Brian McDonald

Brian McDonald, Faculty Resources Manager, was born into an Air Force family in Michigan and lived in Thailand, California, New Mexico and Florida, before moving to Texas where he attended high school and graduated from the University of Texas, Austin, with a Bachelor of Sciences in Communications with a concentration in Radio, Television, and Film. 

Following graduation, he moved to San Francisco where he was involved in the underground art and theatre scene there (while doing various retail and service jobs) before working at Caminar for Mental Health, in San Mateo, California, as a counselor at a residential treatment program and then as a clinical case manager. Subsequently, he completed a Master of Arts/Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Consciousness at New College of California, San Francisco, while also employed as Administrative Director of the Bachelor of Arts Completion Program.

After driving across the country in October of 2007, for a one-month sublease in the east village, Brian was initially hired at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) as Academic Operations Assistant and then from 2009-2019 was the Associate Director of Faculty and Staff Resources. During his time at CUNY SPS, he taught 5 semesters of “ENG 180: Written Communication” with the CUNY SPS Off-Campus College Program; completed a CUNY SPS Graduate Certificate in Project Management; and was the founding chair of the CUNY SPS Employee Engagement Program. After pursuing professional development opportunities through the Society of Human Resource Management (and ultimately earning a SHRM Senior Certification), he became exposed to a more utopian vision of Human Resources, which is more in line with his personal philosophies and abilities, a vision which champions diversity, inclusion, and the empowerment of staff, not just to help individuals excel and obtain both personal and professional fulfillment but to also encourage the success of the organization. 

Currently, when the opportunity arises, he continues working on his own writing and art projects at home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.