For the past 25 years, Brendan Connell, Jr. has worked both as a senior executive and as a lawyer for two world-renowned cultural institutions, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, from 2000 to 2018, and, since 2018, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. At the Academy, Brendan is Chief Operating Officer and also serves as General Counsel for the Academy Foundation, which connects the activities of the Academy’s Film Archive, Library, and Museum. Brendan is an active alumnus of Dartmouth College, where he served as president of DGALA, Dartmouth College’s LGBTQIA+ alumni association, and of New York University School of Law.