Elected Position

Aaron Estabrook was elected to the Manhattan City Commission for a two -year term in November 2019.

Experience

He is a K-State graduate that served in the U.S. Army from 2008-2012 with a year-long combat deployment to southern Afghanistan in 2009-10. He was stationed in Ft. Lewis, Washington with the 2nd Infantry Division, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2-1 Inf A Co. As a Non-Commissioned Officer he served a Gunner in the MGS (Mobile Gun System) platoon.

After his active duty service, he helped launch a new Dept. of Veteran Affairs program called SSVF (Supportive Services for Veterans Families) and worked as a Case Manager for Veteran families facing homelessness across Kansas until 2014.

In 2013, Estabrook was elected to a 4-year term on the USD 383 Board of Education. He served on the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Board, the USD 383 Head Start Policy Council, Early Learning Community Task Force, and as Vice-President of the USD 383 Board of Education. Estabrook worked at Sunflower CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) until he was offered the Executive Director role of the Save Kansas Coalition, where he promoted civic engagement on state legislative policy centered on balanced taxes, transportation, healthcare, and education. 

In 2019, Estabrook was elected Vice-President of NAMI Kansas (National Alliance on Mental Illness) to advocate and educate people about Mental Health issues in Kansas. Aaron is currently the Business and Community Liaison for Flint Hills Job Corps. He is building coalitions of employers and decision-makers across the state dedicated to the success of Job Corps. Estabrook believes in the mission of Job Corps and is working each day to help our youth up and out of poverty. 

Education

Aaron received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Kansas State University. He received a Certificate in International Mediation and Conflict Resolution from the Elliot School of International Affairs of George Washington University while studying abroad in Nicosia, Cyprus. Estabrook also studied Foreign Policy and Counterterrorism at Ben-Gurion University in Be’er-Sheva, Israel. 

Community

• Vice President of National Alliance on Mental Illness – Kansas Board of Directors 
• Vice Chairman Kansas Servicemember, Military, Veteran, and Families Council – SMVF NAMI Kansas Konza Prairie Community Health Center Board of Directors 
• Flint Hills Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Board  
• Manhattan Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee Member 
• Flint Hills Area Transportation Agency Board 
• Board member of UFM Community Learning Center
• Coalition for Equal Justice – Manhattan 
• Former Vice President of Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 Board of Education
• Former member of Manhattan Parks and Recreation Advisory Board 
• Former member of Early Learning & Head Start Policy Council

Family

Aaron and his wife Dantia MacDonald live in downtown Manhattan with their two daughters. Sophia and Kennedy are studious and kind elementary students in USD 383 Public Schools. Dantia is a grant-writer, documentary film director, and author currently serving as Co-Executive Director at Morningstar CRO in Manhattan.