Today, we’re joined by former Montana State Legislator Jenny Eck. Jenny served three terms in the House of Representatives, including two terms in leadership roles. We’ll discuss her path to the legislature, and the importance of finding common ground with one another, in order to effectively move the political process forward.

Guest Bio: Jenny is the Communication and Development Director at the Indian Law Resource Center where she promotes the organization’s mission of supporting the rights of Indigenous peoples across the Americas. She is passionate about authentically helping those impacted by secondary trauma to find resilience and healing through awareness and connection, and works providing leadership trainings in this area. She became interested in this work after serving three years as Executive Director of the Friendship Center of Helena, a nonprofit organization providing shelter and crisis services to those impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

From 2013-2018, Jenny served three terms as an elected legislator in the Montana House of Representatives, including a two-year term as House Minority Leader. During her tenure, eleven of her bills were passed into law, reflecting her focus areas of safer communities, mental health, consumer protection, justice system reforms, and gender equity. She was one of the lead negotiators in the 2017 Legislative Special Session and chaired the subcommittee which overhauled the Legislature’s anti-harassment policies and procedures. Jenny got her start in politics working on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 and went on to run Hillary Clinton’s Montana campaign in 2016.

In 2015, Jenny was chosen as a Rodel Fellow with the Aspen Institute and in 2020 she was one of fifty people worldwide to receive the Rotary Peace Fellowship. Jenny recently graduated with honors from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, having earned a masters degree in International Peace and Conflict Studies. During this program she had the opportunity to travel to one of the most remote areas of Nepal where she interviewed women about climate adaptive agriculture, social discrimination, and personal protection.

Jenny lives in Helena, MT. She loves spending time with her two adult children, Sage and Owen, and hiking the hills near her home.

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Mother Love is hosted by Emily Freeman, with music by Caroline Keys. Got a great idea for a person or project to be featured on the podcast? Email us stories@hmhb-mt.org.

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