Andrea Jenkins | |
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President of the Minneapolis City Council | |
In office January 10, 2022 – January 8, 2024 | |
Preceded by | Lisa Bender[1] |
Succeeded by | Elliott Payne |
Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council | |
In office January 6, 2018 – January 10, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Elizabeth Glidden |
Succeeded by | Linea Palmisano |
Member of the Minneapolis City Council from the 8th Ward | |
Assumed office January 6, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Elizabeth Glidden |
Personal details | |
Born | Chicago, Illinois | May 10, 1961
Political party | Democratic (DFL) |
Education | University of Minnesota Metropolitan State University (BA) Hamline University (MFA) Southern New Hampshire University (MS) |
Website | andreajenkins |
Andrea Jenkins (born May 10, 1961)[2] is an American politician, writer, performance artist, poet, and transgender activist. She is known for being the first Black openly transgender woman elected to public office in the United States,[3] since January 2018 on the Minneapolis City Council and as the council's president from January 2022 to January 2024.
Jenkins moved to Minnesota to attend the University of Minnesota in 1979 and was hired by the Hennepin County government, where she worked for a decade. Jenkins worked as a staff member on the Minneapolis City Council for 12 years before beginning work as curator of the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota's Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.