María Herrera Magdaleno, also known as Doña Mary, is a Mexican businesswoman and human rights activist. In 2014, she founded a national network of local

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an e ...

s to educate families on how to investigate disappearances after four of her eight children went missing. The network now includes almost 200 groups spread across 26 of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

's states.

Life

Herrera is from

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

and is the mother of eight children and grandmother of two stepchildren. She was born . By 2008, she had founded a business after leaving a husband whom she suspected had been unfaithful. Herrera made clothes and sold gold jewelry, at first in her home state of

. Her business later expanded to

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

. In 2008, Herrera's sons, Raúl (19) and Jesús Salvador (24) took a trip with five colleagues to

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, near

Atoyac de Álvarez Atoyac de Álvarez is a city and seat of the municipality of Atoyac de Álvarez, in the state of Guerrero, southern Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in L ...

. Her sons and their colleagues never returned. Two years later, her sons Gustavo (28) and Luís Armando (24) vanished during a work trip in eastern

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

. She suspects her sons disappeared as a result of

drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...

violence. In 2014, Herrera founded a national network of local collectives to educate families on how to investigate disappearances. She also plans conferences and gives workshops in universities on this same topic. In May 2022, Herrera met with

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. In November 2022, Herrera sued the

Mexican State A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

in the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court H.R.) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a human r ...

in Washington, for its failure to investigate her sons' disappearance . In April 2023, she was included on the ''Time'' 100 list of the most influential people in the world for her activism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera Magdaleno, Maria Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Michoacán Children's rights activists Mexican women human rights activists Mexican human rights activists 21st-century Mexican businesswomen 21st-century Mexican businesspeople