Karen Anderson

Areas of Expertise

Local, state, national levels of government

Biography

Karen J. Anderson has more than 20 years of experience serving local government in Minnesota and at the state and national levels.  Minnetonka voters elected her to five, four-year terms on the city’s governing body. She was on the Minnetonka City Council, as council member-at-large, from 1986 to 1993 and served as mayor from 1994 to 2005. During her tenure, she served as president of the League of Minnesota Cities and was elected president of the National League of Cities (NLC), the nation’s oldest and largest organization representing local government. Anderson continued as an officer on the NLC board of directors and was the NLC point person on Homeland Security issues through 2005.

Anderson was co-founder and co-chair of the Regional Council of Mayors, as well as a past president of the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities. She is a past member and chair of the Metropolitan Council’s Livable Communities Advisory Committee and of the Mayor’s Regional Housing Task Force. 

Active in many community activities, Anderson is chair of the board of directors of the Family Housing Fund of the Twin Cities, a member of the board of Women Winning and the Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund, and serves on the dean’s advisory council at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Anderson has received the President’s Award from the National League of Cities, a Founding Feminist Award from the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus, the Twin West Chamber of Commerce Bravo! Award, the Episodic Award from the Girl Scout Council of Greater Minneapolis, and was named “Best Mayor” in the" Best of the Twin Cities" issue of City Pages.

Anderson is a graduate of Metropolitan State University, earning a bachelor of arts degree in communications. She is a past staff member of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota.

Resume (PDF)

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