Kirsten Cruikshank has a master's in social work degree from UMD and a background in community-based work with older adults and family caregivers. Kirsten was the Director of a rural nonprofit home and community-based services organization for fifteen years, helping older adults live independently. She then worked with the Arrowhead Area Agency on Aging (AAA) on service development and administered Older American’s Act supportive services grants.  

She is currently a community-based researcher for the Memory Keeper’s Medical Discovery Team UMN Medical School - Duluth Campus, working on Community Engaged Rural Dementia and Alzheimer's Research (CERDAR). She lives in rural Lake County.