternity, both at the local and international level, most recently as the Alumni Association President. He has served on the Board for Iowa City Pride and currently serves as Board Chair for The Quire of Eastern Iowa.
When not working in nonprofit fundraising or trying to gather people together to make change in our community, he can be found in a kitchen, occasionally writing, and trying to get folks to laugh. His general outlook can be summed up in the quote, “Whatever you are, be a good one,” and someday he hopes to know what he is, if only to know if he’s been good at it.