EDI Culture

Client Services Teams

Since Executive Director, Inc. (EDI) believes that there is no "one-size-fits-all", every client team at EDI has its own sub culture. While some teams at EDI have over 20 staff members, other teams can be made up of five or less staff members. Typically (but not always), client teams have the following roles:

Executive Director
Continuing Education
Fundraising
Marketing and Communications
Meeting Planner
Membership

Learn more about Client Services teams and roles here >>

Support Services Teams

We value the relationship between our employees and our clients. Staff work as members of dedicated teams, either working directly for a client or as part of one of our support services teams. Below are areas of support:

Financial Services
Human Resources and Office Administration
Print and Design
Technology and Infrastructure
Web Design and Development

Learn more about Support Services teams and roles here >>

EDI Events

Food Fight - benefiting Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee

Our Food Fight is an annual Holiday season event, where EDI staff are broken into two teams to help raise money for the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee. We celebrated our 32^nd anniversary of this event in 2025 and raised an all-time record of $47,848. Over the last 32 years, EDI has raised a total of $567,149 and 22,229 lbs. of food for this great cause! Some of the events include:

Candy Grams
Kick-off Breakfast
Photo Booth
Raffle
Snack Shop
Trivia
Bake-off competition
Spirit Days

Networking Events

EDI sponsors occasional happy hours, providing EDI staff an opportunity to mingle, socialize, have some fun, food and drinks and get to know staff outside their teams.

State of EDI

The State of EDI meeting is our annual conference where we celebrate and recognize many of our accomplishments throughout the past year. The Partners and committees recap highlights and progress from the year and discuss future plans for the next year.

Storm the Bastille

Whether you’re an experienced runner or more of a leisurely walker, this event offers an opportunity to experience the thrill of charging through the lamp lit streets of downtown with your co-workers among thousands of people.

Through our partnership with the East Town Association, EDI employees get to participate for free and receive a uniquely designed Team EDI Storm the Bastille t-shirt!

On Friday, staff enjoy the afternoon off at EDI’s summer picnic event. It’s a chance to socialize with your co-workers while partaking in all of the great food options offered at the Bastille Days festival.

Staff enjoy taking advantage of this fun festival that happens right outside of our office. EDI employees get to participate for free and receive a uniquely designed Team EDI Storm the Bastille t-shirt!

View our Facebook page for all our photos from previous years.

Wisconsin State Fair Cream Puffs

During the fair, the legendary cream puffs are delivered to the EDI office for staff to enjoy.

Staff-Driven Committee Events

To promote EDIs vision and core values (teamwork, respect, ethics, rewarding work, professional development, diversity and service to society), three established EDI committees plan and implement activities for staff throughout the year. Employees are encouraged to participate in organized events, as well as take an active role on committees and volunteer their expertise to EDI events and sessions.

Community Services Committee

The objective of the Community Services Committee is to organize efforts and disseminate information on various charitable events in our community. The goal is to provide a variety of opportunities for staff to participate in during the year and can take the form of monetary contributions or volunteering of time or a combination of both. Some annual events are:

Blood Drives

We know donating blood is an impactful way to help patients in our community, so we coordinate blood drives in our office to help make donations more accessible for our staff.

Cutest Pet Contest & Supply Drive - benefiting Wisconsin Humane Society

We have some real pet lovers here at EDI who also enjoy a little friendly head-to-whiskered-head competition! However, whiskers are not formally required. We accept all forms of pets including frogs, goldfish, guinea pigs and of course your more traditional pets, cats and dogs.

The competition can get fierce but ultimately the funds benefit a great cause, the Wisconsin Humane Society (WHS). In addition to the competition, we also run a supply drive to help WHS obtain some much needed pet supplies.

Staff enjoy being able to promote their furry and sometimes slimy family members, while supporting WHS in helping save the lives of animals.

Earth Day Cleanup

Earth Day is a long tradition that aims to promote environmental protection. To support this mission, we seek out and promote opportunities within our community that staff may choose to use their volunteer time off for in supporting this important cause.

Holiday Giving Tree - benefiting International Institute of Wisconsin

EDI is proud to support the Holiday Giving Tree program, which in 2018 became managed by the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County (formerly a program led by the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee). This program matches nonprofit agencies in need with local groups to purchase gifts during the holiday season. Recipients include seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, teens and children.

EDI staff have always enjoyed participating in this annual event and having an opportunity to purchase gifts for those in need.

School Supply Drives & Book Drives - benefiting Boys & Girls Club of Milwaukee & Next Door Foundation

EDI’s supply drives have benefited both the Boys & Girls Club of Milwaukee and our local Next Door Foundation. School supplies have helped benefit the numerous year-round programs that the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee offers to youth in our area.

Our book drives have helped the Next Door Foundation’s Books for Kids program, which collect books for children in Milwaukee’s Central City.

These organizations are making great strides in bettering the lives of children and we appreciate the opportunity to pitch in.

United Way Donations

The United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County creates real, lasting change right here in our community by investing in 220 programs at over 110 agency partner programs. Its focus is on Education, Income and Health – the building blocks for a good quality of life.

EDI runs an annual United Way campaign to provide an opportunity to help out this charitable organization either through a payroll deduction or one-time contribution. We are happy to support this cause with its ability to reach so many local organizations.

Winter Coat Drive - benefiting Salvation Army

EDI regularly takes part in the Fox 6 Coats for Kids project (formerly known as Condella’s Coats for Kids). Donations of gently-used coats, new hats, mittens and scarves are collected and then donated to The Salvation Army to distribute through Milwaukee area schools.

We appreciate how much this project does to help keep our local children and teens warm in the winter!

Social Committee

The objective of the Social Committee is to provide opportunities for staff to participate in group events to essentially build relationships and camaraderie in a social setting. Some annual events are:

Ice Cream Social

Staff beat the heat at EDI’s annual Ice Cream Social to celebrate the beginning of summer! Employees are encouraged to take a mid-afternoon break and create their own ice cream sundae. Of course non-dairy options are always available.

Trick-or-Treat

This annual event gets our client and support service teams’ creative juices flowing as teams are encouraged to compete on creating the tastiest treat, funniest or most creative décor or being crowned the overall favorite!

Of course all participants enjoy the opportunity to trick-or-treat around the office and enjoy some traditional candy or homemade treats!

View our Facebook page for all our photos from previous years.

Wellness Committee

The purpose of the Wellness Committee is to provide EDI employees with tools and resources to help them find balance between work life and personal life which will result in increased productivity and morale and decrease company healthcare costs, absenteeism, and turnover. It is the committee's goal to focus on three components; mind, body, and spirit. Some annual events are:

Crop Share (Community Shared Agriculture)

Crop share is a service you buy into, and in return you receive fresh organic vegetables from June to November. Buying into the EDI crop share allows you to get your weekly share delivered right to your desk. How easy is that?

Fitness Challenges

Looking for some motivation to stay active? Join one of our Fitness Challenges! These challenges typically run for a couple of months and staff will track their steps and active activities.

To motivate the competition, participating staff have an opportunity to win healthy-inspired prizes and gift cards.

Lunch & Learn

During lunch & learns an expert in the field will share some tips and tools that you can use to ease your life. Some of the past topics have been:

Build a salad in a jar
Yoga and meditation for stress
Ergonomics
Sleeping for health

Stress Management

Stress is something we deal with in all aspects of our lives. We provide articles to help manage stress as well as have meditation lunch sessions.

Yoga and Stretch Breaks

Lunch time is a great time to exercise so we hold yoga and stretch breaks throughout the year. Employees are encouraged to do the exercises at their desks as time allows.