Russell Krumnow is the Managing Director of Opportunity Nation. He guides the strategy for Opportunity Nation’s diverse mix of initiatives including coalition engagement, events, policy advocacy, and grassroots initiatives. He also leads the campaign’s work on the Opportunity Index, regularly presenting it to diverse audiences as a tool to drive positive change in communities and serve as an innovative frame for the opportunity movement in America.
Russell joined Opportunity Nation in 2011 and has expanded its coalition to over 300 organizations while leading this network’s engagement in building a Shared Plan to put more young adults onto successful education and career pathways. Russell fosters many of the campaign’s strategic relationships including its Steering Committee by working with groups like United Way Worldwide, America’s Promise Alliance and diverse partners across sectors.
Russell represents Opportunity Nation at dozens of events across the country from corporate gatherings to interactive sessions with hundreds of students to briefings on effectively using the Opportunity Index. He has been interviewed by NPR, CNN Money, and CNBC and has been invited as a guest on numerous radio shows across the country. He also brokered and oversaw a feature package exploring opportunity in the United States with Washington Monthly.
Prior to joining Opportunity Nation, Russell designed professional and leadership development programs with a consulting firm for clients that included members of the Obama Administration. Previously, with the non-profit Partnership for Public Service, he built a national outreach campaign aimed at inspiring college students to seek out public service careers reaching over 5,000 students in its initial year. Before that, he planned and implemented student civic education programs serving thousands of students annually with the National Young Leaders Conference and wrote curriculum for a voter education effort during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Russell is a graduate of Baylor University and earned a Master of Arts in political science at the University of Mississippi. Though he misses the BBQ and Mexican food of his native Texas, Russell enjoys living amid the rich history and policy debates of Washington, DC. Read blog posts by Russell Krumnow.
