Jennifer Pinckney, the widow of slain South Carolina State Senator and Pastor, the Honorable Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney, whose life was taken in a Bible Study group at historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC on June 17, 2015, is the daughter of Frank Benjamin and the late Cleo Benjamin of Aiken, South Carolina. Jennifer is a proud product of Aiken County Public Schools where she graduated with honors from Silver Bluff High School.

Jennifer has always valued education. Her passion for education led her to the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Information Systems. She furthered her education at USC where she received a Master of Arts degree in Library Science and a Specialist degree in Media.

Jennifer and the late Honorable Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney have two beautiful daughters, Eliana, age 15, and Malana, age 10. Jennifer’s pride and joy are her two girls. She loves being a mother and actively involves her daughters in activities and pursuits that would continue to make her husband proud. Since her husband’s untimely death, Jennifer has answered God’s call to continue her husband’s work with the establishment of a charitable foundation in his honor the Pinckney Foundation.org