I am running for Hennepin County Commissioner because District 2 deserves visible, responsive leadership that listens to residents and turns concerns into action. I bring decades of public service, community leadership, business experience, and direct knowledge of county government. I currently serve on the Minneapolis School Board and lead the McKinley Community Center. I previously worked in the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office finance division and have operated a childcare center and family restaurant. My experience managing budgets, building partnerships, securing resources, and creating programs for families, youth, and seniors has prepared me to serve effectively from day one.
My priorities will be protecting HCMC and essential health and human services; expanding affordable housing and homelessness prevention; improving public safety through prevention, accountability, and strong emergency services; investing in youth, seniors, and small businesses; and ensuring responsible use of taxpayer dollars. I will also provide accessible, visible leadership through regular community updates, public office hours, and meaningful resident engagement
HCMC is a vital safety-net hospital and must remain a county priority. I would pursue state and federal funding, maximize Medicaid reimbursements and grants, and explore future use of existing sales-tax revenue. I would also partner with trusted community organizations to expand mental health, housing, and prevention services, reducing costly emergency care without cutting services. I support independent audits, public reporting, and stronger County Board oversight.
The County Board must use its funding, land, partnerships, and policy authority to expand and preserve safe, affordable housing. I support stronger housing investments, displacement prevention, rental assistance, pathways to homeownership, and partnerships with cities and nonprofits to create supportive housing. We must also enforce housing standards and connect residents to mental health, employment, and other services that help them remain stably housed.
My goal is to close HERC by 2028 with a responsible transition plan that protects workers and does not shift pollution to other communities. I support universal organics and recycling service, stronger construction-waste recovery, food-waste prevention, reuse and repair grants, producer responsibility, and county purchasing standards that reduce waste. The County should publish measurable annual targets and hold open meetings that give affected residents a meaning role in oversight.
District 2 elected me in 2018 and 2022, and I’ve been elected annually by my colleagues: Housing Chair 2019-2020, Transit Chair 2021-2022, and Board Chair 2023-2026. It’s been the honor of my life, and I humbly request your support to continue our work. Together, we have demonstrated that compassionate, practical, and imaginative solutions can effectively address our communities’ needs.
I earned three degrees at the U: Bachelor’s in Business (2007), Master’s in Education (2014), and PhD in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (2025). At age 17, I co-founded Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF), and we created youth-led community service road trips. In total: 800 Pay it Forward Tours in 15 years and 30,000 participants.
Strong public goods create strong communities. Families and workers are stronger when public institutions are healthy – libraries, healthcare, housing and shelter, regional transit, our social safety net. Priorities for my third term: continue essential services, defend democracy and safeguard elections, expand proven health interventions for domestic, intimate partner, and gender-based violence, uplift reproductive justice as central for community safety, as well as protect the most vulnerable.
Local governments and community providers are in financial strain due to federal decisions, but Minnesotans decide how we care for our neighbors. We need dedicated revenue to replace what was cut, and systematic analysis to reduce residential property tax burden. Access to health services is a human right, not reserved for the fortunate or the few. Property tax cannot absorb federal disinvestment at this scale, so decisive leadership this legislative session is needed to stabilize healthcare.
Access to dignified housing is a human right. I led Hennepin to prioritize deeply affordable housing and end the "pay-to-stay" shelter model. We must keep funding deeply affordable housing, grow eviction-prevention funding to stop homelessness before it starts, close the racial homeownership gap through targeted homebuyer assistance, and take our Blue Line anti-displacement model and make it the standard for major infrastructure projects so growth doesn’t push out the people it should benefit.
Hennepin generates 1.3 million tons of waste each year, approximately 1 ton of trash per resident annually. Ending HERC waste incineration responsibly and reaching zero waste are connected goals, not competing ones. We must expand impactful zero waste actions, like prioritizing multifamily recycling access and robust analysis of commercial waste. I support converting the HERC into a Pre-Sort and Recycling facility to ensure service continuity for residents, businesses, cities, and haulers.
