Hello, Urbana!
I’m Annie Feldmeier Adams.

I grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin, then a city with a population of 40,000 (now 70,000), near Milwaukee. I was raised in a multiracial household (African American, Belizean, German, Polish, and Vietnamese) with my eight brothers and sisters.

My father was born on a farm in Minnesota, joined the Air Force, received a college education thanks to the GI Bill, taught electronics at a technical college, and belonged to the teachers' union. My mother had a physical education degree and taught gymnastics at the YMCA and swimming at the city pool.

My parents instilled in us the timeless working-class values of faith, family, education, and community service. These principles guided us as we put ourselves through college and pursued careers in fields ranging from architecture to education to engineering and law enforcement (police inspector and federal prosecutor).

I have degrees from the University of Minnesota and the Rhode Island School of Design and have lived in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Providence, and Chicago. I have formal training as a photographer. I am a large-scale, community-driven public artist and creative placemaker.

Since 2015, my husband Bruce Adams and I have been privileged to call Urbana home. In 2016, I began to serve on the Urbana Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission to create safer, more equitable, and connected neighborhoods.

In 2015, I co-founded Imbibe Urbana and Urbana First Fridays. I started the Urbana Amble: Front Yard Garden and Art Tour during the pandemic. I created these events to encourage connections, conversations, and community pride.

Since age 15, I have worked numerous jobs, often more than one at a time. I have been a lifeguard, swim instructor, barista, waitress, cocktail server, technology support, warehouse manager, accountant, and graphic designer.

Today, I work at the exceptional and innovative University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I am a marketing and communications professional for the Grainger College of Engineering.

I love living in Urbana and am proud to be a candidate for mayor of this great city. What makes Urbana great is her people. We are distinctly independent with a vibrant and practical spirit. We want to see our neighbors thrive.

We are a city of makers, growers, doers, inventors, and educators.

We are scientists, instructors, artists, activists, administrators, clerks, librarians, gardeners, builders, farmers, nurses, doctors, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, inventors, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and more. Some of us were born here and others arrived from points near and far.

We are rich, poor, and in-between. We span political categories and often defy them. We want our city government to help our community thrive – on time and on budget.

We all belong here. We all deserve a voice in our government. Let's move Urbana forward as we imagine and chart our future together.