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Director of Branch Operations
The Kansas City Public Library
Having served as a State Representative since 2017, Mary Kunesh was elected to the MN Senate in 2020, representing District 39, communities of the first ring suburbs of Minneapolis/ St. Paul. As an educator, Mary retired from her role as a library media specialist after 25 years’ service.
Mary is the daughter and granddaughter of members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and is committed to supporting positive legislation for our American Indian and marginalized people in Minnesota. She served as an Assistant Majority Leader for the DFL Caucus in the House of Representatives and is a founding member of the first MN Native American Legislative Caucus and the POCI (People of Color, Indigenous) Caucus in the Minnesota legislature. She is currently the first woman of Native heritage to be elected to the MN Senate and serves as the first Native Senate Assistant Minority Leader.
Senator Kunesh successfully authored and co-chaired the Missing and Murdered Task Force in MN; completed in 2020. In Session 2021, Mary successfully passed legislation to establish the first in the nation, Missing and Murdered Relatives Office and Missing and Murdered African American Women task Force within the state system and continues the work outlined in mandates as a result of the MMIW Task Force report. At this time, a bill establishing a reward fund to be housed in the MMIR office aimed at garnering information on cold cases and a unique MMIR license plate is moving through the Minnesota legislature and are expected to pass into law this month.
She has also authored and passed components of the Increase TOCAI (Teachers of Color and American Indian Act), modified concurrent state law and reservation enforcement jurisdictional authority, equity funding for our BIE schools, and the first increase in MFIP grants to Minnesota families in 30 years.
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Sunday, June 26, 2022
4:00pm – 5:00pm