National Educational Outreach Manager
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Rebecca Fanning joined the federal courts as the first educational outreach manager in 1998 after 10 years as the first press secretary for the Minnesota Supreme Court. She was the first public relations director at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She started her career as a reporter for United Press International. In her role at the federal courts, she develops national initiatives that local courts use and modify.
These programs reach high schools, community colleges, universities, law schools and adult education programs in communities. The flagship programs are Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions, a realistic courtroom simulation that centers on jury deliberations in which every person learns and practices civil discourse skills. Candid Conversations is a courtroom or classroom program that connects judges, lawyers, and non-attorney court professionals with students to answer difficult questions and to introduce law-related career paths.
She writes the web content for the educational resources section of uscourts.gov and articles for Judicature about the federal courts’ civics education programs.