About Marc Farinella

Marc Farinella is a political communications specialist and the Executive Director of the Center for Policy Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, one of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to public policy training and research. Additionally, he serves as Executive Director of Harris's Center for Survey Methodology.

Marc joined Harris in 2012 as the school's first Chief Operating Officer. As COO, he supervised all units within the school and was instrumental in the planning and execution of several major initiatives, including a new master’s degree program, several new academic centers (including the Center for Policy Entrepreneurship which he currently directs), expansion of internship opportunities, increased involvement by public policy practitioners, and an overhaul of the school’s student recruitment and admissions processes.

Prior to coming to Harris, Marc was a political communications and management consultant and held senior leadership roles in both the policy and political arenas. He served as Chief of Staff for the Governor of Missouri from 1993 to 1996 and as North Carolina State Director for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

As president of Farinella & Associates, a consulting firm founded in 1990, Marc was a strategic communications and campaign management adviser to candidates and elected officials across the nation. Clients included Senator Evan Bayh (IN), Senator Bob Casey (PA), Senator Jean Carnahan (MO), Senator Harris Wofford (PA), Senator Alan Dixon (IL), Governor Ben Nelson (NE), Governor Mel Carnahan (MO), Governor Christine Gregoire (WA), and many others.

In 2000, he managed one of the most extraordinary Senate campaigns in U.S. history: Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan's defeat of incumbent Senator John Ashcroft three-weeks after Carnahan's death in a plane crash.

Earlier in his career, Marc managed political campaigns in Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma, and he served as a public policy analyst for the Illinois Attorney General and the Illinois Comptroller.

He holds a master's degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, a master's degree in political science from the University of Illinois, and a BA in political science from Northwestern University.