Called to Action

Menna Demessie '02 has flexed her political science savvy in the halls of Congress and the upper echelons of 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. Before that, Demessie worked at the ​​Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, where she was senior vice president for policy analysis and research.

Some might consider political scientist to music industry executive an unconventional career path. But Demessie sees this journey as a natural extension of her time at Oberlin.

"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. In fact, one of the first people to reach out to welcome her to the task force was Jamie Krents '97. The head of the renowned jazz label Verve Records, Krents is one of the most respected music minds in the industry; among the artists he's signed and worked with are Jon Batiste and Samara Joy.

With the Task Force for Meaningful Change, Demessie leads initiatives related to disparities in the music industry, as well as criminal justice reform, food insecurity, voting rights, and public health. 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 to voters, such as rides to and from the polls through various partners.

Demessie 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. "We've seen a change in the industry," she says, "where artists and others are using their platform to address inequities, whether it's gender equality, climate change, criminal justice reform, and disparities within the music industry when it comes to our artists.

"Artistry has the power to shape culture," she adds. "It is the same creative imagination we need to envision, shape and work towards a free, just, and inclusive society for all."

From Birth, an Oberlin Oeuvre

Demessie's roots in the Oberlin community run deep. Her parents were born in Ethiopia and spent their senior years of high school in the U.S. as part of the American Field Service exchange program. Her father, Aklilu Demessie, lived with Oberlin resident-and later ExCo instructor of the course "How to Demonstrate Successfully without Getting into Trouble with the Police"-Harvey Gittler. After a socialist regime took over Ethiopia in 1975, Aklilu and Demessie's mother, Zufan Lemma Demessie, returned to the U.S. with Gittler's help.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Demessie was exposed to a diverse array of opinions and ideas via her parents. She attended preschool at Jewish Community Center and middle school at a Catholic school, and her parents were Coptic Orthodox Christians. "My parents were insistent that my brother and I immerse ourselves with people and cultures different from our own-and to read intentionally the history of African Americans in particular-to better understand why they were able to eventually immigrate to the United States," she says.

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