Andrea Jenkins (born May 10, 1961)[2] is an American politician, writer, performance artist, poet, and transgender activist.

"[6] When she was young and still presenting as male, she participated in the Cub Scouts and played football at Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy before moving to Minneapolis in 1979 to attend the University of Minnesota.

[4][7] In 2001, Robert Lilligren, who was running for a seat on the Minneapolis City Council, asked Jenkins to be a part of his campaign.

[7] That year, she organized a City Council summit on transgender equity intended to highlight the issues trans people in Minnesota face.

In her role as curator of the TOHP, Jenkins will seek to expand the trans narratives archived in the collection by recording oral histories from up to 300 individuals, totaling as many as 400 hours of interviews.

"[6] With Hayden Mora, Jenkins founded Trans United Fund, a political action committee (PAC) to aid transgender candidates.

[6] The 8th Ward that Jenkins represents includes the 38th Street and Chicago Avenue intersection where George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020.

But she also said Minneapolis "should focus on creating more schools, housing and other services that prevent people from pursuing crime or turning to violence".

[20] The editorial board of the Star Tribune newspaper criticized what is described as attempted intimidation of Jenkins and compared aspects of the blocking incident to the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

[24] In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".

[28] Jenkins has cited Barack Obama, Harold Washington, the Black Panther Party, Jeremiah Wright, and Jesse Jackson as having influenced her to be involved with politics.