Na Eng is a savvy social impact executive and Emmy Award-winning storyteller who champions powerful narratives to move ideas and change norms in order to accelerate progress for greater social impact.
As Chief Communications Officer for People For the American Way, she oversees teams with a portfolio that includes research, creative content production, earned media, and digital organizing. The storied progressive advocacy organization has successfully mobilized Black male turnout from peer-to-peer texting, socialized public safety alternatives to policing, and countered extremist narratives about what it means to truly be an American.
Previously, Eng directed all foundation-wide external affairs for the McKnight Foundation. Under her leadership, the Foundation advanced its thought leadership and punched above its weight to influence national conversations about climate change, impact investing, and affordable housing. On diversity, equity, and inclusion, she led board-staff work groups to refine its strategic framework and cast a vision that ended up dramatically transforming the Foundation’s policies and practices.
Eng refined her instinct for storytelling over two decades as a journalist in New York City. Producing for PBS and CNBC, she traveled the globe to translate complex economic trends and social issues into understandable human narratives. Her pieces reached millions of viewers and earned more than a dozen prestigious national honors, including an Emmy Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Documentary.
Eng serves on the board of the national NAACP Foundation as well as the board of the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library.
She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Columbia University in an accelerated dual-degree program.