# @oberlincollege on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C9pvOGJs0jf
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/26215709-oberlincollege-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ffbd724a85.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-07-20T17:02:02.000+00:00

## Caption

Menna Demessie ’02 flexed her political science savvy in the halls of Congress before switching gears to work in the music business. A senior vice president at Universal Music Group, she currently serves as the executive director of UMG’s Task Force for Meaningful Change, where she leads initiatives related to disparities in the music industry, as well as criminal justice reform, food insecurity, voting rights, and public health.

“When I told my Obie friends, ‘I’m leaving Capitol Hill to go into the music industry,’ they said, ‘Makes sense. Of course—that’s what we do,’” she says. 

Demessie and her colleagues have partnered with artists, athletes, and actors to create the Alliance for Criminal Justice Reform in support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the Senate. She also oversees the task force’s Pull Up to the Polls Campaign, where UMG works with civic organizations such as Voto Latino and the NAACP to provide voter education resources and support. And she also led an effort to widen the pipeline of Black healthcare providers through a scholarship program across the four HBCU medical schools that supported over 50 scholarships in 2022. 

A true Obie through and through, Demessie echoes our exact core values. “Artistry has the power to shape culture,” she says. “It is the same creative imagination we need to envision, shape and work towards a free, just, and inclusive society for all.”

Read more about Demessie’s life and career path in this Summer 2024 Oberlin Alumni Magazine feature at the link in our bio.

Photo of Menna Demessie and BMAC co-founder and chairman Willie “Prophet” Stiggers at the September 2023 BMAC Gala, by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for Black Music Action Coalition.

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 265
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 5

## Credits

These are the roles credited on Gondola. Credits may be incomplete.
A brand, account owner, or featured person is not necessarily the creator.

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| oberlincollege | @oberlincollege | https://gondola.cc/oberlincollege | University |
| Lucy Curtis | @1ucyyy | https://gondola.cc/1ucyyy | Copywriter |
| Lucy Curtis | @1ucyyy | https://gondola.cc/1ucyyy | Social Media Coordinator |
| Dae Williams | @daeqwill | https://gondola.cc/daeqwill | Social Media Strategist |

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