(Undated) — Guadalupe Lopez, a dedicated advocate for Indigenous communities, has been named director of Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office. Her appointment marks a continued commitment to addressing and ending violence against Indigenous people across the state. Lopez’s journey as an advocate began in childhood, inspired by her late mother, a survivor of an American Indian boarding school.
An enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Lopez grew up in St. Paul and says leading the M-M-I-R office feels like “coming home.” She is the third woman to head the St. Paul-based office since its establishment in 2021.