About Jennifer
Jennifer is a social worker and social work professor with a lifelong passion for community-building and service. She cares deeply about health policy including improving equity and access to affordable healthcare and medication. As a mental health provider in rural Minnesota, she has been invited to testify in hearings at both the state and national level about the difficulty of accessing mental health care – especially for those living in small and rural communities.
Service to Community
Jennifer is a former Humphrey Policy Fellow, a former member of the MNSure Health Industry Advisory Board, and was newly appointed to the State of Minnesota’s Maternal Mortality Review Board by Health Commissioner Jan Malcom in November 2021. She is honored to serve in this role as a social worker, a mother, and as an advocate for the health of mothers and babies in the state of Minnesota.
Rural Roots
Jennifer lives in St. Peter with her two daughters, Hazel (8) and Cecelia (5). She was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin where she lived until her family moved to a small farming community – Elk Mound, WI – when she was in middle school. Her first campaign (and win!) was for class president in 1996 at Elk Mound High School. She ran because she knew there was work to be done and she believed she could work with her friends to tackle it.
Jennifer enjoys reading with her daughters, spending time with family and friends, yoga, and working in her garden.
