Marcia Avner is Public Policy Director with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, a statewide association of nonprofits with over 1900 member organizations. Her work includes advocacy and civic engagement training and education as well as lobbying on election reform and other issues that are important to nonprofits and the people they serve. MCN is dedicated to building the capacity of the nonprofit sector and individual organizations to engage in strategic public policy work and civic participation. MCN informs, connects, and strengthens individual nonprofits and the sector, in order to work toward a more just society.
Avner teaches at the Center on Advocacy and Political Leadership at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Her academic work includes teaching advocacy courses in the Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management program at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Her work includes national advocacy and organizing institutes and seminars for nonprofit centers, academic centers, and Wellstone Action.
Prior to her work with MCN, Avner served as Communications Director for U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, Deputy Mayor of St. Paul, Executive Director of The Minnesota Project, Assistant Commissioner of Energy for the State of Minnesota, and Legislative Director with the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group.
Avner has a BA from Carnegie Mellon University and a MA from the University of Arkansas.
Avner serves on numerous community and nonprofit boards including the national Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, Wellstone Action! and the Wellstone Action Fund. She is the Chair of the Board of Nonprofit Information Networking Association which publishes The Nonprofit Quarterly.