Nancy Petitto came from a civically engaged family. The actions of ‘Grandma Nancy’, her maternal grandmother, whom she was named after, resonated with her as a child. She went with her grandmother to vote, deliver food to the homebound, volunteer for the Red Cross, and be neighborly to others. She grew up knowing the importance of community.
Civic Nebraska named Nancy Petitto as executive director on Feb. 25. Petitto came from a background in journalism and education administration. Becoming the executive director of a non-profit was not part of Petitto’s plan.
The New York state native attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) to become a music journalist in New York City. But once she arrived in Lincoln, she never looked back. She felt at home and decided to build her life there.
Despite not pursuing a journalism career, she attributes all of her skills at any position to her time as a journalism student. It taught her what civic connection and community engagement are about. This would later play a role in her career years down the line.
“I was able to really delve deep and build something through those conversations and through those interviews in a way that I still think about them from time to time,” she said.
Nancy joined a non-profit board after graduating with a master's in educational administration. There, she realized she loved serving her community and using her voice to be an advocate. She didn’t plan to join the non-profit sector, but on a whim, she applied to a local non-profit seeking a program manager.
Petitto had to decide whether to continue her work at UNL. Or pursue an opportunity at a non-profit that was grant-funded for three years. She ultimately chose the work she truly cared about and felt was important.
In 2018, Petitto began working for Civic Nebraska as the director of Collective Impact Lincoln. In this role, she worked to help maintain alignment between partnering organizations. She got to be hands-on with the community and build resilient leaders.
Civic Nebraska is a nonprofit organization that promotes democracy, voting rights, youth civic leadership, and civic health in Nebraska. The organization has been known for its non-partisan ‘get out to vote’ canvassing campaign. As well as their ‘Crossing Divides’ program, which hopes to address public distrust of institutions.
“I knew this was an area I was fully invested in and felt very strongly that we had to be able to advocate for the folks in our community who are historically not given a voice or don't have access to,” Petitto said.
Nancy shares the four pillars that instruct Civic Nebraska’s programming.
- YouTube youtu.be
In Fall 2024, Petitto received a call on the Civic Nebraska hotline from a man who had just become a U.S. citizen. He asked her, ‘How do I voted?' What do I do? What is it like?’This was his first time voting in the U.S.; he had no idea how to vote.
Pettito was taken aback by this question. A right she had since she was 18 was something completely foreign to some. She realized that this privilege to vote was something she somewhat took for granted. Petitto walked the man through every step and question he had about voting. This led Civic Nebraska to create a guide on what voting looks like for a first-time voter. She noted that sometimes asking for help is a simple but hard step to take.
A couple of months into her job, Nancy was getting ready to host her first public forum. In her career, she had attended many meetings and given many public speeches. But she felt nervous because she was the ‘new kid’. She felt nervous about disrupting the order and messing up. As soon as she walked in, that feeling went away.
“All of the fear and anxiety just melted away because it was a group of people who were neighbors and friends and co-workers, and there was no pressure in that moment that I had ever felt before,” Petitto said.
Nancy, instead of following her plan to give a PowerPoint, decided to gather in a circle and have everyone speak. There, she was able to engage in conversations with the people in her community. That’s when she knew this was what she wanted to do.
Nancy went on to hold two other positions within Civic Nebraska. In 2021, she was promoted to director of the Civic Health Programs. Then in 2024, she was promoted to senior director of programs. Petitto has worked closely with all the programs within the organization
As executive director, Nancy will continue Civic Nebraska's work and principles as its leader. She will continue to expand and advocate for democracy as our democracy evolves.
“I just want to be remembered as someone who lifted that up for people and gave them the ability to do what was important to them in their community, and found a way to advocate for that,” Petitto said.
In the episode, The 50: Nebraska, Nancy shared how Civic Nebraska played a pivotal role in advocating for LB20, legislation that eliminated a two-year waiting period that had prevented individuals with felony convictions from voting after completing their sentence.
- YouTube youtu.be
Jessica Meza is a Journalism & Advertising and Public Relations student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
