As a resident and local leader, Briana Andrews is involved in a variety of initiatives aimed at supporting the Fort Wayne community. She engages in social and political activism, rooted in a strongly held personal desire to see the city she calls home move toward solutions that could address some of its biggest challenges.
Working as a crisis intervention specialist at the
988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline, Andrews assists individuals going through mental health struggles, emotional distress, or addictions. She also works a part-time job for
The National Youth Advocate Program, advocating on behalf of youth in foster care, facilitating
safe space visits between youth and their biological parents, aiding in their transportation to home placements, school, extracurriculars, and respite placements.
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Briana Andrews with Mayor Sharon Tucker at the Annual Back To School Giveaway.Outside of work, Andrews volunteers with
Erin’s House for Grieving Children, where she helps young people navigate loss. She leads workshops for girls in the juvenile justice system at Allen County Juvenile Center, where she says she intends to teach them that mistakes don’t have to dictate their futures. Additionally, hosts events like pinning ceremonies for veterans through
We Honor Veterans.
Through
Bring-it Push-it Own-it, a female-led nonprofit geared at addressing the mental health and wellness of young girls, Andrews was able to take her work global when she went with the program’s leadership team to Kenya, Africa, providing services for 120 Kenyan girls.
She serves as president of the
Allen County Young Democrats, and lieutenant officer and community outreach coordinator for the
Original Black Panther Party of Fort Wayne. Andrews says the reason she has decided to join Fort Wayne’s Original Black Panther Party has to do with the Panthers’ mission, which is often misrepresented.
“When many people hear 'Black Panther Party,' they think of a militant group from the 1960s — often reduced to caricatures in mainstream media, but the truth is, the Original Black Panther Party has always been rooted in love, service, and strategic change,” she explains. “From its founding, the party combined grassroots survival programs with political engagement, proving that revolution isn’t just protest, it’s policy.
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Bri Andrews at the Original Black Panther Party Winter Pack Giveaway in 2022.“We are feeding the hungry through Thanksgiving turkey giveaways, food pantry restocking, and numerous meal distributions,” she adds. “Healing trauma through ‘Kwanzaa on a Panther,’ for children who’ve lost parents to gun violence, and ‘Mother’s Day on a Panther,’ for grieving mothers who have lost children to gun violence, and we continue the party’s tradition of revolutionary care.”
On top of the time she’s dedicated to working and volunteering, Andrews is also a mom. Motherhood came early to her, and while it’s a role often met with a multitude of judgments, she says she has always viewed it as a gift. Where others might have seen a setback, she says she saw a calling to forge her own path, working to create a better life for herself, for her child, and for others.
“I’ve lived what happens when systems fail and compassion is absent,” Andrews explains. “I’ve seen firsthand the powerful impact that occurs in a person's life when someone steps in to bridge the gap, so why wouldn’t I help them bring their initiatives to fruition. I was a child abuse survivor, a teen mother, and a young woman battling depression, suicidal ideation, and an eating disorder, all while trying to heal in order to learn how to become the mother that my child deserved. I watched my sister suffer under the weight of a criminal justice system stacked against her. I know how it feels to be trapped in survival mode, praying for a lifeline. I also know that no one should have to fight their way out alone.”
She understands what it means to be judged before you've had a chance to prove yourself, a reality she says too many hardworking Hoosiers face in different ways.
“Our work isn’t just for Black communities — it’s for anyone who believes in justice,” she explains. “Police brutality, economic disparity, and racism harm us all. True solidarity means standing together, whether you’re Black, white, or other.”
Andrews says she is also dedicated to protecting and amplifying the voices of women, like herself, who have suffered violence. Along with the Original Black Panthers Party of Fort Wayne, hosted
“MLK No More Silence Rally Against Women’s Violence” on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, celebrating women's stories and voices.
Speaking openly about the challenges she’s faced and the past she’s overcome is something Andrews views as a strength. She says she doesn’t see herself as a victim of her circumstances, yet she holds deep compassion for those who are still “finding their way to survivorship”, as she puts it.
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Andrews with her She(ro) nomination.
While Andrews states that recognition for her work is not her primary motivation, her work in the community hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Andrews has been nominated for the General's Award, the Dr. Daryl Yost Community Impact Award, the 2025 Remarkable Women of the Year, A She(ro) Award, and the 2024 Trailblazer Award.
As someone engaged in both the social and political activism realms in Fort Wayne, Andrews feels she has a grasp on the city's greatest needs, and she is working towards the solutions, including challenging narratives and systems that cause harm. She focused on finding ways to educate, uplift, and advocate.
“I may not have had money to donate as a young person, but I can show up, listen, and say, ‘I’ve been there too,’” she explains. “Now, I use my story to teach others how to reclaim their power, to advocate for policies that break cycles of harm, and to model a faith that meets people in their pain without judgment. This work isn’t charity – it's justice in action. It’s being the change that I want to see in this world. Every hour I give is a refusal to accept a world where suffering is invisible. If my hands can help hold someone else’s burdens, even for a moment, then everything I went through was worth it.”
Andrews says she’s hoping to see change spurred from conversation, too, as she works to create a world where difficult conversations aren’t rare — they’re necessary.
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Briana Andrews at the Indiana Statehouse.“I want to sit in the rooms with the people who hold the power, to create real change,” she says.
Her commitment to continuing these types of conversations recently sent her to the Indiana Statehouse five times, where she voiced her discontent with
Indiana House Bill 1662. The bill, which was aimed at criminalizing homelessness by making it a crime to sleep on state or local land, was stopped and then reintroduced as State Bill 197.
“Lawmakers must remove the Class C Misdemeanor from SB 197 and instead focus on strategies to align funding and resources to restore and supply affordable housing in Indiana, and abandon any future efforts to criminalize homelessness,” Andrews said about the bill.
The Class C Misdemeanor language was removed after people, such as Andrews, spoke out.
She adds that she hopes to see more conversations happening where they matter most, like in
meetings with members of Congress in Washington, D.C.
“We must hold leaders accountable,” she says. “We’re demanding Congress enforce the law, protect our freedoms, and restore funding for justice, education, and equality.”
That includes sustained acceptance of all people, she adds. For those around her, Andrews is hoping to inspire people to ask themselves an important question: “How am I contributing to the problem and how can I add to the solutions?”