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journalism and then shifted 
into public relations, includ-
ing fundraising and special 
events for nonprofits. 
He served on the board 
of the Oakland Food Bank, 
which evolved into Forgotten 
Harvest, a nonprofit organi-
zation that rescues unused 
food from local supermarkets 
and caterers and then delivers 
it to food pantries and soup 
kitchens. 
Dembs, in conjunction 
with four other local indi-
viduals, started Yad Ezra, 
Metro Detroit’s only kosher 
food bank. He served as its 
first president in 1990. “The 
hunger cause was a common 
thread,” he says. 
Linda Wheelock, president 
and CEO of the National 
Kidney Foundation of 
Michigan, was recommended 

to Dembs when seeking a 
major gifts officer. “It’s hard to 
find top development people 
and Gary has a much wider 
network than we have. He 
did a super job of finding an 
individual who fits our orga-
nization. He vets candidates 
and helps with interviews,” 
Wheelock said. 
This was the Kidney 
Foundation’s first experience 
with an executive recruitment 
firm and, since then, Dembs 
has helped them recruit for 
two other positions. 

NONPROFITS AT LARGE
Since recruitment provides a 
window into the inner work-
ings of client organizations, 
Dembs is in a special position 
to evaluate their operations. 
He explains a nonprofit’s 
effectiveness can be gauged 

in part through metrics that 
report the number of people 
served, visitor data (appropri-
ate for some institutions) and 
the number of contributors. 
The challenge, he says, is to 
“change human lives.” 
Dembs explains that the 
nonprofit sector has grown 
and includes government, 
foundations and trade associ-
ations in addition to what is 
typically thought of as non-
profit organizations — social 
service agencies, arts and 
cultural organizations, and 
educational institutions. 
He says individuals who 
choose a nonprofit career 
typically do so for altruistic 
reasons — they “want to work 
and do good” — since the pay 
is usually less than in busi-
nesses. The nonprofit recruit-
ment field had an especially 

busy time in recent years due 
to a large amount of turnover 
for CEO positions, he says. 
A successful nonprof-
it requires good staff and 
board leadership, he says. 
Among local organizations, 
Dembs cites Lighthouse and 
Common Ground as success-
ful nonprofits and the Max 
M. and Marjorie S. Fisher 
Foundation as a “very effec-
tive” funder. 
As his recruitment and con-
sulting responsibilities wind 
down, Dembs hopes to have 
more time to write poetry (he 
has published two books), 
travel, volunteer and “chill 
out.” While he has served on 
many nonprofit boards, his 
current volunteer efforts are 
focused on pro bono work for 
the Kirk Gibson Foundation 
and Yad Ezra. 

B I R M I N G H A M

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