Kerry Eleveld worked as a journalist for nearly 30 years, covering business, politics, and a critical stretch of the LGBTQ movement. As White House Correspondent for The Advocate, she was the first reporter from an LGBTQ news outlet to attend daily White House press briefings and also the first to get a one-on-one sit-down interview with Barack Obama as president. Eleveld’s work has won numerous accolades and awards from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, the Washington Post, Politico Magazine, Salon, and The Daily Beast, and her commentary has been featured on PBSNewsHour, MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and Sirius XM. Eleveld now resides in Portland, Oregon, with her family, serves as Director of External Communications and Media Relations for the Democratic strategy and donor hub Way to Win, and hosts the weekly podcast Charting The Way Forward.
You can only have one: Rose’s caramel corn, an ice cream cone from Jersey Junction, or a Yesterdog. Which do you choose?
Oh man, love it all, but Yesterdog for sure. It's one of a kind--can't be recreated. And I find myself thinking about a midnight rendezvous there much too often for someone who lives on the West Coast.
What was your path from East Grand Rapids to where you are now in life?
Wow, in one word: circuitous. After graduating from Michigan (Go Blue!) I headed to LA for a summer, then moved with a friend to Charleston, SC, and later Greenville. It was in South Carolina that I began writing for publications and forging a path as a journalist. From SC, I moved to San Francisco during the dot-com bubble—eventually got laid off, like nearly everyone! Went back to grad school for journalism at Berkeley, where I fell in love with political reporting, then moved to New York after graduation. There I began writing for an LGBTQ news outlet covering city/state politics and eventually landed a job at the national magazine, The Advocate, where I covered the Democratic primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton—what a thrill! I eventually moved to D.C. to cover the Obama White House and Congress for The Advocate during an absolutely historic period of advancement for LGBTQ rights. I met my wife in D.C. and we moved back out to the Bay Area for her doctoral internship. One pandemic and two kids later, we decided we loved the Pacific Northwest (and my brother and his family are in Seattle), so we moved to Portland, OR, where we currently reside. I also recently hung up my reins as a journalist—it was the only sane thing to do for any number of reasons. I currently work as a political strategist.
What specific thing did you learn in East that has enabled you to be successful?
Never give up—there's almost always daylight somewhere behind whatever is clouding our vision. I learned that through some great friends and some amazing teachers. I also managed to play on every bad team we had at the time—specifically women's basketball and softball. I learned to like being the underdog—be scrappy, get creative, work hard, and you can usually find a way to win some big ones. Every news outlet, organization, and constituency I have worked/reported for has been an underdog of some sort that found a way to win some big ones.
What were you like in school?
Well, which year are we talking about? Depressed sophomore and junior year, I think it's fair to say. I don't know how people experienced me then, but I don't think I was my best self. Senior year, things really turned around. I grew into some leadership roles, felt far more sunny/optimistic, and was hopefully a source for good most days, though far from perfect. By my senior year, I hope that I treated people well, brought some joy, made some people laugh, and was a little kinder than I had been earlier.
Did you have a favorite teacher or class?
Lots of great teachers at East. I would have to say Mrs. Graham's AP English class, my sophomore year, was where I started to see the potential in writing—what great literature can do. I was (and still am) a very slow reader, but I just felt so motivated by her class to show up prepared so I could soak in what she was teaching us. Also, Mr. Kemp, who taught computers and Algebra (or was it Geometry?). I just really liked that little Teddy Bear of a dude.
If you had to choose one moment in one location to serve as the signature moment of your East school experience, what would it be?
That's a tough one. Two-a-day basketball practices and my basketball buds stand out as formative. I'll never forget a magical post-basketball season 2:00 a.m. walk through Gaslight Village on a snowy night—completely sober, I might add—that felt like a scene ripped straight from a Dickens novel. Homecoming prep, making the floats, and especially riding in a homecoming car stand out as fun highlights. But I have to say, what rises above all of it was, senior year, sitting around the kitchen table at the house of my friend Allison Armstrong (now Montague) with a half dozen friends on many a night and chewing over just about anything and everything life had to offer at the time. We had some seriously solid chats and I am beyond grateful for the bonds formed there and what felt like a home away from home.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
Such a hard question to answer. Life's always a mystery that's yet to be solved. There's no cheating time. But if I could tell my younger self something it would probably be that there's so much goodness ahead.
Do you stay in touch with many people from East Grand Rapids?
Some people, for sure. I'm on a text chain with our crew from senior year. But I've lived so many places now, and I find that I usually stay in touch with one core person from each one of those places who grounds me in that phase of my life.
What advice do you have for young East alums who are just starting out?
Just get out there and do it—try some things, move some places, see what fits. We are limited in life only by our imagination and the amount of effort we are willing to put in.
Who else would you like us to have a virtual cup of coffee with?
Hmm, so many options. How about Kat Olin (née Allen), who is literally my oldest friend in the world (my second oldest friend is Jenny Fee, but I'm guessing you're already in touch with her. ;)
Bonus question: What are you glad we didn’t ask you about?
Nothing. I'm forever a journalist at heart—no question is too invasive.
