Longtime Rise CEO Lynn Noren is the 2025 MOHR Legacy Leader Award honoree, a salute to a recent retiree who left a lasting mark on the disability community through outstanding service and leadership.
Noren retired in December 2024 after a remarkable 46-year career. Her legacy is deeply rooted in Rise and in the broader evolution of disability services statewide. She helped shape Rise into what it is today and played a key role in guiding MOHR through growth and transformation.
“I’m very honored by the award,” she said. “Anything I ever accomplished, I accomplished with other people.”
As a high school student, Noren noticed how peers with disabilities were often left out. Those early observations, and time spent at St. Mary’s Junior College and Hospital and a special education associates program, sparked a lifelong dedication to inclusive, person-centered care. In 1979 at age 19, Noren joined Rise through the St. Mary’s special education program internship. Minnesota was shifting from institutional care to community-based services. Noren became part of a small, visionary group committed to finding new and better ways to support people with disabilities as valued members within society.
“It was person-centered support before the term was coined,” Noren said. “We were all in it together, trying to learn what to do.” Noren points to the people themselves when asked what inspired her. “Every single person – we were always amazed. People live far beyond the expectations you set for them.”
In the 1990s, the state began to close institutions. As responsibilities shifted to community providers, Rise rose to the occasion, opening programs to assist individuals transitioning into residential and community living. Noren was part of that work.
She became president and CEO of Rise in 2013. Her steady, compassionate leadership guided the organization through major transitions, including the RISE-ESR merger and the COVID-10 pandemic.
Noren has enjoyed MOHR’s collaborative spirit and the challenges of working closely with state systems. “Every single thing we do is impacted by the actions of the legislature whether it’s policy, licensing rules, or funding,” she said. She chaired MOHR’s Government Affairs Committee and was on the Disability Waiver Rate System Advisory Committee. She brought day services providers into legislative conversations, fought for improved rates for waiver services, testified before Senate and House committees, coordinated with lobbyists, and spent countless hours advocating for disability service providers statewide.
Noren is proud of the positive impact she helped bring about. “Our work is to create the best life for the people that we support. Along the way, I got to live my best life too.”
Her advice to emerging leaders? “Be curious.” Disability services professionals should keep learning, to understand systematic details and to stay closely connected to the lives of people served. Question the status quo, experiment with new approaches, and embrace mistakes as part of meaningful change are other advice.
“The only way things really change is by trying new ideas,” she said. “Do what’s best for the people you support, and always be open to learning.”
