Sykes ‘created a lot of hope for people’
Donald Sykes had a knack for making the powerful acknowledge and address the needs of the poor and underprivileged.
Family and friends say the Chicago native’s people skills and passion are what made him a strong leader during the decades he spent addressing poverty in Milwaukee and across the country. A longtime Milwaukee resident, Sykes died Sunday at age 80.
Sykes was born in Chicago in 1936. He studied social sciences at Northern Illinois University and later received a master’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
He wasn’t big on hobbies, said his wife, Gerri Sykes. He liked to travel, and he loved his work.
“He felt deeply that people should have a better life,” she said. “He was working to make sure people could get jobs and training for jobs.”
In Milwaukee, Sykes led the staff of the Social Development Commission, an anti-poverty agency, from 1968 to ‘88. During those 20 years, the agency’s budget grew from $3 million to $25 million.
“Don was a pioneer in this community, an exceptional man, and a stalwart individual who gave of himself at the highest level,” the organization said in a release.
Sykes later served the director of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Community Relations for President Bill Clin- ton. There, he worked on the development of welfare and antipoverty programs. After that he served as a consultant in Washington, D.C.
Sykes returned to Milwaukee and became the head of the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board in July 2007. MAWIB is a public/private partnership between government and business that coordinates employment and training programs for adults and youth in Milwaukee County. He stepped down from his position in 2014 when he announced his retirement.
George Gerharz, who first worked with Sykes at the SDC in 1969, said Sykes was always able to oppose people without making enemies.
“He could disagree,” he said. “But he never over personalized. He never tried to destroy anyone.”
Gerharz said the key to Sykes’ success was that he was good at making people feel like their ideas were important. Even when an plan didn’t have enough money to get going, Sykes would relentlessly stick with the ideas he thought could make an impact, Gerharz said.
Sykes was a rare talent because of his ability to work with people on a personal level but also understand the big picture intricacies of federal and state finances, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said.
“He created a lot of hope for people,” Barrett said. “And he created a lot of opportunities for people.”