Awards

During Lobby Day, the Commission takes the time to recognize community advocates and community organization who do amazing work and make a difference in our community.

Past Award Recipients
Awards Committee
Award Categories

Past Award Recipients

2003
- Mike Cashman-Emory Dively (President, MADC), "deaf lobbyist" and "for his years of service"
- Marian Hausladen
- Senator Wiger, Leadership Award, Legislator of the Year
- Patti Morelli Teachout
- Lucas Lindow Davies
- Diane Wonchoba
2007
- Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Legislative Leadership Award
- Senator John Marty, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Award
- Representative Norah Slawik, Education Advocate Award
- Representative Mindy Greiling, Education Advocate Award
- Representative Scott Dibble, Employment Advocate Award
- Senator Jim Metzen, Community Building Award
- Representative Bob Gunther, Community Building Award
- Representative Mary Olson, Parent Support Award
- Representative Erin Murphy, Parent Support Award
- Senator Dallas Sams ("The Late Great"), Exemplary Service Award
- Rhonda Sivarajah, Citizen Advocate Award
- Rick MacPherson, Access to Justice Award
- Jamie Taylor, Citizen Advocate Award
- Stacia Rice, Access to Arts Award
- Jan Florand, Exemplary Community Service Award
- Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens, Community Partner Award
- Bruce Hodek, Best Ex-Officio Board Member Award
- Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Civic Engagement Award
2008
- Rep. Bill Hilty, Candidate Campaign Ad Captioning
- Rep. Jeremy Kalin, MCDHH Name Change & Electronic Meetings
- Sen. Tony Lourey, MCDHH Name Change & Electronic Meetings
- Sen. Ann Lynch, Newborn Screening & Hearing Aid Loaner Bank (cont.)
- Sen. Ann Rest, Legislation for Political Process Access
- Sen. Dave Senjem, Dedication for Individuals who are Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing
- Minnesota Courts Access: Katrin Johnson, State Systems Access Award
2009
- Al Franken, Most Accessible Campaign Award
- Alicia Lane-Outlaw, Community Organizing Award
- Richard Taylor, Community Organizing Award
- Sonny Wasilowski, Community Organizing Award
- Ade Haugen, Community Organizing Award
- Candace Lindow-Davies, Community Organizing Award
- Teika Pakalns, Civic Engagement Award
- Trudy Suggs, Civic Engagement Award and Medallion Awards
- Marty Barnum, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Anita Buel, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities, Agency Partner Award
- Office of the Secretary of State, Voting Access Award
- The Legislative Coordinating Commission, Exemplary Access Award
- Minnesota Legislative Networking Group, Website Access Award
- Emory Dively, Medallion Award
2011
- Alan Parnes, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Marian Hausladen, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Metro Deaf School, Grass Roots Advocacy Award
- Sherri Rademacher, Citizen Advocate Award
- Office of Enterprise Technology, Agency Partner Award
- Department of Administration, Agency Partner Award
- Betsy Hayes, Accessibility Leadership Award
- Rena Rogers, Accessibility Leadership Award
- Colleen Wieck, Accessibility Leadership Award
- The Legislative Coordinating Commission, Civic Engagement Award
- The Senate Media Services, Civic Engagement Award
- The House Media Services, Civic Engagement Award
- The Update Online News, Media Captioning Excellence
- The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Captioning Excellence
- Tom Emmer, Most Accessible Campaign Award
- Governor Mark Dayton, Most Accessible Campaign Award
- State Auditor Rebecca Otto, Most Accessible Campaign Award
- Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Most Accessible Campaign Award
- Tom Horner, Most Accessible Campaign Award
- Congressman Tim Walz, Most Accessible Campaign Award
- Barbara Allen, Advocacy Through the Arts Award
- Nancy Meyers, Advocacy Through the Arts Award
- Anita Buel, Advocacy Through the Arts Award
- Officer Chad Koch, Community Justice Award
2013
- Peggy Camp, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Susan Rose, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Bruce Hodek, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Adrean Clark, Grass Roots Advocacy Award
- Monique Hammond, Citizen Advocate Award
- Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport/Metropolitan Airports Commission, Exemplary Access Award
2017
- Jessalyn Akerman-Frank, Citizen Advocate Award
- Fardowsa Ali, Citizen Advocate Award
- DeafBlind Services of Minnesota (DBSM), Civic Engagement Award
- Minnesota DeafBlind Association (MDBA), Civic Engagement Award
- Deaf Grassroots Movement (DGM) - Minnesota, Civic Engagement Award
- Jimmy Beldon, Access Awards
- Gilbert Law, PLLC, Access Awards
- Jay Wyant/Office of (Information Technology) Accessibility, Access Awards
- Marisa Bocanegra (posthumous), General Awards
- Liz Brown, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Kathy Moran (posthumous), Lifetime Achievement Award
- Kathy Schumacher (posthumous), Lifetime Achievement Award
2019
- Shivali Choudhury, Youth Award
- Liza Sylvestre, Citizen Advocate Award
- Stonearch Employment Solutions (owned by Cori Giles and Alan Kenney), Civic Engagement Award
- Jay Fehrman, Education Excellence Award
- Minnesota Department of Public Safety Emergency Communication Networks Division (Text-to-911), Access Award
- The Honorable Donovan W. Frank Senior U.S. District Judge, District of Minnesota, Making a Difference Award
- Mary Edwards, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Diane Lentsch, Lifetime Achievement Award
2021
- Michael Angara, Youth Award
- St. Paul & Minneapolis Black Deaf Advocates, Civic Engagement Award
- The Minnesota Deaf Muslim Community, Humanitarian Award
- Cookie J Brand, Education Excellence Award
- Advocates for the Fairview Chemical Dependency Program, Citizen Advocate Award
- The Office of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Access Award
- Jill Hartman, Lifetime Achievement Award
- John P. Mathews, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Lori Peters, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Sally Prouty, Lifetime Achievement Award
2023
- Mujahid Zafar, Youth Award
- Justin Smith, Youth Award
- Avi Rosen, Citizen Advocate Award
- Jessica Eggert, Citizen Advocate Award
- Stephanie Steidl, Civic Engagement Award
- Leah Henrikson, Civic Engagement Award
- Debbie Golos, Education Excellence Award
- Michele Heise, Education Excellence Award
- Kaylah Vogt, Access Award
- Wilderness Inquiry, Humanitarian Award
- Mary Bauer, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Cheryl Blue, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Ralph Fuechtmann, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Amy McQuaid-Swanson, Lifetime Achievement Award
Awards Committee

