Sheila Kiscaden receives President’s Award from the Association of Minnesota Counties

(ABC 6 News) – Olmsted County Commissioner Sheila Kiscaden received the prestigious President’s Award from the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) on Tuesday.

Each year, the AMC president selects an individual (or individuals) to receive this award for exemplary leadership in public service. Commissioner Kiscaden received her award yesterday afternoon at the AMC Annual Conference Awards Banquet.

Commissioner Kiscaden has spent her life in public service, with the last 24 as an elected official. From 1993 to 2007, Kiscaden served as a Minnesota State Senator, and in 2012, she was elected to the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners – a position she currently holds and was just re-elected to serve in for another 4 years.   

Improving health, housing, and human services has been a mainstay of Commissioner Kiscaden’s career. She was part of Governor Walz’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health and Human Services, served as vice chair of AMC’s Health & Human Services Policy Committee, and is also serving as chair of the Minnesota Department of Health’s State Community Health Services Advisory Committee (SCHSAC).

In 2018, Commissioner Kiscaden joined the Governor’s Housing Task Force to help find solutions to Minnesota’s housing issues and participated in a White House panel about affordable housing. She continues to serve on the Coalition for Rochester Area Housing and chairs the local Alliance for Housing. 

Commissioner Kiscaden not only has experience as an elected official in Olmsted County, she also previously worked for Olmsted County as a staff member. In the 1980s she was deeply involved in the acquisition of the former Rochester State Hospital and its subsequent use as a federal medical prison and campus for county buildings.

Commissioner Kiscaden previously received an AMC Outstanding Service Award in 2020 for exhibiting exceptional leadership, participation, and service to Minnesota counties and AMC.