Dennis McKenna

Dennis McKenna General Information

Description

Mr. Dennis McKenna is a Co-Founder and serves as Executive Chairman at e.Republic. He is an Angel Investor. He was a Co-Founder and served as Chief Executive Officer at e.Republic Ventures. He oversees strategy and business development for the firm and is responsible for its market-leading print and digital publishing, business intelligence, and integrated media. A pioneer in the field, he is a trusted advisor to both public- and private-sector leaders in the United States and internationally. Under his leadership, e.Republic's award-winning publications, websites, over 200 events and highly respected research operations are acknowledged as setting the gold standard in their respective fields. The firm's work is regularly cited in national outlets, including The New York Times, Forbes, Time Magazine, The Washington Post and USA Today. In 1985, he developed and published California County magazine in partnership with the California State Association of Counties. In 1987, as one of the first to recognize the impact new digital technologies were to have on the public sector, he launched Government Technology, the first national magazine covering information technology in state and local government. Government Technology was followed with the development of other successful media platforms, including Public CIO and Emergency Management. All are recipients of numerous editorial and design awards-with Emergency Management in 2013 and Public CIO in 2009-named "Magazine of the Year" by the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) and Government Technology and Emergency Management named as best publications in their respective categories for the last three years (2011-13) at the Western Publishing Association's Maggie awards. Seeing the need for stronger analysis and research to support public sector innovation, he developed and oversees management of the Center for Digital Government - the first of its kind research and business intelligence advisory focused exclusively on state and local government. The Center is home to the widely cited Digital States Survey and Digital Government Navigator, a subscription-based market intelligence tool for companies targeting public sector business. In 2009, e.Republic acquired Governing from Congressional Quarterly. Governing is the nation's leading media platform covering politics, policy and management for state and local government leaders. Since the acquisition, Dennis has brought on former Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser as Publisher and broadened Governing's offerings - building out its online presence, establishing the Governing Institute and greatly expanding its national events portfolio. In 2011, Governing received the prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award from American Business Media for exceptional editorial content. In 2014, he launched two new initiatives, e.Republic Labs and e.Republic Ventures. Designed to link state and local government to a new generation of innovative civic-tech solutions, e.Republic Labs serves as a catalyst and connector for the development, deployment and scalability of a new generation of government and civic technologies. e.Republic Ventures provides mentorship and capital for a select number of early-stage companies to accelerate their entry into the public sector market. He also acquired the regional tech business website Techwire in 2014 and relaunched it as subscription-based news and business intelligence service focused on the nexus of business, technology and public policy in California. He has served as an advisor to the Education Commission of the States to help develop effective strategies for use of information technology in education and was a board member of the Information Technology Association of America's subcommittee on state and local government. He served as chair of the Technology Task Force for Governor Pete Wilson's California Mentoring Initiative, serving on the governor's team representing the state of California at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future held in Philadelphia in 1997. As a speaker, Dennis has addressed national and international organizations, including the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, Little Hoover Commission and Education Commission of the States.