Charli Sleeper, Founder, MMIP Billings Advocacy Project | Yellowstone Conference 2025

Panelist | Strengthening Native American Partnerships

Charlene “Charli” Sleeper is a Billings-based Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) advocate and mental health worker at Yellowstone Boys & Girls Ranch (YBGR). Their Indigenous name is Axpe Hisshe Bia (Red Eagle Fan Woman). They are a descendant of the Crow Tribe and Chippewa-Cree Tribe and are enrolled in the Southern Cheyenne & Arapahoe Tribes of Oklahoma.

Inspired by the 2018 Billings Women’s March, which highlighted the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women’s (MMIW) Movement, Charlene began researching the scope of the MMIW crisis. That same year, eastern Montana experienced several high-profile missing juvenile cases. As a grassroots response—with an emphasis on the safe recovery of missing juveniles—Charlene developed the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples Billings Advocacy Project (MMIP Billings). The group provides a range of volunteer services, including: sharing missing persons information with the public, supporting MMIP victim families, consulting on contributing issues, promoting MMIP resource information, and coordinating nonprofit fundraising. MMIP Billings also organizes and collaborates on awareness, intervention, and prevention projects.

Charli’s grassroots work spans tribal, local, state, and federal levels. They have supported Montana’s MMIP policy work since 2019, provided homicide and missing persons field observations to the FBI, and testified to both the Trump Administration’s Operation Lady Justice and the Biden Administration’s Not Invisible Act Commission. In 2025, MMIP Billings’ focus is on the intersection between human trafficking, missing persons, and homicides.

At YBGR, Charli notes that youth are at the highest risk for becoming missing juveniles, domestic violence-related homicide victims, and/or victims of human trafficking. They are grateful for the support found at YBGR, which has enabled the continuation of youth-specific MMIP prevention projects tailored to serve all youth in care.

Charli Sleeper’s Role at the 2025 Yellowstone Conference

At the 2025 Yellowstone Conference, Charli Sleeper will join the Strengthening Native American Partnerships panel, where they’ll share their expertise in leveraging community partnerships for collective impact.

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