This is Mike Brenner's corner of the internet.
Open a folder to look around. Drag windows by their title bars.
I'm Mike, and I build the systems that help progressive campaigns and coalitions win.
I've been at it for almost twenty years, first as an organizer, then in data, and now in partnerships. Colleagues tend to describe me as the person they check their thinking with before they commit, and as someone who can make a complicated thing make sense to whoever needs it: campaigns, coalitions, data systems, and once, lifting my own house onto stilts.
Home is St. Petersburg, Florida. My beautiful wife Miranda has been my partner and best friend for over 20 years. She's the smartest person in most rooms, and everyone who meets her ends up liking her more than me. They're right to. She runs public programs at The Florida Holocaust Museum, which is more important work than anything on this site.
Our daughter Natalie is the best of us. She's a gifted artist, smarter than both her parents, and more comfortable being exactly who she is than anyone I've ever met. I'm just lucky to have a front-row seat.
Then there's Annie, who we were told was an Australian Shepherd lab mix until a DNA test revealed she's half pit bull, half chihuahua. It explains a lot. She demands attention from every human she meets and guards her family like a dog three times her size. And Robin, also known as Robbie Bobby, a cat who treats us as furniture, rides on my shoulder, and joins my Zoom calls whenever he decides the meeting needs him.
My first loves were team sports. Basketball, football and baseball taught me that hustle can close the gap on talent, and that a good team gets done what no one person can. Then skateboarding and punk rock taught me you don't need anyone's permission to make something that matters. I've been living somewhere between those two ideas ever since.
That runs through what I love, from Waylon Jennings and Sturgill Simpson to IDLES and Miles Davis, plus great film, a deep and possibly unhealthy respect for Heat culture and Pat Riley, and any excuse to get outside, whether that's climbing, rappelling, snorkeling, surfing or skating.
If any of this sounds interesting, or you're working on something I could help with, reach out. And if you already know me and it's been a while, reach out too.
MICHAEL BRENNER
St. Petersburg, FL | mike@brenner.run | linkedin.com/in/mikejbrenner
PARTNERSHIPS, DATA PRODUCTS AND AI
I build partnerships between organizations that don't answer to each other, and get them to trust a shared system enough to keep using it. I learned that instinct selling homes, where the job is hearing what someone actually needs, and I've carried it through an ad tech startup, presidential and statewide campaigns, Florida's progressive coalition and a national data exchange, hiring and leading field teams of 30+ along the way. I'm usually the person who can sit with the engineers in the morning and the organizers in the afternoon and get them to the same answer. Lately I build the tools myself, so I can take a need from a conversation to a working data product, sometimes in a single day.
EXPERIENCE
Partnerships Director | Democratic Data Exchange Jan 2022 – Present
National data exchange launched by the Democratic National Committee, where 700+ campaigns and allied organizations in 48 states share field data. In the 2026 midterms it delivered 2.55 billion records to partners, nearly four times all of 2024.
Data and Targeting Director, Florida | America Votes Dec 2015 – Jan 2022
Sole data and targeting lead for the coalition's national, statewide and local partners for seven years, in a role most people leave after one cycle.
EARLIER EXPERIENCE
State Director, Florida | Stronger U.S. (a PIRG project) Aug – Dec 2015
Ran Florida operations for a national civic engagement organization and represented it at statewide coalition tables.
State Organizer, Illinois | Hillary for America Apr – Jul 2015
Built the campaign's statewide presence before its public launch through 100+ meetings with community and institutional leaders and trainings for 500+ people.
Training and Mobilization Director | Quinn for Illinois May – Dec 2014
Hired, trained and managed 30+ field organizers and six regional directors, and designed the statewide curriculum and outreach program behind 600,000 voter contacts across 103 counties.
Deputy State Director, Florida | Organizing for Action Dec 2013 – May 2014
Directed staff in four cities and ran the fellowship that trained 150+ people, more than a third of whom went on to paid campaign jobs.
State Director, Louisiana | Organizing for Action Aug – Nov 2013
Launched the state operation from nothing and grew it 150% in four months, from one city to four regions, by finding local leaders first and building around them.
Account Manager | Haystak Digital Marketing Feb – Aug 2013
Managed ad budgets up to $2M for about 1,500 auto dealers at a startup that became the country's third-largest automotive search marketer within eight months and was acquired by Cox Automotive.
Field Organizer | Obama for America, Lee County, FL Jan – Dec 2012
Built a 250+ volunteer operation, mostly from first-time volunteers, in a margin-of-victory county, and gave the field pitch to 1,000+ supporters before President Clinton spoke.
Manager of Sales and Marketing | Brenner Realty Feb 2004 – Feb 2012
Closed hundreds of home sales at 99%+ of asking price and managed leasing for 150+ rental properties, learning early that the job is understanding what someone needs, not just what they ask for.
WHAT COLLEAGUES SAY (2026 PEER REVIEWS)
“That combination of client-facing depth and product instinct is rare, and it makes him an exceptional partner for Product.” Product lead
“He has a gift for setting aside what is unnecessary and identifying the critical decisions that need to be made.” Senior colleague
“No one in Mike's orbit, teammates or clients, could ever possibly feel neglected. He gets to everything and everyone.” Data team colleague
EDUCATION
MBA, Analytics and Business Intelligence, University of South Florida, Muma College of Business. Completed while working full time; capstone analyzed precinct-level voting shifts in Pinellas County from 2016 to 2020.
BA, Political Science, magna cum laude, Florida Gulf Coast University
SKILLS
Leadership: Partnership and coalition strategy | Enterprise account management | Product strategy and launch | Pricing and packaging | Data-sharing agreements | Hiring, training and enablement
AI and data: Claude and Claude Code | Model Context Protocol (MCP) | AI agents and workflow automation | SQL | Python | Tableau | BigQuery | Snowflake
Platforms: Salesforce | HubSpot | Pipedrive | Zendesk | Linear | VAN / EveryAction
That's everything. Probably.
PICK A DISK.
LOCKED.
Plans in progress. Check back later.
MORALE
SUPPLIES
1 skateboard
1 guitar
Payless shoes
PICKED UP
CAMPAIGN TOOLBOX
Three free tools for small campaigns. Play each walkthrough, then make a copy of the sheet. They build on each other, so start at 1.
The race and its numbers are made up. Your campaign will have its own.
PROGRESS
THE RACE
Palmetto Springs
City Council, Dist. 3
2 candidates
March election
CAMPAIGN FILE