Lonna Hunter leads the organization's Sheila Wellstone Institute, which continues Sheila Wellstone's commitment to building power and visibility for the domestic violence movement, and also helps coordinate the organization's new Native American Leadership Program.
A native of Alaska, Lonna is from the Tlingit and Dakota tribes. Lonna began her work in the battered women's movement in 1996, serving as a children's advocate at a shelter program in Juneau, Alaska, and later working with the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (1998-2000). She then coordinated training programs for the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women (2001-2003) and served as the coalition's lobbyist on state, federal, and tribal levels (2003-2006), a role in which she was instrumental in restoring funding for shelters, domestic and sexual assault programs, and transitional housing. Lonna has been a strong advocate for criminal and civil policies that create greater safety for Native women and immigrant and refugee populations, and in 2005 developed and helped to pass legislation making domestic assault strangulation a felony in Minnesota. She earned her B.A. in Women's Studies from the College of St. Catherine in 2005.
Being a Successful Citizen Lobbyist
Holding Elected Officials Accountable to Our Issues
