NASCA Announces Brennan as At-Large Director of Executive Committee 

Monday, October 18, 2021

LEXINGTON, Ky – The National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) announced the appointment of Joel Brennan as At-Large Director of its Executive Committee. Appointed by Governor Tony Evers in 2019, Secretary Brennan oversees the Department of Administration in Wisconsin. In his role as At-Large Director on NASCA’s Executive Committee, Brennan will be tasked with offering insight on the daily operations of the national association and lending his expertise to improve state government operations.

“I am proud to represent Wisconsin on the NASCA Executive Committee and to offer a perspective from the Heartland on national issues that we are facing as state governments,” Brennan said. “NASCA has been a force around collaboration on critically important matters related to state budgets, COVID-19, procurement, real estate, cybersecurity and many other issues, and I look forward to continuing to benefit from and contribute to the discussion and action in the coming year.”

As Secretary of the Department of Administration, Brennan leads a State Agency of nearly 1,500 employees and which has broad enterprise-wide responsibilities for more than 35,000 state employees. The Department of Administration directs enterprise-wide functions across state government in the areas of human resources, procurement, real estate development and management, fleet services and many aspects of information technology. In addition, the Department develops the State of Wisconsin’s biennial budget, setting priorities and strategy for the state’s spending over a two-year period; the 2021-2023 Biennial Budget, signed by Governor Evers in July 2021, will direct the spending of more than $87.3 billion between July 2021 and June 2023.

Brennan serves on the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), the Governance Committee of the Wisconsin Center District, the Board of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), the Governor’s Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Leadership Council on the Early Years, and other efforts to direct public policy and financial resources toward areas of need and opportunity in Wisconsin.

Before his appointment as Secretary, Brennan served as President & CEO of Discovery World from October 2007 through January 2019. Located on Milwaukee’s lakefront, Discovery World is Wisconsin’s premier science and technology center, providing interactive exhibits and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educational programs for families and students in the region and the state of Wisconsin. Earlier in his career, Brennan served as the head of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (RACM), worked at the Miller Brewing Company and managed several political campaigns for Wisconsin statewide and local offices.

Brennan grew up in the Milwaukee area and worked his way through Marquette University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1992. He was selected as a Harris Fellow at the University of Chicago and earned a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy in 1999. Secretary Brennan lives in Milwaukee with his wife Audra, daughter Allison (age 15) and son Conor (age 14).

  For more information about NASCA visit www.nasca.org.