Dan Nieman

Dan joined PLN as the Vice President of External Affairs in 2018. He is responsible for the strategic direction of the organization as it relates to development, communications, community partnerships, and government relations. Prior to this role, Dan was the Manager of Corporate Citizenship for the Western Region at Northrop Grumman, where he oversaw all corporate citizenship programming and employee engagement in the Western United States for one of the largest aerospace companies in the world, with a key focus on K-12 STEM education.

Throughout his career, Dan has held a variety of roles in education with a focus on the intersection of fundraising, communications, and building partnerships to support students. He started his career as an elementary school teacher through Teach For America in New York City. Dan then spent three years as the Director of Community Affairs for Los Angeles Unified School District’s board member, Marlene Canter. During that time, Dan also worked at Teach For America summer institute where he led the training and instruction for a group of 80 new teachers at an LAUSD campus. Dan transitioned back to the non-profit sector as the Managing Director of Leadership For Educational Equity (LEE), Teach For America’s partner organization. Dan played a critical role in growing and expanding LEE’s leadership development programs, their external partnerships, and staff. Prior to Northrop Grumman, Dan worked at Teach For America – Los Angeles where he led the fundraising, communications, and partnerships strategy for the L.A. region. Dan is also a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs and holds a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, School of Art and Design (GO BLUE!) and an M.S. in Education from the Bank Street College of Education. Dan lives in Studio City with his wife, Sarah, and their three children.