Brendan was born in Newton, Kansas in 1982 and spent his childhood in Rogers, Arkansas. In 2003, Brendan decided to follow his deep roots back to Topeka, where four generations of his family have lived. He moved into a home in College Hill that his great-grandfather built, and he has been in love with the community ever since.
Brendan has held multiple leadership roles during his 12+ years in the community. In 2009, he became a founding member of Think Big Topeka, which worked to attract the Google Fiber Project to the Topeka community. He was also a part of the United Way’s Young Leaders Society, where he helped to build the first Born Learning Trail in Topeka. He also worked with the Capital District Project, which helped to lay the foundational work to revitalize Topeka’s core.
More recently, he served as the president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association and helped to co-found Entrepreneurs & Ale, a monthly networking event where entrepreneurs gather to talk about the joys and challenges of entrepreneurship. Until he was elected in April 2015, he was also a member of the Board of Directors for Downtown Topeka, Inc.
Brendan currently sits on the Board of Directors for Jayhawk State Theatre of Kansas. He is also a member of the Fast Forward Steering committee and the Branding Leadership Team, which is working to refresh the image of Topeka, as well as the College Hill Neighborhood Association.
Brendan is a small business owner. Jensen Communications was established in 2014 to help small businesses and nonprofits develop and implement comprehensive technology strategies. Before starting JensCom, he worked as the Director of Technology for the United Way of Greater Topeka. Brendan received a Bachelor’s of Science in Information Technology Business Administration from Colorado Technical University, is an Eagle Scout, and is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Greater Topeka.