Duane Muller (Vice President)

Duane Muller

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

She is the Senior Executive Director for Government and Community Relations at UCLA, where she manages the Local Government and Community Relations team and also serves as Deputy to the Associate Vice Chancellor. In this leadership role, she builds relationships with local elected officials, community leaders, and constituent groups, and helps coordinate the University’s response to a wide range of political and policy issues. Duane also advises UCLA administrators and faculty on strategies to facilitate constructive dialogue with public-sector leaders.

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 and funding, 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 change programs, advocated on behalf of the U.S. government in complex U.N climate negotiations, developed training and communication tools for agency staff, and increased the visibility of climate research programs. Duane also served as an Expert Reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report.

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

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. She has served in leadership positions with the Westchester-Playa Democratic Club and on the board of the Playa Vista Institute. She has also served as an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party.