In addition to her work at Investigate Midwest, Behnke is an adjunct faculty member at Simpson College and the student newspaper faculty adviser at Wartburg College, both in Iowa. Previously, she has been an editor at the Des Moines Register, Des Moines Business Record and IowaWatch.
Behnke has a journalism degree from Wartburg and a master's degree in public administration from Drake University. She completed a five-month program in transformational leadership in 2019.
Behnke is board president for the Urbandale (Iowa) Food Pantry and the Wartburg College Journalism & Communication National Advisory Board. She also serves as a member or past member of the Iowa High School Press Association and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. She volunteers as a kickboxing instructor at Farrell's Extreme Bodyshaping and a small group leader for middle schoolers at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, Iowa.
She previously worked as a clerk in the Iowa Senate for two legislative sessions for Democratic Sens. Mary Jo Wilhelm and Liz Mathis.
