Rich Russo is Director of the Public Speaking Center and Adjunct Professor at Menlo College, where he teaches public speaking courses and leads workshops and individual coaching that build students’ confidence and communication skills. He is an educator and facilitator with more than twenty years of experience in public speaking, teaching, and nonprofit leadership. Before joining Menlo College, he founded The Elephant in the Room, a training initiative that creates spaces for honest conversations about identity, difference, and community. He also directed the San Francisco LGBTQ Speakers Bureau, where he recruited, trained, and supported speakers to share personal stories that reduce bias and build understanding. Earlier in his career, Professor Russo led training programs at Challenge Day, preparing teams of speakers who reached more than 100,000 participants worldwide each year. He also held counseling and youth development roles with Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse serving San Mateo County and Huckleberry Youth Programs serving San Francisco County, where he trained peer educators and counselors in the skills related to clear speaking and deep listening, a foundation that shapes his approach to teaching communication today. At Menlo, he emphasizes inclusive, experiential, and dialogic pedagogy that prepares students to communicate effectively across differences in academic, professional, and civic settings.
Professor Russo earned his Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education & Speech, Theatre from Cornell College and his Master’s degree in Communication from Ohio University
