Nicole Derse

Nicole Derse is a Founding Principal of 50+1 Strategies whose 20-year long career has been focused on helping candidates, communities and causes win on issues that matter.

Nicole has led the 50+1 Strategies team since the company’s creation in 2012. She has served as a strategic advisor, campaign manager, organizing guru, creative thinker and motivator to more than 250 of the firm’s clients. However, she is most proud of the extraordinary team of professionals that she has helped build, support and grow at 50+1.

Throughout her career, Nicole has brought effective and inspired community engagement to local, state and national campaigns. She was one of the first staffers for Obama for America in 2007, the National Training Director for Organizing for America and a Senior Advisor on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 primary campaign. She has worked on important issues across California as well, from stem cell research to affordable housing to workers rights.

In 2015, Nicole was awarded the American Association of Political Consultants’ (AAPC) “40 under 40 Award” for her work leading successful campaigns throughout California and across the country. The following year, she won the AAPC’s “Ballot Measure Campaign of the Year Award” for her work leading the San Francisco campaign to support home sharing. She has also received the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee Visionary Award.

Nicole holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Studies from Macalester College and a Master’s Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. She served as a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco’s McCarthy Center for Public Service & the Common Good. She also serves on the National Advisory Board for Organizing for Action.