Connie Siskowski

Sikowski grew up in Nutley, New Jersey. When her parents divorced, she went to live with her grandparents. When she was 11, she cared for her ailing grandfather for 2 years until his death. Her grandfather suffered from chronic heart disease. After her grandfather's death, she became a candy striper and volunteered with a local junior first aid squad. After graduating high school, she went on to attend nursing school Johns Hopkins University on a full scholarship. She earned a bachelor's degree in public administration. Afterward, she gained advanced degrees in cardiac nursing and health care administration. She also went on to get a PhD in Public Administration from Lynn University. Over her career, she was also a graduate of New York University. She moved to Boca Raton, Florida from New Jersey in 1990.

Sikowski became a registered nurse in Florida in 1967. She worked in the Florida health care system for over 20 years. She worked in settings such as hospitals, home care, and nursing. She also founded a healthcare company, MD To You, which helped send doctors into the home.

SIkowski founded her first group centered around family caregiving in the 1990s. The group was an interfaith support group designed to help children who were caregivers, called Volunteers for the Homebound and Family Caregivers (VHFC), Inc. The program was founded in 1998 with seed money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Faith in Action program. Sikowski asked researchers at Palm Beach Atlantic University and the Palm Beach County school district to help her understand the scope of the problem, and that is when she discovered that thousands of children are caregivers. This impetus also led to the first national study on children caregivers in 2005.

Afterward, Sikowski decided to form an organization designed to help children further. Sikowski founded the nonprofit organization The National Association for Caregiving Youth (AACY) in Palm Beach County, Florida in 2006. The organization is perhaps the first of its kind to be founded in the United States. As of 2012, the program has helped over 550 children. This organization was also helped by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It also supports hundreds of students at a time. Her organization, located in Boca Raton, Florida, started the Caregiving Youth Project. The Caregiving Youth Project acts as a system of early intervention to aid youth that are caregivers. It is also said to be the first organization of its kind in the United States. The organization provides support services to the youth. Since 2006, the program has expanded to area middle schools and high schools. The program also follows children throughout their grade school education. The program also provides children with a home study and also provides education about factors the children will need to know in order to be better caregivers. The program relies on local funding and from donations. Children also are connected to other children in the same situation, even in different countries. They also are offered a getaway called Camp Treasure, where they get a chance to go away to camp.

Sikowski received the Purpose Prize in 2009. In 2009, she was also named an Ashoka Fellow, which is a lifetime fellowship to expand her organization. She was also named a top 10 CNN Hero in 2012. She was also nominated for a Blue Dove award in 2012. She has also hosted local awards ceremonies.