HomeMy WebLinkAboutRebeccaFosterGIS-Award
Contact: Jordan Gilgenbach, Communications Intern
952-833-9522 • commintern@ci.edina.mn.us • www.CityofEdina.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Edina employee to receive leadership award
Edina, Minn., Sept. 22, 2010 – The City of Edina’s Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Administrator will receive the Minnesota GIS/LIS Polaris Leadership award for 2010.
Rebecca Foster, GIS Administrator for the City of Edina, was nominated for the award in
June by her peers. She will accept the award Oct. 14 during the awards luncheon at the
20th-annual Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium Conference in Duluth, Minn.
The Polaris Leadership award was established to recognize GIS professionals who
demonstrate a “beacon of energy and creativity that inspires and guides the rest of us.”
Nominees of the award must have made significant contributions benefiting the State and its
citizens for at least five years, demonstrate leadership, energy and creativity in the GIS
community beyond their normal jobs and have been involved with the Minnesota GIS/LIS
Consortium.
Foster has been with the City of Edina for eight years and has more than 14 years of GIS
experience. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls with a degree in
geography and a minor in GIS. She is the City’s resident GIS expert.
Since 2003, Foster has been a member of the Consortium’s Fall Conference planning
committee and became Conference Chair in 2007. She was elected Board Chair in 2009
and continues for advise the board as a past chair. Foster was also the Vice-Chair of the
Hennepin County GIS User’s Group. She served as Vice-Chair since 2008 before becoming
Chair in March 2010. She has made several contributions to the State, serving on the
Minnesota Governor’s Council on Geographic Information from July 2008 to July 2009. She
is currently a member of the Minnesota Statewide Geospatial Advisory Council.
“Rebecca is always learning new systems that benefit not only Edina, but the State of
Minnesota as well,” said Edina City Engineer/Director of Public Works Wayne Houle.
This award is important to Foster because she loves making maps. “I love helping others
learn about my profession,” she said. She said her heart was set on receiving this award
since it was established in 2003. “All of the prior inductees have been and still are
considered my mentors in the GIS field,” Foster said. “Now, that I have received this award,
it's hard for me to believe that I'm just as knowledgeable in GIS as they are.”
Foster said anyone can say they are an energetic and organized leader. “Now I have proof
that my GIS colleagues agree with me,” she joked. She said she looks forward to accepting
the award in October.
For more information about the GIS Conference, visit www.mngislis.org. To learn more
about the City of Edina, visit www.CityofEdina.com or call 952-927-8861.
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