Marijane Funess joined NHPF in 2018 and leads public relations and marketing efforts within the Communications department. She helps drive awareness of affordable housing issues through thought leadership, industry partnerships, special events, topical surveys, and marketing materials for diverse audiences.
Before NHPF, Funess spent seven years as a Director at Crenshaw Communications, an award-winning PR firm, where she worked with tech, consumer, and nonprofit clients, including NHPF. She also served as PR Director for theONswitch, a Hudson Valley-based marketing firm specializing in real estate, consumer products, and small businesses. Earlier in her career, she spent over a decade at top global PR agencies—Burson-Marsteller, Manning, Selvage & Lee, and Ogilvy & Mather—managing campaigns for brands such as Post Cereal, Entenmann’s, and Nestlé, as well as corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Funess began her career in literary publicity, managing PR for major publishers like Simon & Schuster, MacMillan, and Penguin Books. She also founded and successfully sold a boutique PR firm specializing in books, authors, restaurants, and retail.
She attended the University of Arizona.
