Recent Media Coverage

“Minneapolis Public Housing gets funding boost from city” by John Croman for KARE11 (August 11, 2023)

City Council President Andrea Jenkins said city funding will help with overdue improvements at places like the Horn Towers highrise complex in the Lake Street corridor.

"This is going to help renovate that space and bring it up to code and those neighbors there have been really advocating strongly for support from the city," Jenkins told reporters. . . .

"Yesterday, I was reading a Forbes article that places Minneapolis at the top of the list for holding down rental increases to one percent," Jenkins remarked, adding that housing production is a major part of the picture.

“Lives in Transition” by Elaine Shelly for MS Society’s Momentum Magazine (summer 2023)

Since she had been out as transgender for 30 years when she started experiencing MS symptoms in 2016, [Andrea Jenkins] already had supportive healthcare providers in place. . . . Despite a calm outer demeanor, she mourns her MS-related losses. . . . Jenkins, who decided to run for city office because she wanted to make life better for Black and brown people in Minneapolis, manages her MS symptoms by taking her disease-modifying therapy (DMT) and changing some of her habits.

“Minneapolis Black Business Week panel discussion highlights (video + photos),” Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (July 27, 2023)

City Council President Andrea Jenkins, who organized Monday’s panel discussion on wealth-building, legacy and lending, encouraged city residents to attend activities and events throughout the week. “The work to invest in, and support, Black businesses and Black economic development is ongoing, and it takes all of us. Check out the programs and initiatives happening throughout Minneapolis and keep the momentum going 365 days out of the year.” 

“Mpls. City Council President Andrea Jenkins on Cedric Alexander, 3rd Precinct and more,” video interview with Esme Murphy for CBS News Minnesota (July 23, 2023)

“Minneapolis City Council President responds to DOJ report on police” by Scripps News Service (June 16, 2023)

"Those recommendations go to the extent where a lot of policy can change. We need policy change at the federal level to deal with qualified immunity," said Jenkins. "I think we have to have that if we really want to transform public safety and the way that our communities are being kept safe in this country. So to that end, no, [the recommendations] don't go far enough." …

Jenkins says that the best way to go about changing is by looking deeper into the root issues, which include investing in affordable housing, education, and job training, which would help address the causes of some of the low-level crimes that often end up in violent police responses.

“Andrea Jenkins Is an Icon of Trans Power” by Wren Sanders in them (June 6, 2023)

Being an advocate in these rooms is really important, but being an activist is less appreciated, let’s put it that way. And I went in as an activist, so I had to learn to be a little more nuanced, a little more strategic to make changes. I started to understand that politics is really about relationships. They don’t even need to be positive, but you need some kind of relationship to move things forward. …

The community is definitely not healed. It’s still a process of overcoming trauma. … The city has purchased the gas station across the street from where George Floyd was murdered. We hope to turn it into a community-owned monument to social justice with an art gallery and healing modalities like acupuncture, Reiki, yoga, sound therapy. We want it to be a center to come and discuss issues of anti-racism. How do we overcome? The community is on the path to making that into a reality. 

Andrea Jenkins Talks Pride History: Interview with Blavity on Instagram (June 9, 2023)

“An Interview with City Council President and Ward 8 City Councilmember Andrea Jenkins” by Charlie Rybak in Southwest Voices (March 13, 2023)

“We need a voice for equity on this Council, and I think I’ve been doing that. We need pragmatic leadership to try to seek a balance between all of the competing interests of the residents of the city of Minneapolis. I believe I bring that to the table.”

“Women’s History Month Salute: Andrea Jenkins” by H. Jiahong Pan in Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (March 23, 2023)

“I helped to lead the city through a global pandemic that we’re still dealing with,” said Jenkins. . . . She’s not done yet. Pointing to a whiteboard she wrote the first day she took office, Jenkins wants to revitalize the 38th Street corridor near where she lives. She hopes to bring in a center for racial healing at the intersection of 38th and Chicago. 

“Minneapolis City Council president advocates for transgender individuals on Washington Post podcast” by Ana Radelat in MinnPost (March 24, 2023)

Still, Jenkins said, a major concern continues to be homelessness among transgender youth, based largely on the discrimination they face in the job market. “They find themselves in the street late at night,” and vulnerable to violence, she said. “We have to break down those barriers to housing and employment.”

“Q&A: Andrea Jenkins, Minneapolis’ New City Council President” by Erik Tormoen in Minnesota Monthly (April 14, 2022)

“Out of a deep, deep and genuine love for my community, is why I’m willing and interested to be engaged in politics. And in my mind, politics is about ensuring that the right resources are provided to the right communities, in order for those communities to thrive.”

“Out100 2022: LGBTQ+ Policy Makers and Advocates Changing the World” by Out.com Editors in Out.com (October 27, 2022)

“I consider the work that I do to be bridge-building, I work within systems to effectuate systemic change,” she says.

“America’s First Openly Trans City Council President Wants to Heal Minneapolis” by Madeleine Carlisle in Time (January 25, 2022)

“I view my role in history really just as a relay runner in the long race towards human progress and racial justice in this country. It’s a journey, and we all have a role to play. And I think my time has come up to make sure that Black LGBTQ people are a part of that arc towards human progress.”

“‘Capehart’ with Andrea Jenkins” (transcript), interview with Jonathan Capehart for Washington Post Live (May 20, 2022)

“So, bringing all of those modalities under one roof to have a full‑‑full‑on office of public safety that's recognizing that, you know, we have to have safety beyond policing. We can't just rely on the Minneapolis Police Department to do all the things that our society has somewhat turned its back on in terms of mental health facilities, in terms of substance abuse . . . But we're asking the police department to deal with all of these kinds of things, and that's not what they're trained for. That's not what they do best, and so we're creating these systems around it to lessen that role and give them more of an opportunity to do what they are trained to do. Hopefully, it will take some of the load off of those officers and allow them to be more humane, more professional in their approach in dealing with community members.

“Minneapolis agrees to policing plan overhaul forged after George Floyd’s killing” by Andi Babineau and David J. Lopez, CNN, on WAOW.com (March 31, 2023)

City Council President Andrea Jenkins said the settlement “represents a road map for greater accountability, transparency, better training, and police officer wellness. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

“Council President Andrea Jenkins: This is the legacy of George Floyd” (video) in the Star Tribune (March 31, 2023)

“State and Local Lawmakers on Transgender Rights and Politics” (video interview) on C-SPAN (March 24, 2023)

“The TCB 100 - 2023: Andrea Jenkins, President, Minneapolis City Council” by Liz Fedor, Allison Kaplan, et al. in Twin Cities Business (summer 2022)