Alumni Profile: Kaleb Nyquist, MPP'19, MDV’19 | His Unique Path to Enhancing U.S. Election Integrity

To some, it seems unconventional: a graduate student pursuing a dual degree in public policy and…divinity?

For Kaleb Nyquist, MPP’19, MDV’19, this distinct academic path was always the plan. “There’s a very tiny cohort of us who have both the ministry degree or the divinity degree and the policy degree,” he says. And since graduating, Nyquist has successfully forged a meaningful career by leveraging his education from both the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Nyquist balanced the Divinity School’s focus on ritual theory with the more practical, concrete data analysis of the Harris School of Public Policy. The lessons gave him a unique understanding of how human beings interact within the public sphere. As the Strategy, Impact, and Learning Database Manager at the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), Nyquist takes on a particularly timely concern: enhancing election administration across the United States.

“One of our initiatives, called the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, engages local election officials across the country to establish a consensus on what excellence in election administration looks like,” says Nyquist. The initiative addresses everything from poll worker recruitment and voter outreach to cybersecurity—all issues that vary significantly based on factors like geography, population density, and historical voting access.

Harris Public Policy courses, such as Professor Oeindrila Dube’s exploration of conflict dynamics and Kim Wolske’s insights into human psychology and policy design, provided Nyquist with the analytical tools to navigate these complexities. “It’s been really helpful to understand the voter not just as a number, but as a person with a whole psychology and a whole way of interacting with their government,” says Nyquist. Yet his greatest concern regarding the upcoming election is not about the voters but rather the treatment of local election officials. “These are people who are under-resourced, often underpaid for long hours, and facing a lot of last-minute changes,” he says. “And often, they or their families are threatened. There’s a lot of discrediting the work they put in.”

A native of McMinnville, Oregon (“known for hazelnuts, wine, and UFO sightings”), Nyquist developed an early appreciation for fair and secure elections and their significance for community decision-making. “I saw the importance of well-run elections for our local communities to be able to come to a single decision after spirited and divisive debate pitted farmers against city dwellers, and people that had been there for generations versus newcomers,” he says. “Those were critically important for being able to collectively decide on the solution and move forward together.”

During his time at Harris, Nyquist had the opportunity to lead the Student Advisory Council of the Project of Political Reform, for which he helped organize “Across the Aisle” dinners to gather graduate students from diverse political backgrounds. “We had them sit down for a meal and discuss some controversial or contentious topic in depth and from their different perspectives,” Nyquist recalls. “And we would try to identify the students who would most benefit from a conversation with the Project’s experts. It was like a matchmaking process of sorts.” By moving beyond simplistic binaries, the group managed to address political dysfunction head-on. In other words: It engaged in good, old-fashioned democracy.

In addition to his efforts in promoting election excellence, Nyquist has been sought after for his expertise within multifaith arenas. He has a long-standing specialization in providing resources that facilitate constructive dialogues aimed at preventing divisions within communities. “If I could identify one of the persistent threads in my careers, it’s that I really do want people’s voices to be heard,” he says. “Whether that is voters at the ballot box or helping people of faith express themselves in a public sphere where their perspectives are sometimes excluded, or more often, they’re distorted or caricatured.”

Nyquist found more than just a career path during his time at UChicago: He also met and fell in love with fellow student Anita Joshi (MPP’19), an Oklahoma native with whom he worked on a group project in 2018. “Being from the Divinity School, I wasn’t used to wearing suits and ties or being dressed up all the time,” Nyquist says. “So for my one act of protest, I grew my hair out during my first year at Harris.” When he got a haircut for a summer internship, Joshi finally noticed him. The two married in June 2024 with a ceremony near McMinnville and an Indian wedding in Tulsa.

When not contributing to the democratic process—or easing into married life in Washington, DC—Nyquist is an avid runner. “I always try to find a route that I haven't done before where I can embrace the world around me for a moment,” says Nyquist, who calls it his form of meditation and what seems like an appropriate mindset for a dual divinity and policy graduate.