Biography

Winnie Brinks is the Senate Majority Leader. She is proud to have earned the historic distinctions as the first woman to ever hold this position in the Michigan Senate, as well as being the first woman to represent Grand Rapids in the Michigan Senate since Eva McCall Hamilton was elected in 1920.

She cares deeply about clean drinking water in Michigan and has worked tirelessly on efforts to reduce the prevalence of toxic PFAS chemicals in it. In addition to accessible, clean water, her policy passions include improving equity in maternal health care, reproductive rights, reducing prescription drug costs, and helping uplift local communities and organizations.

Before being elected to the state House, where she served two terms, Brinks was a caseworker at The Source, helping businesses and nonprofits improve workplaces and retain employees. She also worked as the director of a community-based corrections agency and as a school paraprofessional.

Brinks is a graduate of Calvin College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a concentration in sociology. She and her husband Steve, a Spanish teacher, live in Grand Rapids and are the parents of three daughters, Olivia, Annalise and Emma.