At age 18, Krzysztof Faliski fled communist Poland and immigrated to America in search of a better life. He had spent most of his life working in factories, but he knew he was destined for greater things. When he arrived in America he changed his name to Chris and worked his way through college. With his strong work ethic, he went on to attend law school at UW Madison. While at school, he met his future wife, Thea, who was studying to become a teacher. Shortly after he completed law school, they got married and two years later, in 1970, they had their first child, Joel. When Joel was five, another addition was made to the family with the birth of his sister, Jane. As a successful defense attorney, Chris was able to support his family well until he was diagnosed with cancer. Due to growing up as a factory worker and being exposed to asbestos, he developed mesothelioma and died when Joel was eight. With the escalating cost of health care, the family was left with the expensive hospital bills. Thea, devastated by her husband’s death and not wanting anyone else to be faced with the same burden, started a foundation to help support and fund treatment for mesothelioma patients. When his father died, to help his mother, Joel accepted the responsibility of taking care of three year old Jane. Joel also worked to help support his family and ease the financial strain of his mother raising two kids on a teacher’s salary. He took any job he could get as a child and had a full workload by the time he entered high school. But the pressure of raising his sister, working as many hours as possible, maintaining good grades, and participating in a multitude of extracurriculars began to consume him. He was losing his motivation and focus in life and would have lost complete control if it were not for finding his new passion: art. Drawing became an outlet for Joel and helped him find the balance he needed. Knowing others were suffering from struggles similar to his own, Joel started a volunteer program to share his passion and help underprivileged children express themselves through art.
As Joel continued high school, he joined student government, debate, model UN, and mock trial, developing a love for law and politics. During the summer, he spent his free time volunteering for numerous programs including Boys and Girls Club, Amigos, and United Way. Joel was a member of the National Honors Society and graduated with a 3.95 GPA. He received several academic scholarships to help pay for college where his work ethic continued. Joel was accepted into Harvard Law School and, following in his father’s footsteps, went on to become a defense attorney.
After school, he went on to work for Community Justice, Inc, a non profit law firm fighting to close the justice gap in Southern Wisconsin. He was deeply disturbed by the rates of mass incarceration he saw in the state and worked with a state senator to develope a bill to halt the transition to privatized prisons, in turn galvanizing a national movement. His future wife headed an activist campaign that worked closely with his clients, and through their mutual passion for justice, romance ensued. Her name was Amy and she was studying to be a nurse. He worked as a defense attorney for four years until Amy earned her degree. They were married shortly after. While Amy worked as a nurse, Joel continued his work as a defense attorney while also founding another branch of his volunteer art organization for underprivileged children. Three years later they finally decided to have children, and agreed Joel’s hometown of Madison, WI was a fantastic place to raise their family.
When they had their first son, Jack, Joel chose to stay at home and care for him while Amy worked. Two years later, they had a second child, Kyle. It was clear from an early age that Jack and Kyle were very different as Jack enjoyed roughhousing with the neighborhood boys and Kyle gravitated towards wearing dresses and playing with dolls. Kyle began expressing his dissatisfaction with being a boy when he was three and insisted that he was a girl. Joel and Amy realized Kyle was transgender and supported their child, raising her as a daughter and calling her Kylie. By the time Jack was five and Kylie was three, Joel determined it was time to return to the workforce to continue his career as a defense attorney. After another eight years in this field, he felt a calling to lead the city on the Madison common council. Having helped bring the beautiful city of Madison unity and prosperity for two terms, he is now ready to tackle the Senate.