Val Jensen is an expert in leading cultural change and talent development across and within organizations. Val has been asked to speak, write and advise on leadership, equity and inclusion related issues. She has spent her career bringing together individuals from very different backgrounds to problem solve and leverage their contributions and energies to help their organizations get the best results. Val is currently working locally as the Director of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity for the City of St. Paul.
Val has run her own consulting firm to her experience running complex organizations, Val’s experience in unmatched. During her tenure as the Executive Director of Twin Cities Diversity in Practice an association of 53 legal employers, Val has facilitated over 50 panel discussions and trainings on Diversity and Inclusion. She led a 27 - person Board of Directors that included corporate General Counsels of Fortune 500 companies, managing partners, Diversity professionals and community leaders.
She continues to facilitate conversations on topics, including but not limited to, gender bias, generational differences, racial bias and cultural differences and leadership. In her previous roles Val has worked in law school administration as the head of career planning and as an Associate Dean of Multicultural Affairs. Val has also worked as a County Prosecutor focused on Truancy Intervention and as a staff attorney to the Honorable Justice Alan Page supporting the Implementation Committee of the Race Bias Task Force Report of the Minnesota Supreme Court where she assisted in the implementation of race data collection throughout the States Court System.
Val teaches an upper level course on “Race and the Law” at Mitchell Hamline and has done so for 10+ years where she graduated with her JD in 1996. Val has a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in African/African American studies from Carleton College.
Val has served on numerous community and non-profit boards with her efforts often focused on access and opportunities for communities of color.
