Kelly Gilbreth has been appointed as a new member of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives Task Force established by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Kelly is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and currently serves as the Day Program Clinical Supervisor at Crossroads for Women. She is an inheritor of the Anishinaabe culture from White Earth Ojibwe.
Over 5,700 American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls were reported missing as of 2016, according to the National Crime Information Center, but only 116 of those cases were lodged with the Department of Justice. Eighty-four percent of Native women experience violence in their lifetime, according to the National Institute of Justice. A 2008 study found that women in some tribal communities are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the national average. These are just some of the horrifying statistics that justified the need for the creation of the MMIWR Task Force.
The MMIWR task force is comprised of representatives from across Tribal Nations, including state legislators and community partners. The task force will collaborate with tribal governments, tribal law enforcement, and the United States Department of Justice to determine how to address the crisis by creating partnerships and improving processes for reporting and investigating cases while supporting families and communities with resources.
Kelly received her bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego and her master’s degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago. She has been in New Mexico for over a decade and has become a definite chile fanatic. Before coming to Crossroads, she spent over five years developing and working with the Sacred Circle Program which serves incarcerated youth with a specific emphasis on the vital importance of culture within wellness and healing. Kelly has an awareness of how generational and historical trauma impacts substance abuse and cycles of violence. She strives to allow space for women to break cycles of abuse and violence and identify their own powers for healing and grow.
Stay tuned for more information about Kelly’s work with the MMIWR task force in the coming months.