On March 24, there was a Dakota County Board of Commissioners meeting. In the regular agenda was the
recognition of the HEROES and IDEA Leadership Award recipients. County Manager Heidi Welsch led the ceremony.
Welsch highlighted that the awards celebrate incredible efforts of individuals and teams that work for Dakota County. The 2026 IDEA Leadership Award honors staff contributions to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access.
For the IDEA Leadership Award, there were two categories: group and individual.
The IDEA Leadership Award-winning group was the Dakota County Library Adult Services Team.
One point of recognition for the Library Adult Service Programs was the Artist-in-Residence Program impact. The library’s artist-in-residence series featured Tomas Araya, a Chilean-born architect and visual artist based in Minnesota. Araya’s artistic work increased library participation and reached new audiences through bilingual events.
The IDEA Leadership Award individual recipient was Dua Thao, the Libraries Youth Program and Outreach coordinator for Dakota County Libraries. One point of recognition was Tao’s community engagement work: Tao organized a Hindu celebration, expanding cultural outreach and receiving positive community feedback.
For the HEROES Award, HEROES stands for “honoring effective, responsive, outstanding, and efficient service.” The three finalist teams were the All-Terrain Track Chair, Emergency and Emergency Assistance (E&EA) Service Model Redesign, and Library Locations as Community Health Hubs.
The first HEROES finalist is the All-Terrain Track Chair Program.
County manager Welsch pointed out that the “All Terrain Track Chair program created more inclusive and accessible ways for people with mobility challenges to enjoy nature.”
Parks, finance, risk management, and fleet collaborated to launch the program in November 2025.
The second HEROES finalist, the E&EA Service Model Redesign.
“This project actually began in August of 2024 to address significant operational needs in EA public assistance,” says Welsch. “The service model redesign started as a business improvement study and transformed into a complete overhaul of service delivery.”
An example offered for this transformative work is that the county is seeing a reduction in training time and improving SNAP application timeliness from 32% to 80%.
The third HEROES finalist, Library Locations as Community Health Hubs
Dakota County libraries have partnered with public health to offer opioid, breastfeeding, and mental health resources, train staff, and distribute 1,200 free Naloxone kits across ten safe locations.
The HEROES Award-winning team was the All-Terrain Track Chair.
You can watch the full Dakota County Board of Commissioners meeting on the Dakota County government website.