What You Should Know About J.Lo's Sister Lynda

Jennifer Lopez may be a global music superstar, but her younger sister Lynda Lopez has quite the impressive entertainment career of her own. Born on June 14, 1971 in New York, Lynda began her career in broadcasting, and later took on larger roles. Don't worry if you haven't heard much about Lynda before — here's your crash course on everything you should know about Jennifer's baby sis.

While her older sister was busy building her musical empire, Lopez was focused on growing her career as a journalist. Starting in the late '90s and running through the early 2000s, Lopez worked alongside Kane and Rebecca Rankin as a VJ on VH1. Reporting on all things music, she even interviewed her sister Jennifer in 2000 about her childhood, career and rise to fame.

At the same time she appeared on VH1, Lopez was working as an on-air reporter for the WB 11 Morning News, which aired on WPIX. There too she focused on entertainment news and, in 2001, she and her colleagues (including the show's producers, news director and fellow anchors) took home the award for Outstanding Single Morning News Program at the 44th annual New York Emmy Awards.

Lopez welcomed her first child, a daughter named Lucie Wren Lopez-Goldfried, into the world on August 28, 2008 with her then-boyfriend, Adam Goldfried. The couple eventually split and Lopez became a single mom. When that happened, she turned into a major source of parenting inspiration for her older sister.

Jennifer, who became a mama to twins in February of that same year, told Cosmopolitan (via Us Weekly) in 2013, "I just love and respect her so much. I always ask, 'Do you need anything? And she's like, 'I'm good.' But I know she's exhausted. She's a single mom but not like I'm a single mom," Jennifer continued, letting the world know just how much respect she has for her younger sister. "I have a lot of help — she doesn't."

Following some major changes on the American Idol judging panel, Jennifer Lopez joined original judge Randy Jackson and rock legend Steven Tyler in 2011 as one of the popular series' musical experts. That same year, as Jennifer made her debut on the show, Lynda Lopez was recruited by Fox 5/WNYW as a special correspondent tasked with reporting on all things American Idol for the radio station's evening news segment.

When the announcement was made, it was reported that the "veteran entertainment correspondent and radio anchor" might also end up reporting other newsy tidbits, but that, not so surprisingly, her ultimate focus would be to keep a close eye on her superstar sister's newest gig.

Sitting down with Jennifer for a 2013 interview with the United Nations Foundation in support of the Every Woman Every Child initiative, the sisters were asked to share the best piece of advice they ever received from their mom. As they revealed, it was all about being a strong, independent woman — a lesson that clearly continues to stick with both women to this day.

"Being independent was such an important thing," stated Lynda. "The big message was that you don't need someone to dream big, then go get those dreams. Take care of yourself, do what you want," she continued. "You don't need to worry about if anyone's out there for you — you're out there for you."

After Jennifer and Lynda both became mothers in 2008, they decided to join forces and launch the Lopez Family Foundation in an effort to help women and children get better access to quality health care and health education, regardless of their income. As explained on the foundation's official website, the Lopez Family Foundation "advocates and invests in policies and programs that make a positive, measurable impact on communities and makes quality healthcare and health education available for under-served mothers and their children."

In 2010, the foundation opened a telemedicine center in Puerto Rico, then followed that up with the launch of seven centers in Panama. In 2014, the sisters opened the Center for a Healthy Childhood in the Bronx, which "promotes healthy eating, exercise and improve outcomes and access to care for women, children, and families."

Come 2016, Lynda Lopez enjoyed a huge coup when she joined ABC Radio as one of the hosts of GMA After Hours, a lifestyle and entertainment show that airs on music radio and offers a fresh take on the popular Good Morning America format. Joined by Lara Spencer, Amy Roboach and Ginger Zee from the traditional GMA broadcast, the radio show includes four content segments per hour, all of the biggest trending music and more. The new role was just the latest in a line of truly impressive accomplishments for Lopez, whose career up to 2017 included covering lifestyle and entertainment news for the likes of Fox, The CW, VH1 and CBS Radio.

In addition to founding the Lopez Family Foundation with Jennifer, Lopez is also a co-chair for the Global Moms Relay, "a digital campaign to rally celebrities, leaders, and supporters to share stories of motherhood and raise money to support women and children." Since its founding in 2013, the impressive initiative has raised $1.6 million to help families in need and even won the 2015 PR News Award for Social Networking Campaign for its "online efforts in raising awareness of the challenges facing moms and babies".

The relay asks celebrities and community leaders to share their personal stories (via blog posts, videos, photo essays and interviews) in an effort to raise money for one of five causes that help women and children in need. Johnson & Johnson then donates $1 for every like and share on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest pin, and email that a story receives.