MINNEAPOLIS —
For attorney Esther Agbaje, the desire to make a difference sealed her case for seeking elective office.
"I have always had jobs that were in this space of helping people," said Agbaje, who worked on human rights cases with the U.S. State Department, defended tenants from eviction as a law student and currently tries to aid sick or injured individuals through medical malpractice lawsuits.
But those roles left her asking, "How do we help more people at once? Often that means going to a lever of government."
Agbaje is wrapping up her first year in the Minnesota State Assembly, helping pull the legislative lever in the Upper Midwestern state. as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party — Minnesota's version of the Democratic Party — she represents District 59B, encompassing downtown Minneapolis and parts of the city's near north side.
"It's a pretty vibrant district. It's got diversity in its economic classes, and it's got diversity in its ethnic groups and racial groups," Agbaje said. "And it's really just a fun place to live."
The 35-year-old was born a few kilometers away, across the Mississippi River in St. Paul, the state's capital. Her parents had come from southwestern Nigeria — he from Ekiti state, she from Ogun state — and met as students at the University of Minnesota. They married and had Esther and two younger sons.
Agbaje's father, John, is an Episcopal priest. Her mother, Bunmi, a retired librarian, at one point ran a homeless services center.
"As a child of parents whose mission was to serve others, I have followed in their footsteps throughout my life," Agbaje .
While majoring in political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., she advocated for labor rights. While earning advanced degrees — a master's in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from Harvard — she worked on building healthy communities, preventing homelessness and assisting renters. In between, she worked for the State Department's U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative managing projects to build more independent judiciaries and to advance women's and minority populations' rights in Egypt and in Gulf countries.
"After law school, I wanted to come home," Agbaje said. "And home to me is Minnesota."
Agbaje returned to Minnesota in 2017, joining the Minneapolis law firm of Ciresi Conlin as an associate, mostly working on its medical malpractice team. She also volunteers with Hennepin County Housing Court, St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral and local environmental justice organizations.
Many Saturday mornings find her alongside youngsters in lower-income neighborhoods, pulling on work gloves to plant saplings or clean up debris.
"She's showed up to do the work with us, to plant the trees, to start a new garden," said Analyah Schlaeger dos Santos, who coordinates youth programs for Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light. The nonprofit organization's projects include building up the tree canopy to improve climate and community health.
Schlaeger dos Santos praised Agbaje's ongoing engagement.
"She puts her hands in the dirt with community members, and that speaks volumes," she said.
Agbaje, whose lawmaking duties are considered part time, also volunteers at pop-up workshops on rental assistance and legal aid.
"My role is really to help the community where I can," she said, "whether that's putting forward policies and legislation to (address) problems that help all Minnesotans or directing people to resources at other levels where they can receive direct help."
Agbaje's district has sleek and soaring downtown buildings, sports stadiums and parks, businesses large and small, tidy neighborhoods and tent communities.
Its nearly , with white residents accounting for the largest share (42%), then Black residents (37%), followed by a mix of Asian, Hispanic and other residents, Census data show. There's "a significant population of African Americans, East Africans, Hmong Americans and some Latin people as well," Agbaje said.
Agbaje said she wants to make sure "that the voice of this community also resonates with the rest of the state." She stressed that Minnesotans are "people from all types, all walks of life, and that our policies across the state should reflect that."
One in five Minnesotans identify as "other than white," , While earlier waves of immigrants came from Europe, in recent decades they've come from Mexico, Somalia, India, Laos and Vietnam, .