Brenda Council is a longtime North Omaha politician and community leader. She was born on October 3, 1955 in Omaha. After getting her BA from University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1974, she earned her JD from Creighton University in 1977 and became a lawyer in the community.

A long-time labor lawyer, Brenda Council served on the Omaha School Board and the Omaha City Council, and ran for Mayor of Omaha twice before running for Nebraska Legislature. She was the first-ever four-time president of the school board, and the first Black woman to sit on the city council.

She is a Democrat, and as a legislator she represented the Eleventh District. She won and served from 2009 to 2013. Ms. Council and Tanya Cook were the first African American women to serve in the Legislature.

You Might Like…

• A History of North Omaha Community Leaders
• A History of African African Politics in Omaha

MY ARTICLES ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICAN LEGISLATORS FROM NORTH OMAHA:
PEOPLE: Dr. Matthew Ricketts (1893–1897) | Dr. John A. Singleton (1926–1928) | Ferdinand L. Barnett (1927-1928) | Dr. Aaron M. McMillan (1929-1930) | Johnny Owen (1932-1935) | John Adams, Jr. (1935-1941) | John Adams, Sr. (1949-1962) | Edward Danner (1963-1970) | George W. Althouse (1970) | Ernie Chambers (1971–2009, 2013–2020) | Brenda J. Council (2009-2013) | Tanya Cook (2009-2016) | Justin Wayne (2017-present) | Terrell McKinney (2020-present)

Elsewhere Online

• “Brenda Council: A public servant’s life” by Leo Biga on June 26, 2017