The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has named the inaugural director of its new Murdered and Missing Black Women and Girls Office, which is billed as the first of its kind in the nation.

Kaleena Burkes spent nearly seven years working with the state’s Guardian ad Litem Board, where she led organizational development by implementing racial equity and advocacy initiatives. She also implemented training for state employees with the goal of improving outcomes for families and children involved in juvenile and family courts.

Burkes “has what is needed to use proven analytics to start this important office” and “a much-needed, empathetic soul, ready to bring solutions and attention” to the new office, said DPS Commissioner Bob Jacobson, in a statement.

Burkes holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice from the University of Alabama and a doctorate in criminology from Florida State University. She is a former research associate with the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Legislation to establish the Murdered and Missing Black Women and Girls Office was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz last year with the goal of addressing “systemic barriers that perpetuate the disparate violence that Black women experience,” said DPS, in a written statement.

Black women are three times more likely to be killed than their white counterparts, and Black women make up 7 percent of the population in Minnesota but 40 percent of domestic violence victims.

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