Full Name
Brian McGrain
Job Title
Executive Director
Company
Michigan Community Action
Speaker Bio
Brian McGrain has over 20 years of experience serving in leadership roles in the public sector. As Executive Director of Michigan Community Action (MCA), he is responsible for leading the collective efforts of Michigan's 27 federally-designated community action agencies. He guides a team at MCA that provides many advocacy and capacity building services to its membership.
Brian previously spent twelve years as the Associate Director/Chief Operating Officer of the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM). He also served for five years as the Director of Economic Development and Planning for the City of Lansing. Additionally, Brian served five terms on the Ingham County Commission. During his tenure, he served on the Board of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, the Ingham County Economic Development Corporation, the Ingham County Land Bank, and the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Brian received both his bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning and his master’s degree in Public Administration and Urban Studies from Michigan State University. He is a long-time resident of Lansing, though spent most of his childhood elsewhere in the world as a self-described “air force brat.” He enjoys travel, dining out, reading nonfiction, and his ever-growing plant collection (many of which now reside at the MCA offices).