Meet Tarryl

Named a “Rising Star” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and recognized as a “strong voice” in the State Senate by KSTP-TV, Tarryl Clark earned a reputation as a respected leader dedicated to public and community service.

FAMILY

Tarryl was born in Virginia, coincidentally sharing her Mother's birthday. At the time, her father was on active duty with the U.S. Navy (later followed by two of her three brothers). After college, Tarryl settled in Central Minnesota over 24 years ago with her husband, Doug, a Legal Aid attorney. They have two sons, Colin and Nathan, who have graduated from college (Saint John’s University and the U of M, respectively) and have followed in their parent’s footsteps by pursuing careers in service – Colin works with children with Autism spectrum disorders while Nathan is an organizer with the charitable arm of Harpoon Breweries in Boston, MA.

WORKING ACROSS THE DISTRICT

Tarryl has worked all across North Eastern and Central Minnesota for the past twenty-four years. She helped form the Central Minnesota chapter of Habitat for Humanity, worked for the Girl Scouts, practiced law with the Senior Citizen's Law Project, and served as the Executive Director of the Minnesota Community Action Partnership. In these and other positions, Tarryl has served families, seniors, children, and veterans in our communities from Aitkin, Brainerd, Duluth, Eveleth, Grand Rapids, Hibbing, International Falls, Milaca, Mora, Pine City, St. Cloud, Virginia, and many more.

Currently Tarryl is the national co-chair of the Jobs21! campaign for the BlueGreen Alliance. Among her job responsibilities, she has been working throughout the region to put Minnesotans back to work and get our country back on track with a jobs plan that maintains and grows jobs by making our country more competitive in the 21st century economy.

A STRONG VOICE FOR MINNESOTA

Throughout her personal and professional life, Tarryl has been a strong voice for all Minnesotans. While in school Tarryl taught Sunday school and volunteered in the community. Early in her career, she counseled at-risk teenagers and their families, seeing first hand that sometimes times the government gets in the way instead of making a positive difference. Since then, Tarryl has worked for seniors at the Senior Citizens Law Project; children and families at the Children's Defense Fund; and to build stronger communities across Minnesota at the Minnesota Community Action Partnership. She has also helped our citizen-soldiers reintegrate into their communities through her leadership in the ‘Warrior-to-Citizen’ initiative in Minnesota. In these positions, Tarryl fought for better jobs and living wages, worked to create affordable health care, helped seniors to live longer in their family home, and for a better future for all children.

In December, 2005, Tarryl won a special election to the Minnesota Senate. After winning reelection in November, 2006, she was elected to be the Assistant Majority Leader after serving only a single session. During her five years in the State Senate, Tarryl became well known as a strong and articulate voice for working families, seniors, kids, and veterans.

BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW

1. Tarryl grew up in an “Eisenhower” Republican family and knows no one party or group of people have a monopoly on good ideas, and lives by the Harry Truman motto of “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.”
   
2. With her husband, she’s been a long time high school youth minister working with teens and adults throughout the region including high school church camps and retreats in Bemidji, Brainerd, Cass Lake, Duluth, Hibbing, Proctor, St. Cloud, and Virginia. She’s truly spent more time sleeping on church floors throughout the region than Congressman Cravaack’s spent in the district.
   
3. An outdoors enthusiast, Tarryl belonged to Sportsmen’s Caucus while in the legislature, strengthening families’ ability to pass down our outdoor traditions to future generations. She continues to use and promote our trails working to grow tourism throughout the region.
   
4. She spends some of her free time quilting and sewing. In the past few months, she has finished several projects and is putting the finishing touches on a "Scrabble" quilt for Nathan.
   
5. Tarryl loves to garden, and keeps turning chunks of the lawn into new garden plots (less for Doug to mow!).