Join us at the Local Public Health Heroes award ceremony and resource fair

The Local Public Health Heroes awards honor community members making our city a healthier place to live, learn, work, and play.

Local Public Health Heroes support the Minneapolis Health Department’s vision of creating a city where everyone can:

• Live healthy lives
• Have fair access to healthcare
• Have a healthy environment now and into the future  

Selection process

Local Public Health Heroes are selected based on:

• The excellence and impact of their work
• Alignment with one or more of the Health Department’s goal areas

Video

Hear from 2025 award recipients 

See event details

Local Public Health Heroes

Date

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Time of events

Resource fair
11 a.m. to noon

Award ceremony
Noon to 1 p.m.

Location

Public Service Building

505 Fourth Ave. S., room 100

Find using Google maps

2025 Resource fair

Our 2025 resource fair booths included:

• City Trees
• Emergency Preparedness
• Environmental Health
• Lactation
• Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health
• Green Careers Exploration Program
• Lead & Healthy Homes
• Opioid Response Team
• School Based Clinics
• Sustainability, Healthy Homes, and Environment

2025 award recipients and categories

A Healthy Start to Life and Learning, Thriving Youth and Young Adults

• Marcus Kar, Director of North Minneapolis Programs at Youth Farm 

A Resilient Public Health Infrastructure

• Matt Toburen, Executive Director at Aliveness Project /Aliveness Project

Health Equity

• Sue Abderholden , Executive Director for NAMI Minnesota   

Healthy Living and Healthy Food Systems

• BrightSide Produce

Substance Use and Opioid Response

• Avivo Street Outreach Team

Sustainability, Healthy Homes and Environment

• Nazir Khan, Executive Director of the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table
• Colectiva Bilingüe, Minneapolis Bilingual Education Collective