I am honored and humbled to serve as Miss Minnesota for America Strong and to represent our great state on the national stage.
I am from the White Earth Reservation, grew up in Blaine, Minnesota and now live in Minneapolis with my cat, Sisyphus! I am currently finishing my final semester at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where I will graduate with Latin honors with a B.A. in Philosophy and a minor in Ensemble Music. I am also graduating from the University’s Community Engagement Scholars Program, which has been one of the most meaningful parts of my college experience.
My journey into public service began the summer I graduated high school. I never worked in politics before, but I was pulled into volunteering for a local campaign where I helped elect the first woman of color to my hometown’s city council. That experience changed the entire trajectory of my life and I am so grateful it did because I cannot imagine doing anything else.
I will never forget the day my candidate was sworn into office because it felt like I was witnessing that possibility for myself too. As a young woman of color, it was the first time I truly saw a future for myself that I never pictured before.
Since then, my work has taken me from local to presidential campaigns and into state government through the Minnesota Senate and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. I currently serve as Executive Vice Chair for the National Environmental Caucus of the Young Democrats of America, where I help organize young leaders across the country around environmental justice and climate policy.
One of the proudest moments of my organizing career was helping pass instrumental legislation in Minnesota, particularly the Democracy for the People Act, a major elections and democracy omnibus bill that expanded access to our state’s democracy. I helped advocate for legislation allowing 16 and 17 year olds to pre register to vote, so young people can start seeing themselves as voters before they turn 18. I also worked on legislation that restored voting rights to formerly incarcerated Minnesotans. Our democracy is strongest when more people can participate in it.
The late Senator Paul Wellstone once said, “We all do better when we all do better.” It is a quote I hear often on the campaign trail and always reminds me that public service is about the people. As your Miss Minnesota, I want to lead the Wellstone way: by meeting people where they are at and ensuring that every Minnesotan has a voice in influencing the future of our state.
Minnesota has faced moments of incredible grief, fear, division, and tragedy, but time and time again, we have also shown the country what it means to come together. I will use this title to remind people that civic engagement is more than what happens on Election Day because it is what we do in the moments before it. When our neighbors are afraid and hurting, we have a way of finding each other, because we know community is still one of the strongest forms of hope. As I represent Minnesota on the national stage, I want this country to know what it means to be Minnesotan.
