Duane Muller (Vice President)

Duane Muller

A resident of Playa Vista and a long-time climate champion, Duane Muller joined the Friends’ Board in January 2022.

Currently, Duane is the Senior Executive Director for Government and Community Relations at UCLA. In this leadership role, she builds relationships with constituent groups, elected officials and community leaders, and helps coordinate the University’s response to a wide range of political and policy issues. Previously, Duane led governmental relations for the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, a Chancellor led, campus-wide initiative where she advocated for climate and sustainability research, educated government policymakers, and raised the visibility of the program in close collaboration with faculty and researchers.

Prior to joining UCLA, Duane provided consulting services to non-profit, private sector, and philanthropic organizations, advising her clients on strategic communications, public policy effectiveness, and advocacy efforts. Her work built on two decades of federal government experience while employed with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of Energy. In these roles, she managed climate mitigation and adaptation programs, developed training and communication tools for agency staff, and increased the profile of climate research programs. In addition, Duane spent ten years negotiating on behalf of the U.S government as part of the official delegation to the annual UN climate change negotiations, and later served as an Expert Reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report.

Duane began her career in politics working on Capitol Hill where she served as a congressional aide to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and later with the staff of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

She holds a BA in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental College, and an MA in political management from The George Washington University.

Since moving back to her hometown of Los Angeles in 2014, Duane has been actively engaged in her community. From 2017-2021, she served on the executive board of the Westchester-Playa Democratic Club, and as President from 2018-2020. Currently, Duane is serving her second term as an elected delegate for the 62nd Assembly District to the California Democratic Party.