Andrea Jenkins
Andrea is a writer, performance artist, poet and transgender activist. She is the first African American openly trans woman to be elected to office in the United States. Since January 2018, she has served as Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council. Jenkins has always been involved in her local community. She has been a champion in Minnesota, fighting for the rights of trans women of color and speaking out on inequities in the Black community. A reluctant leader who was used to doing her work without the lens of the camera on her, she never dreamed of national notoriety and could not imagine she would be making history. The night she was elected in 2017, two other African Americans were elected to a city council that previously only had two people of color. Jenkins, a native of Chicago, moved to Minnesota over 30 years ago. She remains appalled by the numbers that show the Black community being ranked lowest in the Twin Cities in terms of home ownership, access to quality health care, access to education and unemployment. Andrea holds an MS in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University. |