Brianna Menning

Brianna Menning is the current Assistant to the President at the University of Minnesota. Prior to that, they were the Associate Program Director for the Sustainable Cities Initiative at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. There, they managed two National Science Foundation grants and oversaw a budget of $5 million. Brianna also directed the planning for and oversaw several annual conferences and workshops, as well as monthly webinars with a global audience. In addition, they developed a communications and social media plan to disseminate information on urban sustainability research. This included Twitter, Facebook, web development, as well as e-newsletters. Brianna also advised and coordinated on international summer schools in India and China, including responsibility for student training on interdisciplinary and intercultural learning, and assessment of learning outcomes. Furthermore, they were a core member in the proposal writing, partnership development, and launch of a successful new $12 million proposal from the National Science Foundation for a Sustainability Research Network on urban sustainability. Lastly, they created and executed a plan to develop key relationships across the Humphrey School and University campus to achieve more departmental recognition and awareness, as well as successfully increase student application and enrollment numbers in the Master of Science degree at the Humphrey School as part of departmental strategic planning process.

Brianna Menning has a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University with a concentration in Human Rights and Social Justice. Brianna also has a BA from Bethel University in Philosophy and Political Science.

Some of their coworkers include Kate Stuckert - Director of Operations, Megan Sweet - Senior Assistant to the President, and Bill Haldeman - Chief Strategy Officer. Their manager is Joan T.A. Gabel, President.