2019
- Sarah Arana
- Lynn Bloom
- Bob Harris
- John Fechter
- Ryan Odland
- Xavier Arana - Commission board member
2021
- Sarah Arana
- Christopher Johnson
- Rania Johnson
- Jer Loudenback
- Eric Nooker
- Migdalia Rogers
- Jack Williams
2023
- Jer Loudenback
- Keenan Gao
- Migdalia Rogers
- Patrick Vellia
- Brenda Hommerding - Commission board member
- Kaitlyn Mielke
- Jade Stevensen
Award Categories

These are the award categories.

Youth Award

The Youth Award is awarded to youth who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing who have demonstrated strong leadership skills.

Citizen Advocate Award

The Citizen Advocate Award is awarded to individuals who have done exemplary work in advocating for and with deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing Minnesotans.

Civic Engagement Award

The Civic Engagement Award is awarded to a person or an organization that has worked to increase the civic engagement of deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing Minnesotans.

Education Excellence Award

The Education Excellence Award is awarded to individuals who work in an education setting with deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing students.

Access Award

The Access Award is awarded to those who have done notable work in increasing the accessibility of services for and with deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing Minnesotans. Examples of accessibility support include captioning, interpreting, public access, or accessible technology.

Humanitarian Award

The Humanitarian Award recognizes the work of a deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing person or organization in our community who are devoted to the welfare of humanity.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to those who have done distinctive work for and with deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing Minnesotans that spans 20+ years of contributions.