46th Ward Democratic Committeeman Sean Tenner has spent his career working for organizations and officials dedicated to social justice and the public interest. Tenner served on President Obama’s campaign staff during both his U.S. Senate and Presidential campaigns and has worked for 20 years to successfully elect Democrats at every level of government. In addition to leading the Uptown-based consulting firm KNI Communications, he has held leadership roles in a wide variety of innovative non-profit organizations addressing issues important to 46th ward residents.

One of Tenner’s personal passions is addressing the alarming rise of hate crimes, bigotry and intolerance in our current political climate. He helps lead Illinois public policy for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, one of the world’s leading anti-hate groups. The Center runs the acclaimed Museum of Tolerance and carries on the legacy of the Holocaust survivor and acclaimed Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal.

Tenner was appointed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn in November 2012 – and reappointed in 2015 – to the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission following years of human rights work. On the Commission, he works alongside legislators and other state leaders to develop initiatives related to holocaust and genocide education. He was an early leader in the Save Darfur movement in Illinois and works closely with refugees from the violence in Darfur and South Sudan who have built new lives in the North Side of Chicago. Tenner also works with North Side residents who fled Apartheid in South Africa, serving on the Board of Color Me Africa Fine Arts which brings Apartheid-era protest artists to Chicagoland to share their stories and their lessons in perseverance.

Tenner has done work related to post-conflict reconciliation in both Rwanda and Northern Ireland, and has also been profiled by CNN for his work founding the Uptown-based Abolition Institute, which successfully advocated for $4.5 million in federal funding to fight modern day slavery in West Africa.

As a former President of Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Chicagoland Affiliate, Tenner has worked for over a decade with our State Representatives Greg Harris and Sara Feigenholtz to pass landmark pieces of breast cancer legislation in the Illinois General Assembly: requiring insurance coverage of breast cancer screenings recommended by physicians (2015), requiring insurance coverage of medical costs related to cancer clinical trials (2011), establishing numerous crucial new state programs to fight breast cancer through the “Reducing Breast Cancer Disparities Act” (2009) and requiring insurance coverage and state standards for potentially lifesaving clinical breast exams (2007). Tenner is also working to address the epidemic of youth suicides through his work on the Board of Directors of Hope for the Day / Sip of Hope -- one of the nation’s most innovative mental health organizations.

Tenner lives on Buena Avenue with his wife Shiwali, who founded the non-profit Indian dance organization Tribhang to raise awareness of global women’s rights issues. He is proud of his mother Nancy, a former pre-school teacher and his father Gene who is active in Buena Park Neighbors and recently honored as 46th Ward Senior of the Year for his tireless community work.