Lynn Casey

Independent board director, Xcel Energy

Lynn retired from Padilla, a corporate and marketing communication firm with offices across the U.S., at the end of 2019 after 18 years leading the employee-owned (ESOP) firm through multiple acquisitions and a sale to Canada-based AVENIR GLOBAL in 2018. Today, Lynn focuses on public and private company board service, in addition to nonprofit board service in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region and to Page, an organization of global corporate communication leaders. Current corporate board service includes Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL), one of the country’s largest investor-owned electric and gas utilities (Finance Committee, Operations/Nuclear/Environment/Safety Committee); Walker Sands (national digital marketing firm with headquarters in Chicago); and Minneapolis-based Surly Brewing (advisory board to family-owned business). She also served on the board of optical industry leader Walman Inc. until its sale to EssilorLuxottica in 2022 and subsequent dissolution of the Walman board. Lynn was named Woman Business Executive of the Year by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal in 2011, and was inducted into the Upper Midwest Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in 2011, into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame in 2014, and into the PR Week Hall of Fame in 2018. She also received the 2023 Outstanding Directors Award from Twin Cities Business magazine in September for service to Xcel Energy.