After nine years as Minnesota’s junior U.S. Senator, Tina Smith is wrapping up her career in public service and ready to share her candid reflections on the fall election and realities of governance. She promises to give hope and guidance as we work to ensure the rights of all.

Senator Smith has called Minnesota home since 1984. She initially worked at General Mills before starting her own business and serving as an executive of Planned Parenthood. She joined politics out of a belief that politics should be about improving people’s lives. She served as chief of staff to then Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, becoming lieutenant governor in 2014. She was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2017 and re-elected twice.

Her philosophy of service has centered on going directly into communities to have real conversations with everyday people. The senator’s collaborative approach has led her to pass more than 70 bills and provisions into law that have benefited working families, farmers, veterans, businesses and Tribal communities.

Senator Smith holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

The session’s moderator will be R.T. Rybak, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation. A Minneapolis native, R.T. spent 30 years in journalism, publishing, marketing, and the Internet before serving as Mayor of Minneapolis from 2002 to 2013. Throughout his career, he has been committed to developing equitable career paths for youth of color, including as a founding partner of Step Up.