Rebecca St. George

Rebecca St. George is the assistant commissioner for the Child Safety and Permanency Administration at the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families. 

• Responsible for policies and programs that offer vital support for families who provide permanent homes for children through adoption, foster and kinship arrangements.
• Prioritizes innovations in programs such as American Indian Wellbeing, African American Child Wellbeing, Families First, family support and placement services, and child safety and family preservation.

St. George brings a wealth of experience in legal and policy roles, most recently serving as legal and policy counsel to the Office of the Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. St. George previously had roles as Duluth’s City Attorney, and served as in-house counsel for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. While at Fond du Lac, she represented the Band in court proceedings for the Indian Child Welfare Act, where she gained valuable insights into the complex dynamics of child welfare in communities. Before entering the legal field, St. George spent a decade working with Mending the Sacred Hoop, a Duluth-based organization dedicated to ending violence against Native women and children.

A direct descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the White Earth Nation, St. George is deeply engaged in her community. She has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the YWCA, American Indian Community Housing Organization, Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault, Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, and CHUM (a homeless shelter and food shelf). She currently serves on the Board of Violence Free Minnesota and the Great Lakes Protection Fund.