Elena Anderson is an advocate and writer based in Duluth, MN. She has worked to end gender-based violence for ten years: answering a statewide crisis line, providing SANE hospital outreach, fighting for change in universities’ response to sexual violence, and coordinating national trainings with the Advocacy Learning Center. She is a graduate of Hamline University with degrees in Creative Writing and Social Justice. Her research centered on the intersection of art and community organizing; prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses; trauma in the lives of incarcerated women; and the importance of expressive arts in healing. In 2021, she completed a Nonprofit Marketing and Strategic Communications Certificate from ASU.
Since 2018, Elena has been a Program Associate for Praxis International, a national TA provider that promotes social change through projects designed to transform individuals, programs, and communities. She is also the founder of the Writing to Wholeness Collective, a grantee of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. Elena has facilitated writing workshops in Ramsey County Correctional Facility, Shakopee Correctional Facility, and Tubman domestic violence shelter. She is a queer survivor of sexual assault, committed to striving for racial justice, transformative justice, and collective healing through creativity.