Soren Stevenson

Soren Stevenson (he/him) was elected to represent Ward 8 in 2025. He is a renter, survivor of police violence, a former homeless outreach worker and former union member. 

Having family roots in Minnesota, Soren grew up in Grants Pass, Oregon to parents who worked for the Department of Agriculture and as a teacher respectively. As a preteen, his parents had a change in career which brough Soren and his family to Central Asia where he completed middle school and early high school. At age 12 he was able to go to school via public transit on his own, and after school he was free to go anywhere in the city, play basketball or go to a friend's house because the public transit was cheap, easy to navigate and also very safe. This experience helped inform his vision for Minneapolis: where all families can feel safe and move easily and freely throughout the whole city. 

Soren moved to Minneapolis for a master’s program in Development Practice at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, where his focus was on housing policy. His studies were rooted in and helped shape by his belief that affordable and dignified housing is one of the most critical foundations of a healthy and happy life. This is because people cannot address any other issues or maintain other commitments if they do not have a safe, stable, and warm place to sleep at night. Soren worked for a nonprofit that forms housing cooperatives – buildings or properties owned jointly by residents. He was drawn to this organization because they held a commitment and had a solution to preventing the displacement of residents by rising rents or property sales, while also narrowing the homeownership gaps among rich and poor residents, and people of color and white residents. Soren is committed to working towards a city where everyone can have pride in their neighborhood and control over their own future, regardless of race, income, or national origin.