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Justice McKeig to receive 2020 Child Welfare Leadership Award

Posted: Tuesday, March 3, 2020

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare will honor Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice Anne K. McKeig with the 2020 Child Welfare Leadership Award in April.
 
Justice McKeig, a descendant of the White Earth Nation, is an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. She made history as the first American Indian named to a state supreme court. In addition to this incredible accomplishment, she has committed over 25 years to serving Minnesota’s most vulnerable children and families in a number of capacities.

Justice McKeig began her career in child welfare as an Assistant Hennepin County Attorney in 1992 in the Child Protection Division, where she specialized in Indian Child Welfare cases. In 2008, she was appointed by Governor Tim Pawlenty to the Fourth Judicial District bench. As an Assistant County Attorney and a Hennepin County District Court judge, she played a pivotal role in developing both state and national protocols and programs for child protection and Indian Child Welfare.

Justice McKeig has also collaborated on practices to address child custody, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and equal access to justice. She is an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline Law School, where she helped develop a curriculum for Child Abuse and the Law, and at St. Thomas School of Law. She serves her community in several volunteer roles and is a proud mother to five children. Justice McKeig received her B.S. degree from St. Catherine University and her J.D. from the Hamline University School of Law.