Lynn Casey

Lynn retired from Padilla, a corporate and marketing communication firm with offices across the US, at the end of 2019 after 18 years leading the employee-owned firm through multiple acquisitions and a sale to Canadian-based AVENIR GLOBAL in 2018. She devotes her time to board work on behalf of for-profit and non-profit organizations in and outside of Minneapolis. She currently chairs the Itasca Project, a business-led, cross-sector, non-partisan organization that addresses the challenges to the Minneapolis/St. Paul region’s economic well-being for all its residents. She is immediate past chair of the University of Minnesota Foundation; a member of the executive committee of the Minneapolis Institute of Art; and serves on the board of Page, a global membership organization of chief communications officers. Corporate board service includes investor-owned utility Xcel Energy, which ranks 276 among Fortune 500 companies; Walman, a leader in the optical industry; and digital marketing firm Walker Sands. Lynn was inducted into the Upper Midwest Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in 2011, into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame in 2014, and into the PR Week Hall of Fame in 2018. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota, a master’s in Journalism/Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota, and a master’s in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas.