WEBVTT

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Hi, friends. I've been
getting comments about my

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past as a Republican and
how my views have changed,

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and I think it's a valid
question and it deserves

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a thoughtful answer,
so here's that story.

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I was raised in a fiscally
conservative, socially

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liberal family in a rural
community called Walker.

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I'd say there was a general sentiment
of distrust of the government.

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The person I would have described
myself as is a log cabin Republican.

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In high school, I
originally wanted to study,

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to be a mycologist, studying mushrooms.

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My analytical brain enjoyed
science, and I wanted to be the

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first person to be able to
commercially grow morel mushrooms.

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Until the summer of 2017, when the city
of Walker was going to do construction

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maintenance on the road to the business
and farmer's market I worked for,

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it would have effectively cut
off all access for the duration.

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I'd say there was a general
sentiment of distrust

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of the summer in a town
reliant on summer tourism.

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And those who know tourist
towns know that most of what

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gets a business through the
winter is the summer tourism.

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We drafted a petition to
get an injunction on the

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project from the city,
and we were successful.

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That experience set my soul
on fire, and I was hooked.

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I realized just how powerful everyday
people are in shaping our communities.

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I pivoted towards studying public
service at Hamlin University.

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Although, they did cut the
program the summer before I went

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into college, and they made it
a track under political science.

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I learned through this petition that
hands-on community action is effective.

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However, I used to think
that the further you got into

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more structural politics at
the state and federal level,

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the slower and less effective
we are at effecting change.

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I felt like our political
systems were rigged,

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and I wanted to make tangible change now.

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In high school, there were a lot
of things that I wanted to do.

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The 1950s and onward were pretty much
crammed into the last couple weeks of school.

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And in college, I was exposed to new
ways of thinking and seeing the world.

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For example, I didn't even learn
about redlining, racial covenants,

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and what a political ideology
was until I got to college.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic,
I agreed that we needed to

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make sure that we didn't
overwhelm the hospital system.

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As a Minnesota community,
I believed we need

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to play our part in
literally saving lives.

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I got the Pfizer vaccines.

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I got the vaccines when
it was available because

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that's what our Minnesota community does.

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We take care of our neighbors.

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In the 2020 election, I voted
down ballot because I was still

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naive enough to think caring
for our communities is best

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done at the local level, not
at the state and federal level.

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I learned since then that
if we want to help our

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communities, we can't rule out
any of the tools available.

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And the state and federal
government are powerful

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and necessary tools
to bring about change.

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And the state and federal
government are powerful and necessary tools
to bring about change.

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And the state and federal
government are powerful

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and necessary tools
to bring about change. Communities alone can usher
in the change we need,

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and being critically
active in our politics is

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essential because corporations and
billionaires are invested in our politics,

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literally and metaphorically, and they
aren't looking out for our best interest.

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After undergrad, I went straight
to grad school to receive

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my master of public policy
degree, where I learned how to

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conduct policy analysis from
a more disciplined approach.

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approach many elected
leaders would like to

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have us believe that
lawmaking is a perfect

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perfect influence on
human behavior when it's

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not just look at the
war on drugs for example

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what i slowly learned
over the next couple years

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is that while community
action is effective in

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solving problems it's not
the only effective tool

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during my last semester
of grad school in 2022

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i got a job at the
minnesota senate for senator

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abler the chair of our
human services reform

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committee at the time i
learned more about the

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disability community and
how complex dhs is i was

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excited to learn about how we can serve a

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sidelined community
during a group home and

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nursing home closure crisis
during that legislative

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session i saw how fiscally
conservative solutions

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don't work when i compared it to
what i had learned in grad school

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sometimes we just have to spend the money

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to make sure that people
have what they need

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and after my time at the
minnesota senate i was

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living alone unemployed
and for just about the

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first time in my life i
had the time to really

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ask myself who am i what
is the world that i want

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to build and part of
that journey was my own

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gender journey i realized
i was playing a role

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in a story that wasn't
truly mine i had been a part of a story that wasn't truly mine

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i had been performing
a part in a system that

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prescribed who i was
what i will do and how

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essentially i realized
i didn't have to uphold

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a system that i inherited
as i transitioned into

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the woman i am today i've
learned that marginalized

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communities don't have
the luxury of being okay

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with the ways powerful
people have organized

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society to work in their
favor as i transitioned

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i connect