Jennifer Healy Keintz is an American politician and businesswoman who was a member of the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided int ...

from the 1st district. Elected in 2020, she assumed office on January 12, 2021.

Early life and education

Keintz was born in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen (Lakota language, Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre, South Dakota, Pierre. The city population was 2 ...

. At age four, her family relocated to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

where she started school. Her family later moved to Ivanhoe, Minnesota. Keintz attended Ivanhoe Public School, graduating in 1991 from Lincoln HI Public School, after Ivanhoe and

Hendricks, Minnesota Hendricks is a city in Lincoln County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 713 at the 2010 census. History A post office called Hendricks has been in operation since 1884. The city was named for Thomas A. Hendricks, elected 21st Vice ...

schools consolidated in 1990. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism in 1995 and a Master of Science in communication studies and journalism in 1998 from

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

Career

While attending graduate school, Keintz worked full time as a video producer in the Instructional Technologies Center at

Brookings, South Dakota Brookings is a city in Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. Brookings is South Dakota's fourth largest city, with a population of 23,377 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Brookings County, and home to South Dakota State Un ...

. Upon graduating with her master's degree, she relocated to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, where she worked as a Marketing Analyst at online brokerage Suretrade. In 1999, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

where she lived until 2003. Keintz held positions as director of customer experience at Trade.com, research analyst at Frank N. Magid Associates, and manager of usability and website analytics at

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

. From 2003 to 2009 Keintz held various strategic marketing roles for some of the largest homebuilders in the United States. These included Strategic Marketing Manager at Centex Homes in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...

, director of strategic marketing for PulteGroup in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, and director of strategy and marketing for Centex Homes's Midwest Region, based in

Minnetonka, Minnesota Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. Keintz returned to Frank N. Magid Associates in 2009 as a senior strategist in their

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on the north bank of the Minnesota River, above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 89,987, ma ...

, office. She spent time working abroad, including an extended consulting assignment with Deltatre in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

providing support to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

at the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. In 2014, Keintz moved to

Eden, South Dakota Eden is a town in Marshall County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 94 at the 2020 census. Eden was originally called Eden Park, and under the latter name was laid out in 1915. It is the home of current South Dakota State Represen ...

, and established an independent real estate brokerage firm, Dakota View Realty and Auctions, in 2015. In addition to a South Dakota Real Estate Broker license, Keintz holds a South Dakota State-Registered Appraiser license. In 2020, she was elected to the

, defeating Democratic incumbent

Steven McCleerey Steven McCleerey is an American politician and farmer who served as a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives for the first district. Elected in 2015, McCleerey previously served as Assistant House Democratic Leader. Early life and ...

. She was the 2022 democratic nominee for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Personal life

Healy married Corey Keintz in 2014. Their daughter was born in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keintz, Jennifer Healy 1973 births 21st-century American women Businesspeople from South Dakota Living people Democratic Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives People from Marshall County, South Dakota South Dakota State University alumni Women state legislators in South Dakota