From Iron Range to Harvard, advocate is getting things done

From her home on the Iron Range, Kimberly Stokes has done many remarkable things in her life. She has served on the Virginia School Board, and worked for the offices of Congressman Jim Oberstar and Senator Paul Wellstone.

She was named an “Angel of Adoption” by the United States Congress to honor her advocacy for international adoption. She ran for Lieutenant Governor for the state of Minnesota. Stokes, a Harvard graduate, is a wife and mother of four, and works as a vice president for a bank.

Kimberly Stokes is the recipient of the 2019 Rosie Award, honoring Rosie the Riveter, a feminist icon. This award is presented to a woman we all know who works hard to get stuff done. Stokes, a true powerhouse of a woman, utilizes all available

resources in order to benefit everything, and everyone, around her.

Iron Ranger Stokes, who is originally from Hibbing, currently lives in Britt, north of Virginia.

“I had an idyllic childhood in many ways,” she said. “There were 150 kids within one to two blocks in my neighborhood, and we went out to play from morning until dinner time.”

Stokes’ father was killed in an industrial accident when she was just 11. Eventually, her mother remarried, and the family went from four children to a blended family of eight.

Stokes said her mother taught her several important lessons as a child.

“She gave me a little card that says, ‘I know you can do it,’” Stokes said. “I still keep it in my office to this day. She also taught us how to handle defeat with grace. If you fail, you get up and do it again.”

College years

PHOTO BY DAVID BALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY college, Stokes worked as an intern for the chair of health and human services for the House of Representatives at the Minnesota State Capitol. She graduated with a degree in political science.

Meet cute

Stokes worked in the office of the Senate Finance Committee, then moved on to work for Mark Dayton’s first U.S. Senate campaign. It was there that she met her future husband Gary Cerkvenik in an unusual way.

“Someone from Congressman Oberstar’s office called Mark Dayton’s office, and I answered the phone,” she said. “The man had a very strong Iron Range accent, and I had to ask him to spell what he was saying.”

After many subsequent calls, the two struck up a friendly, professional relationship. Eventually Stokes sent her sister to check him out. Her sister approved, and the two began dating.

“He was interesting, and we both loved politics,” Stokes said of Cerkvenik.

They were married in 1986.

Harvard graduate

Stokes eventually got a job working for Congressman Oberstar’s office, where Cerkvenik worked. He left soon after to serve a term as St. Louis County Commissioner.

Stokes later took a job at US Bank. “I never thought of going into banking, but I really liked it,” she said. “It was orderly, but you could also be creative with the different things you can do in the community.”

Stokes took a leave of absence from the bank when she received the Bush Fellowship to attend Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. After a one-year program, she

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