By: Talia Tesler '14, Athletic Communications InternOften times, one finds that the lessons learned outside of the classroom are just as important to carry around as those taught in the classroom. This is a concept that State University of New York at New Paltz former soccer student-athlete Patrick J. Brennan strongly believes in.
Brennan currently holds the position of Chief of Staff for the Rockefeller Foundation, which he joined in 2012. Brennan describes the foundation as one of the original foundations formed in the United States. “Working globally, we have main offices in Italy, Bangkok, and Kenya while the headquarters are in Manhattan. As the chief of staff I oversee the president’s office and all operations in our regional offices.”
As chief of staff Brennan works to efficiently execute the foundation’s strategic plans both internally and externally. In order to do so, he relies on a skill set that he obtained as a student-athlete at SUNY New Paltz.
“New Paltz was a tremendous experience for me not just academically but socially and athletically as well," Brennan explained. "I learned important lessons on the soccer field and living on my own in Southside, not just in the classroom."
Brennan reflects that “all of those lessons that you learn growing up are just as important when you get into the professional world; they really fortify what you are doing.”
Brennan majored in speech pathology, determined to come out of school with a degree that he could put to use right away. He went into education briefly, spending two years in New York City public schools before breaking into politics. “On a summer off, I took a job on Chuck Shumer’s senate race in 1998 and never looked back. I never went to graduate school; I just kept working in politics.”
Prior to his work at the Rockefeller Foundation, Brennan served in a variety of senior level positions in the public and private sector. He became the youngest Commissioner in the history of New York City when Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him to lead the Mayor’s Office of Public Affairs. Brennan also later served as Deputy Campaign Manager for the Bloomberg for Mayor Campaign and Chief of Staff for Government Affairs and Communications.
Brennan remembers his sophomore year to be a very significant time in his life. “I was captain my sophomore year and when Stu (Robinson) originally approached me, I wasn’t sure it was such a great idea. But from that experience I learned that if you are not willing to take chances or take the steps to build what you want, you won’t go very far.” Brennan also got his knack for communications that year as he spent the majority of his time on the phone with high school soccer players, coaches, and parents as he played a huge role in the recruitment of his fellow teammates.
Brennan looks back on the memories he had at New Paltz and one sticks out to him more than the others, and that would be the bond of his teammates. “During my sophomore season we ran an off-campus preseason training camp. Although it was a physically tough week, it was during that time where we began to see leadership develop and friendships forge.”
It might have been an experience that Brennan did not appreciate at the time but now he is able to look back on it thankful for what it produced: relationships. Brennan remains very close to his former teammates including Rob Tuccillo ’94, Vinny Mulvihill ’95, Jayson Esterow ’98, Scott Kaplan ’98, and Kwazi Mutombo ’98. At his wedding a few years ago, they all got together to take a team picture.
From his years on the soccer field Brennan learned how to be a leader and how to build coalitions, as well as the importance of teamwork. The skills that he developed and experiences he had as a student-athlete have helped guide him in his professional life.
