Dawanna Bickham Witt ’99 came to St. Kate’s to study chemical dependency and family therapy, but the volunteer work she performed as a condition of one of her scholarships gave her a view of how her actions could make a positive difference in the lives of young people.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and Minnesota’s first Black woman sheriff is still following that life lesson, and changing the practice of law enforcement for the better. She started as a detention deputy, and then worked a variety of roles including bailiff, transport, school resource officer, detective, crisis negotiator, recruitment coordinator, and diversity and inclusion coordinator. She was the first woman in the history of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office to reach the rank of captain.
Even though her roles and responsibilities changed, her focus as Hennepin County Sheriff is on reaching out to young people and communities that have historically had poor relationships with the police.
"I've been there before, where you cannot see past the next day, when there [are] not enough people telling you, 'Yes, you can,'” Witt said when she took the oath of office as sheriff. “What Hennepin County has elected as their next sheriff is a person who runs on passion, and I believe we can do better. And that's half the battle. You have to believe."