Kris Rhodes serves as the Director of the Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) Office of American Indian Health in her permanent role and is also currently the Interim Assistant Commissioner of the Health Equity Bureau at MDH. With decades of experience in public health, she has built strong professional relationships and a reputation for strategic, collaborative leadership. Her work focuses on advancing health equity for Minnesotans, particularly through policy, systems change, research, and evaluation across Tribal, academic, philanthropic, and non-profit sectors.
A trusted leader in Indigenous public health, Kris has a proven ability to bring ideas to life with both efficiency and impact. She holds a master’s of public health (MPH) in Public Health Administration & Policy from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education from the University of Minnesota - Duluth.
She is Anishinaabe, an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and a descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Above all, her most cherished title is Mom to her two adult children, Tyler and Miigwan.