Marijane Funess joined NHPF in 2018. As a member of the External Affairs department, Ms. Funess is responsible for all public relations and marketing activity for the organization. The External Affairs team undertakes many high-profile activities to keep issues affecting affordable housing top-of-mind for several audiences. These include thought leadership panels and writing, industry partnerships, special events, topical surveys and the creation of marketing materials for all audiences involved in affordable housing.
Prior to joining NHPF, Ms. Funess served for seven years as a Director for Crenshaw Communications, an award-winning marketing communications firm with an eclectic roster including tech, consumer and not-for-profit clients including The NHP Foundation. Ms. Funess also counts in her experience five years as PR Director for theONswitch, a Hudson Valley-based marketing and PR firm serving real estate, consumer product and small business clients. She also spent more than a decade with top international PR firms Burson-Marsteller, Manning, Selvage & Lee, and Ogilvy & Mather managing strategic PR campaigns for brands including Post Cereal, Entenmann’s and Nestle as well as a rich roster of CSR activities for several corporations.
Ms. Funess began her career as a literary publicist, handling PR campaigns for publishers such as Simon & Schuster, MacMillan, and Penguin Books. She owned her own boutique PR firm, which was acquired after three years, specializing in books and authors, restaurants, and retail.
Ms. Funess attended the University of Arizona.