Drew Fennell
first came to the University of Delaware midway through her undergraduate
studies, transferring to UD after taking a break from school for a few years following the
death of her father.
It was a fresh
start that rekindled her interest in academics, she says, and a first step to
what has been a career dedicated to advocacy and public service.
“I’m incredibly
grateful to have had the opportunity to continue my education and for
everything the University did for me,” said Fennell, who earned her bachelor’s
degree in English in 1985. “The University of Delaware put me on a new path
again.”
For Fennell, who
has received a 2020 College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Achievement Award, that
path later took her to law school and to a varied career pursing a deep commitment to fairness.
John Ernest, the
Judge Hugh M. Morris Professor of English and chair of the Department of
English, summarizes her professional accomplishments as “almost too many to
mention.”
“She has been a
leader in promoting better government, social justice and the public welfare,”
said Ernest, who nominated Fennell for the alumni award.
After law
school, Fennell worked as a corporate attorney but was drawn to advocacy and
became the executive director of ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
Delaware. She was brand-new to the job and about to attend her first meeting
with the organization’s board in 2001 when the 9/11 terrorist attacks on
the U.S. occurred.
“The events of
that terrible attack, and then a lot of civil liberties issues that followed”
occupied much of her time with the ACLU. It was critical, she said, “to find
ways to protect the freedoms that make this country great.”
Many of the other cases brought to the ACLU’s attention involved prisoners’ rights,
often focusing on access to health care. In 2010, Fennell became executive
director of the Criminal Justice Council of Delaware, providing criminal
justice policy research and planning for the state.
At the council,
she led a team that won a federal grant allowing Delaware to participate
in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a program designed to reduce prison
populations.
In 2014, Fennell joined the administration of Delaware Gov.
Jack Markell, serving first as policy director and then as chief of staff,
overseeing the work of 16 cabinet secretaries and other senior staff.
It was primarily her interest in criminal justice issues that led her to accept
the position, she said.
“Moving from being an advocate, an outsider, to working
within government was a change,” she said. “But Governor Markell was interested
in addressing so many of the same issues that I cared about—juvenile
justice, adult criminal justice, mental health, foster care. … In government
service, you really can change things.”
Fennell has also led campaigns to address such topics as
child welfare and LGBT rights, among many other concerns. She and her wife, Lisa Goodman, were the first couple to have
a civil union in Delaware.
Today, she is
the chief communications and experience officer for the ChristianaCare
Health System. In this role, which she began in 2017, she is responsible for
leading communications strategy and philanthropic efforts and serving as senior
adviser to the organization’s president and CEO on board and trustee
engagement.
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have been especially
difficult for health-care workers, and Fennell said ChristianaCare has remained
committed to providing clear and accurate information to the public throughout
the pandemic. The goal, she said, has been to live up to the trust that the
public generally places in information from health-care professionals.
Throughout
Fennell’s wide-ranging career, she has been recognized as trailblazer and has
been awarded numerous honors, including the Order of the First State, the 2019 Women’s
Leadership Award from the Women’s Leadership Conference and a 2018 Woman of
Distinction award from the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay. In 2019, she was
inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women, and she has been recognized
for her leadership by the Delaware Human Relations Commission, state Bar Association and many other organizations.
At UD, Fennell has taught and been a guest speaker in various
classes, talking about legal careers and civil liberties issues and telling
students that her English degree gave her valuable writing and
critical-thinking skills.
When she spoke recently, via Zoom, to a “Field Production for
TV News” communication class, instructor Nancy Karibjanian introduced her to
students as “an engaged and enthusiastic Blue Hen.”
Fennell serves on
the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council and has helped the
ChristianaCare CEO build partnerships with UD Athletics, in addition to
maintaining other connections with the University.
She is
particularly involved in
Delaware Public Media, where she is a board member, and in working with the
College of Arts and Sciences to sustain its partnership with the news service,
an NPR member station that is the only public media news service founded in and
covering Delaware.
When asked what sparked her involvement in Delaware Public Media, Fennell has a quick
answer: the First Amendment.
“You can’t
overstate the importance of an independent press,” she said. “It’s hard to be a
community—it’s hard to even be a place—without a vibrant press.”
Article by Ann Manser
Published May 28, 2021
