About Rena: Rena's Story | Education & Training | Professional | Community Leadership

Rena's Story

Rena's sense of community came from her large family and a neighborhood where people truly looked out for each other. The home she grew up in was a welcoming place for all the neighborhood kids. A strong family and sense of community are at the very core of who Rena is today.

Rena and her husband John have raised seven children. The oldest, LaSheeka, is married with a young son. The youngest, Silver, will be entering her junior year at Highland Park High School. As the mother of seven, Rena knows what it is to sacrifice for the greater good of her children.

Ten years ago, she moved to the Twin Cities in search of a better life for her kids. Homeless, she and her children stayed in a Minneapolis shelter for several months. It wasn't long before she and her family went from homeless to homeowners. She found her first job in Minnesota earning minimum wage at Camp Snoopy, then at the YMCA on University Avenue before moving on to work at a commodities trading firm in downtown Minneapolis for five years.

During this time, she began to get involved in social change work. A defining moment came when the city only paved half of her street, even though the entire street would be assessed for the cost. She started knocking on doors, organized her neighbors and began meeting with elected and city officials. Soon after, the city paved the rest of her street. An activist was born.

After five years, she left the comforts of her corporate job to become a Wellstone Organizing Fellow and embark on her new vocation of community organizing. She was quickly hired on by Urban Embassy, where she would go on to lead the efforts to engage the African-American community during the 2008 election.

Rena is a proven educator, organizer, and a leader. We need a Representative who will do more than just vote "the right way" at the capitol - we need someone like Rena who has proven her ability to unite diverse groups of people and opinions, and then have the passion and experience to fight the battles at the state capitol.

Education & Training

• Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Southern Illinois University
• Graduate of the public policy program with Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties
• Wellstone Organizing Fellow
• LISC housing policy graduate
• Public Policy Project graduate
• Organizing Apprentice Project Fellow
• Neighborhood Leadership Program participant with the Wilder Foundation

Professional

Current: Parent Leader Coordinator with Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota. Rena created and currently directs a statewide parent leadership team that ensures the "parent voice" is represented in the policies of the Minnesota Department of Human Services Child Safety and Permanency division.

Previous: Lead Organizer with Urban Embassy. The mission of Urban Embassy is to "engage, educate and empower the African American community politically in the non partisan arena." In 2008, Rena personally registered nearly 1,000 new voters, recruited a wide range of election judges from communities of color and developed dozens of new leaders equipped to take a message of hope and accountability out into their community. She was recognized with the "Emerging Leader" award for her efforts.

Rena has also worked in the early education field for over 15 years, including HeadStart, Respite Care for Children and Families affected with the HIV virus or AIDS, YMCA Childcare Center and other Private/Public settings.

Community Leadership

Rena has life long experiences working with communities, connecting families, and empowering individuals. She is a community organizer who advocates for racial, social, economic justice and equity. The following gives a snap shot of some of her community work over the last several years:

• Board member of Summit/University Planning Council & Chair of the Community Improvement and Safety Committee of the Summit/U - Planning Council.
• Founder of the "Save Our Homes" campaign. Organized community meeting with over 150 community residents to ensure that existing homeowners.
• Elected member, Central Corridor Community Agreement Coordinating Committee (member of affordable housing committee).
• Board member of Model Cities. Mission: promote the physical, mental, spiritual, social, and economic well-being of individuals, families and communities who are under-served.
• Past Mission Coordinator at Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church.
• Organizer with the Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation. Began as a resident leader, then became resident program coordinator of the Power of One Plus One Resident Leader Program. Also served as a core organizer of Summer of Peace.
• Founder of the Aurora-Grotto Block Club. Rena originally started knocking her neighbors doors to start a petition drive to get the remainder of their block paved. After succeeding, they went on to form the block club, and initiated block clean-ups, block parties, "paint-the-pavement", and other community building events.
• Board member of the Minnesota Women's Political Caucus.
• Founding member of L.I.F.T (Leading Individuals and Families Together to End Poverty). Worked with legislators to form the policy recommendations through the Legislative Commision to End Poverty by 2020. They also passed a rental control bill attached to new developments using public subsidy, which was subsequently vetoed by the Governor.
• Troop Leader, Girl Scout Troop 50106 (ages 13-16) of the Summit-U neighborhood.
• 2nd Chance Coalition. Facilitated large community meeting for restoring the right of ex-felons to vote once released from incarceration.
• HIRE Minnesota. Negotiated with legislators to help create a pipeline for outreach, training and accountability measures to ensure that low-income residents received their fair share of the weatherization jobs created by the federal recovery dollars.