Briona “Bri” Jenkins (she/her/hers) is a 31-year-old Black, queer woman changing the world while living in Austin, TX by empowering people to own their stories through vulnerability. 

Given the title, “The love child of Oprah, Beyonce, and Michelle Obama,” Briona Jenkins is a public speaker, activist for the LGBTQIA+, female, and people of color communities, and has years of experience using her platform to evoke change.

Originally from Hamden, Connecticut, Bri attended Albertus Magnus College, in New Haven, CT., which is where she completed her undergrad as a Sociology major with a concentration in Social Work.

Since October 2019, she hosts a podcast called The Tea with Bri where she sits and chats with a different guest every week about whatever topic the guest chooses. 

On December 4, 2019, she won the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce ‘Rising Star Award’.  Released in February 2020, she was the subject for a documentary entitled, “Uncomfortable Spaces”. In May 2021, she was awarded the Premier Achievement Award from her Alma Mater, Albertus Magnus College. 

When not at work Bri is very involved in the Austin community. She has served on a number of boards. In June 2021, she joined the board of Random Acts and is currently finishing out her second term as Co-Director of  New Leaders Council’s Austin Chapter Board, and has served on the boards of Keep Austin Fed, Austin Black Pride, and Lone Star Victims Advocacy Project. She also appears on panels and stages all over the city and has spoken at the 2020 Women’s March Rally in Austin, BossBabe’s Annual State of the Uterus event, Texas State Business Week, on a virtual SXSWEdu panel, and two GISH panels about Racial Equality & Justice.