Leech Lake Band Member to Lead Minnesota MMIR Office

Guadalupe Lopez (Credit: Minnesota Department of Public Safety)

A Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe member has taken over as the new director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office.

A press release from MN DPS says Guadalupe Lopez brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives to the MMIR Office. According to DPS Commissioner Bob Jacobson, Lopez’s combination of grassroots experience and national-level leadership will help ensure that the MMIR Office stays grounded in the voice of the community while continuing to forge a new path forward for this first-of-its-kind office.

“Director Lopez has walked with impacted families and built strong relationships with law enforcement,” said Jacobson in a statement. “I have no doubt she will lead with the same clarity, compassion and strength that have defined her career.”

Lopez helped launch the first MMIR march in the Twin Cities Metro Area and has worked with dozens of Tribal nations to improve victim services and advance justice. She also served for four years as the executive director for Violence Free Minnesota, the statewide coalition to end relationship abuse.

“Ending violence and all forms of oppression is more than a job to me,” Lopez said in a statement. “It’s about the survival of my people, my children and our collective future generations. It is a lifelong journey and it’s a journey that aligns with the work that the MMIR Office is doing.”

The MMIR Office was created in 2021 to address and prevent the disproportionate rates of violence, disappearance, and murder impacting Indigenous relatives in Minnesota. It is the first office of its kind in the country.