Ma Elena Gutierrez

Immigrant rights organizer | Founder, Fe y Justicia | Rural power builder

Ma Elena Gutierrez is a fierce advocate for immigrant communities in Central Minnesota. As the founder and executive director of Fe y Justicia, she leads with persistence and a vision rooted in collective power. From organizing sit-ins outside a sheriff’s office to encouraging community members to testify in support of the Driver’s Licenses for All legislation, Ma Elena empowers immigrant communities—particularly Latino agricultural and meatpacking workers—to speak out, demand dignity and shape systems that too often exclude them.

Her journey began in rural Mexico, where she ran a small shoe business and cared for her siblings as a teenager. After immigrating to the U.S., she worked long hours in agriculture and hospitality, experiencing firsthand the discrimination and exploitation that plague immigrant workers. She has since built a movement grounded in faith, solidarity and storytelling, transforming fear into action. She is recognized for her relationship-driven approach to organizing. Her impact is rooted in her ability to mobilize change at both local and state levels while centering the voices of those most directly affected.

With the Bush Fellowship, she will strengthen her leadership and organizational infrastructure while modeling sustainable movement work grounded in wellness, strategy and intercultural solidarity.

What change are you trying to create?

Our immigrant communities do not have the protections needed to have safe and dignified jobs and lives. They are also impacted by divisive narratives and sometimes look at each other as rivals. We need unity and collective power building between the Latino and other immigrant communities in Minnesota. Through cross-cultural worker solidarity, we will change immigrant and worker rights policies. The hard-working immigrant communities that make up Minnesota’s agricultural and meatpacking economy need to come together to pave a more equitable future. 

Why are you the one to lead this change?

I meet people where they are and support them to act on the leadership they have always held within them. I continually look for opportunities to scale collective work and impact. I get to the core of problems in my community by listening to people’s stories. These stories create a foundation for systemic and political change. My work ethic, trust in community and deep belief in the power of others allow me to meet any new challenge. In 2020, I founded (and now serve as the executive director of) Fe y Justicia, a grassroots organization in MN, knowing that if I step up, others will do it as well.