Conference Presenter

Jeanelle Austin is Executive Director and co-founder of the George Floyd Global Memorial, Lead Caretaker of the memorials at George Floyd Square, and founder of Racial Agency Initiative. Jeanelle earned a BA in Christian Ministries from Messiah College and an MDiv in Ethics and an MA in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is also, creator of Racial Agency Initiative, a racial justice leadership coaching company. She consults and speaks nation-wide on various topics as they intersect with race in America. She was the inaugural 2021-2022 Activist in Residence for the Center of Work and Democracy at Arizona State University, is the inaugural 2022 Community Visionary for the Liberal Arts Engagement Hub at the University of Minnesota, and is a 2022 Leonard I. Beerman Foundation Fellow. In 2021, she received the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference Innovation Hub Grant, the Community Champion Award from the Urban League Twin Cities, and the Women of Courage Award from the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation in honor of Mamie Till-Mobley. A native resident of Minneapolis, Jeanelle grew up blocks away from the intersection of 38th & Chicago in Bryant Neighborhood and joyfully serves alongside her community in the ongoing fight for racial justice.