KNI Communications President 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 over 20 years to successfully elect Democrats at every level of government. He has held leadership roles in a wide variety of innovative non-profit organizations addressing both local and global issues. He is the recipient of the Saul Mendelson Social Justice Award from IVI-IPO, The Community Renewal Society Leadership Award and the Belfast (Northern Ireland) Ambassador Medal.
One of Tenner’s personal passions is addressing the alarming rise of hate crimes, bigotry and intolerance in our current political climate. He has led Illinois public policy initiatives 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. He and the KNI Communications team also assist organizations including Asian Human Services and the Zakat Foundation of America to raise awareness about their philanthropic missions and accomplishments.
Tenner was appointed by Illinois Governors of both parties to the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission following years of human rights work. On the Commission, he worked 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 Chicago. Tenner also works with Chicagoans 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. He assists the Uweza Foundation and Art Gallery in the Kibera community of Nairobi, Kenya as it works to help young people with a variety of programs.
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 has successfully advocated for over $10 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 worked for years with state leaders including Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris and State Senator 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, requiring insurance coverage of medical costs related to cancer clinical trials, establishing numerous crucial new state programs to fight breast cancer through the "Reducing Breast Cancer Disparities Act," and requiring insurance coverage and state standards for potentially lifesaving clinical breast exams. Tenner also works to address the epidemic of youth suicides through his work with the Hope for Us Network.
He has worked for some of the most prominent elected officials and organizations in Illinois and Washington, DC - including President Barack Obama (US Senate Primary and General Elections, 2004 and Presidential Campaign, 2008), the Illinois House of Representatives Democratic Majority, Washington, DC City Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, former Evanston (IL) Mayor Steve Hagerty and the late Aurora (IL) Mayor Tom Weisner. He has helped elect numerous members of the Illinois judiciary, the Illinois legislature, the Chicago City Council and the Washington, DC City Council. News outlets have touted Tenner’s “enviable record of success in the judicial campaigns he’s quarterbacked.” and his team has won over 31 Judicial campaigns in recent cycles. He served as lead consultant on the successful 2018 campaign of Cam Davis, President Obama’s Great Lakes protection lead, who won the largest number of write-in votes in modern Illinois history - beating a state record previously held by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In March of 2020, voters in his home 46th Ward of Chicago elected him Democratic Committeeman.
Tenner is a native of Naperville, Illinois and a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He lives in the Buena Park neighborhood of Chicago 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 was recently honored by the City of Chicago as 46th Ward Senior of the Year for his tireless community work.