Melissa Sieben

Melissa Sieben (MPA 1999)
2024 Dena Laurent-Sorensen Profile in Courage Award Co-Winner

"Melissa meets tragedy with love. She recently adopted two children from the foster system with her husband. She serves as a mentor and role model in our profession. When she was faced with the hard decision of leaving a less ideal workplace in an assistant administrator role, she chose her happiness and her wellbeing over a job title.
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- - Logan Masenthin (2018) | Denver, CO

About Melissa  —

Melissa has been my mentor and friend ever since I interned with her in 2017. She is a compassionate professional who loves taking on new challenges and improving communities. I've seen her overcome so many obstacles since knowing her. She was not able to have children the traditional way and experienced grief and tragedy while attempting to do so. She so badly wanted children, so she and her husband decided to pursue fostering. They took in two amazing kids, an 8 and 10 year old brother and sister, who they have since adopted. Witnessing her strength, as well as her grief, made me love her that much more, and grew me as a person. I've loved watching her become an "instant mom.

Melissa has always prioritized her career, but when her work started to become more negative for her and her family than positive, she took a brave leap and left her Assistant County Administrator role for a non-administrator role with a different community. Now, she is still able to improve communities, mentor, and lead, while also prioritizing her own wellbeing and that of her family. It took a lot of strength to make a change like that, especially when she pursued the administrator role for so long. Yet she has still been so engaged with the profession. She recently served as KUCIMAT Alumni Board President and elected me to be on the Board as well. She loves mentoring and I am confident that she mentors many young people in her new role. She holds the ICMA code of ethics very highly and always encouraged me to consider it when making decisions. Years later, we still stay in touch and she will be a mentor for me for a very long time. Melissa is a great example of courage, fortitude, and adherence to the high ideals that exemplify our profession.

Melissa Sieben Professional Profile

Nomination of Melissa Sieben  —

Submitted by: - Logan Masenthin (2018) | Denver, CO

Melissa meets tragedy with love. She recently adopted two children from the foster system with her husband. She serves as a mentor and role model in our profession. When she was faced with the hard decision of leaving a less ideal workplace in an assistant administrator role, she chose her happiness and her wellbeing over a job title.

Melissa has been my mentor and friend ever since I interned with her in 2017. She is a compassionate professional who loves taking on new challenges and improving communities. I've seen her overcome so many obstacles since knowing her. She was not able to have children the traditional way and experienced grief and tragedy while attempting to do so. She so badly wanted children, so she and her husband decided to pursue fostering. They took in two amazing kids, an 8 and 10 year old brother and sister, who they have since adopted. Witnessing her strength, as well as her grief, made me love her that much more, and grew me as a person. I've loved watching her become an "instant mom.

Melissa has always prioritized her career, but when her work started to become more negative for her and her family than positive, she took a brave leap and left her Assistant County Administrator role for a non-administrator role with a different community. Now, she is still able to improve communities, mentor, and lead, while also prioritizing her own wellbeing and that of her family. It took a lot of strength to make a change like that, especially when she pursued the administrator role for so long. Yet she has still been so engaged with the profession. She recently served as KUCIMAT Alumni Board President and elected me to be on the Board as well. She loves mentoring and I am confident that she mentors many young people in her new role. She holds the ICMA code of ethics very highly and always encouraged me to consider it when making decisions. Years later, we still stay in touch and she will be a mentor for me for a very long time. Melissa is a great example of courage, fortitude, and adherence to the high ideals that exemplify our profession.