Biography
Jeanelle Austin has always been a voice for equality and change. Jeanelle received her bachelor’s degree in Christian ministries at Messiah College, where she helped to design student programs focused on race, diversity, and culture. She continued her education at Fuller University where she earned a masters degree in Intercultural Studies as well as another masters in Divinity with an emphasis on ethics. She would continue on at Fuller as a staff member for years after graduation, fulfilling positions that combined her passions for theology and discussions surrounding race.
Since her time at Fuller, Jeanelle has been working in George Floyd Square, the so-called "cop-free zone" that emerged at the site of Floyd’s murder in May 2020, as the lead caretaker of the George Floyd Memorial. She is also the co-founder, with members of Floyd’s family, of the George Floyd Global Memorial, an organization that is dedicated to preserving the offerings left at the memorial and the story of the uprising.
In 2021-2022, Jeanelle was appointed as the Center for Work and Democracy’s first “activist-in-residence” in recognition of her creative organization building in George Floyd Square and her use of memorialization to preserve knowledge of the black experience in contemporary America, police violence, and the experience of Southside Minneapolis. In this role, she worked to share her experience and knowledge about her “boots-on-the-ground” approach to social justice.