Adrienne Austin is the Acting Deputy Chancellor for Community Empowerment, Partnerships, and Communications. She leads the DOE’s work to empower families and
communities, while increasing the public’s understanding of key policies to deepen support for them. The division includes the offices of Family and Community Empowerment, communications, press, marketing and branding, community affairs, intergovernmental affairs, and translation and interpretation services. She previously served as the division’s Chief Operating Officer.
Before joining the division, Adrienne served in DOE’s Office of General Counsel, where she provided legal counsel and representation on a wide range of matters and held legal seminars for school administrators. Prior to DOE, she worked in criminal justice policy at the Vera Institute of Justice. She began her career as a public defender at Bronx Defenders.