Becky Pakarinen

Becky Pakarinen is the Senior Director of Financial and Employment Services. When people first come to see us about their financial situation, they are sometimes unsure of what to expect. Becky feels great satisfaction knowing that after people meet with an LSS counselor, they feel hopeful and empowered to regain control of their finances.

Becky graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Elementary Education and started out her career teaching fourth and second grades in the inner city in Houston, Texas. Her teaching education and experience gave her the skills needed to coach and work with people of all ages and circumstances. At LSS, she started out providing budget and housing counseling in 2008, then moved into a Counselor Trainer role and implemented a new training process for new counselors.

Becky has presented at the MN Social Service Conference on protecting yourself from identity theft and scams. She also was part of a small group that won the Lutheran Social Service of MN Breakthrough and Velocity Award for their work providing student loan counseling to borrowers.