Commissioner Irene Fernando

Hennepin County District 2

At age 17, I moved to attend the University of Minnesota where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Master of Education in Youth Development Leadership. 10 days into my freshmen year at the U, I co-founded Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF) with a mission of revealing leadership through service, relationships, and action. What started as an optimistic idea quickly transformed into a thriving nonprofit. During my 11 years there, STLF ran over 600 programs with 22,718 students contributing 318,000 hours of service to communities across the country.

Before joining the County Board, I worked in not-for-profit and corporate settings, and instructed college courses. In 2015, I was selected as a Bush Foundation Fellow and began teaching social entrepreneurship at St. Mary’s University. I also worked at Thrivent Financial leading around organizational design, culture, and talent. I have also served in a variety of community engagement roles, such as a Carlson School of Management Alumni board member, a Global Shapers Minneapolis Hub member, and Alpha Gamma Delta Alumnae Chapter President.

Over a decade ago, I bought a house in the Harrison neighborhood, where I currently reside with my partner Kent, and our dog Ernie. We love our community and can often be found sitting on our front porch chatting with the neighbors. If you ever see us, say hello, we have plenty of hammocks to go around.