HCM Welcomes New Senior Affiliates to Our Policy Team
We are excited to welcome Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier as Senior Affiliates to HCM Strategists!
Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier is an accomplished leader with deep expertise in education, workforce policy, and systems change, Brenda brings decades of experience advancing educational and economic opportunity for youth and adults—particularly those from low-income backgrounds.
Dr. Dann-Messier has dedicated her career to strengthening pathways that help learners build foundational academic and workforce skills. Her work has focused on adult learners, career and technical education (CTE) students, justice-involved individuals, and immigrants—populations that too often face systemic barriers to opportunity. Across every role, she has centered equity, access, and outcomes, helping design and implement policies that connect education and training to meaningful career pathways.
Brenda’s leadership spans both state and federal government. She served in senior roles at the U.S. Department of Education, where she led efforts to improve adult education, career and technical education, and workforce readiness systems nationwide. She also held senior leadership positions for the State of Rhode Island, where she worked to align education and workforce systems to better serve learners and employers alike.
Her experience navigating policy development, federal-state partnerships, and large-scale systems transformation will be a tremendous asset to HCM’s partners.
At HCM, Senior Affiliates are practitioner-experts who bring a strong record of leading change—either as current or former elected officials or through their work with policymakers, educational institutions, state agencies, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. While maintaining their own independent consulting practices, they collaborate closely with HCM to support client work, develop new partnerships, and expand the firm’s reach and impact. These experienced leaders contribute to HCM’s organizational life by offering strategic counsel to our leadership and clients, participating in firm-wide planning sessions and retreats, and mentoring team members. They also play an integral role in business development, representing HCM in external engagements, co-creating proposals, and advising on ways to enhance our value proposition.
Through their expertise, networks, and deep commitment to systems change, Autumn and John strengthen our ability to serve clients and pursue our shared mission.
