Conference Presenter

Peggy Flanagan is Minnesota’s 50th Lieutenant Governor, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and currently the country’s highest ranking Native woman elected to executive office. At the center of all her work is making progress for children, working families, communities of color and Indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented.

As Lieutenant Governor, Peggy co-chairs the work of the Young Women’s Initiative to center the voices of young women in the work of state government. She also works to advance housing stability and prioritizes the state’s response to homelessness through her role as the Chair of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness. Peggy also serves as Chair of the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB) and Chair of the Advisory Committee on Capitol Area Security (ACCAS). Additionally, she has led the Governor’s Office to help secure key legislative wins, including establishing the nation’s first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, increasing the Minnesota Family Investment Program payments, securing historic investments in affordable housing and child care, and investing in equity in bonding to support community projects led by and for people of color.

Peggy is a St. Louis Park native and proud graduate of St. Louis Park Public Schools. She earned her bachelor’s degree in American Indian studies and child psychology in 2002 from the University of Minnesota.

Peggy served on the Minneapolis Board of Education from 2005 to 2009. She went on to work at Wellstone Action, the organization founded to carry on the work of the late Senator Paul Wellstone, for nearly a decade. As one of the original trainers of Wellstone Action’s signature program Camp Wellstone, she trained thousands of organizers, elected officials, and candidates – including Governor Walz.

Following her work at Wellstone Action, Peggy served as the executive director of Children’s Defense Fund - Minnesota, a non-profit child-advocacy organization working to level the playing field for all children in our state.

In 2015, Peggy was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives to serve her home community of St. Louis Park, as well as Golden Valley, Plymouth, and Medicine Lake. While in office, Peggy served as the DFL lead on the Subcommittee on Child Care Access and Affordability. In 2017, she joined her DFL legislative colleagues to form the state’s first POCI (People of Color and Indigenous) Caucus. Together, the caucus works to improve the education, health, and economic opportunities of people of color and Indigenous communities across the state.

Peggy lives in St. Louis Park with her husband, Tom, daughter, Siobhan, and dog, Reuben.

Peggy brings her experiences of building coalitions and advocating for children and families to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office as she works in close partnership with Governor Tim Walz to build One Minnesota. Learn more about the work Peggy has done as Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor.