Heather is a North Dakota-grown international entrepreneur, acclaimed yoga teacher, and visionary powerhouse committed to helping create a sustainable planet. After attending law school in Minnesota, Heather moved to Abu Dhabi and Detroit before landing back in North Dakota. She travels the world learning from communities and sharing her 8 limbed approach to Sustainability. She co-created Bogobrush (a beautiful, sustainable oral care company) with her brother, and has organized collaborations for a reforestation project in Spain, Engineers without Borders in Guatemala, a health fair in Detroit, and more. She’s building a network of projects across cultures and cities, large and small, to share knowledge on a global scale of the inspiring work being done on local levels. See more: Heather McDougall

Jenn never figured out what she wanted to do when she grew up after she figured out she wouldn’t be able to pursue her childhood dreams of being an astronaut or Broadway star, because of a terrible fear of heights, clumsiness, and fear of the spotlight. She instead pursued a degree in social work and then graduate work in public administration and a law degree after a homeless man she was working with suggested it. She works as the Director of Supportive Services with the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, where she has had the opportunity to combine all of her areas of study and experience in what she does, including managing arts funding and creative placemaking efforts. She lives in Manchester, Iowa with her husband and two daughters, where she also serves as a high school speech and theater coach. Learn more: Solace, Off the Clock Podcast

Mary Welcome (Palouse, Washington) is a citizen artist with an emphasis on cultural empowerment in rural and under-recognized communities. Her work is conversational and research-based, in response to the social, built, and natural environments we situate ourselves within. She collaborates with local schools, city councils, civic groups, arts organizations, youth groups, summer camps, libraries, neighbors, and friends to build cooperative environments that encourage civic engagement, radical education, and community progress. She believes in small towns, long winters, optimists, parades, and talking about feelings. See more: www.bangbangboomerang.com, Homeboat, Cabin-Time, Rural Environments Field School, M12 Studio, Camp Little Hope, Chamber of Commons, God Bless the USPS

Rachel leads Corporate Responsibility at C.H. Robinson, which includes managing the C.H. Robinson Foundation and overseeing sustainability and all global community engagement initiatives. In her six years with the company, she has served in various CSR roles including, most recently, heading Diversity and Inclusion. Prior to C.H. Robinson, Rachel worked in the nonprofit sector focusing on education and international development. She lives in South Minneapolis with her dog, Kylo.

Anne O’Keefe-Jackson is an enrolled member of the Lower Sioux Community. She received her undergraduate degree in Marketing and American Indian Studies from Augsburg College and her Masters’ in Business and Leadership from Augsburg University. Anne is currently a member of the MNHS Historical Resources Advisory Committee, she also serves on the Memory Keepers Advisory Council for the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth. Anne is an artist and advocate of the arts and is currently working on creating a business to support and promote native artists.

Beth’s journey led her from a childhood growing up in Baltimore and then Michigan, to college in Indiana, and eventually law school in Minneapolis, and many places in between. She and her spouse, from India, have resided in Granite Falls since 2007 with their three children who are also active in music and the arts. Beth first became involved in community theater in 2012. Local community engagement is important to her and she is active in the community as a musician and active volunteer, including assisting with the local school musical productions. During the day, Beth is a lawyer. In her off-hours, she is busy as a mother/ gardener/ runner/ musician and appreciating the natural surroundings found in greater Minnesota.

Bethany Lacktorin is a performance artist, organizer, media producer and musician. Currently based in rural Minnesota, she is Board Chair/Director of Little Theatre Auditorium in New London, serves on the board of the New London Arts & Culture Alliance, heads up the NL Human Rights Commission and is graphic designer for local newspaper, Lakes Area Review. Bethany studied violin at Lawrence University, received her AAS in Music Production at McNally Smith College of Music and her BAFA in Experimental Media at Prague College School of Art & Design. See more: Bethany Lacktorin, Little Theatre Auditorium, New London Arts & Culture Alliance, NL Human Rights Commission

Jessica Huang is a playwright, book writer and lyricist based in New York, from Minnesota. Her plays include: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (History Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, New York Stage and Film Powerhouse Season, Barry and Bernice Stavis Award, Kilroy's List), Mother of Exiles (NNPN Annual Showcase, Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award, Kendeda Prize Finalist) and Transmissions in Advance of the Second Great Dying (2022 EMOS Ecodrama prize). Her audioplay Song of the Northwoods is now available on Audible. She is developing an original television show with WBTV. She has commissions with Manhattan Theatre Club, Timeline Theater, Theater Masters, History Theatre and Theater Mu. Jessica was the inaugural 4 Seasons Resident Playwright, and has received awards from the National Theatre Conference, the Jerome Foundation, The Dramatists Guild, and The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation. She has developed work at the Hermitage, Hedgebrook, New York Stage and Film, The MacDowell Colony, Space on Ryder Farm, Atlantic Theater Company, Mixed Blood Theatre, The New Group, and The Old Globe, among many others. She is a three-time Playwrights' Center fellow, and has been a member of Ars Nova Play Group, Civilians R&D Group, Two River Theatre's Emerging Writers Group and Page 73's Interstate 73. She is a graduate of the Playwrights Program at Juilliard. See more: Jessica Huang

Joanna Schnedler has over 20 years of experience in the performing arts and nonprofit administration, and is currently using her skills as an operations generalist in the role of COR Operations Administrator for ELEA HEALY, a women-owned home renovation design and build firm. Most recently, Joanna held the role of Executive Director for two statewide arts service organizations: the Minnesota Music Coalition (2020-2022) and the Minnesota Theater Alliance (2016-2020). Prior to this, Joanna was General Manager of the Fitzgerald Theatre/Minnesota Public Radio, Performance Manager for Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and in fund development for Episcopal Community Services, a statewide nonprofit social service organization and a social enterprise called Rebuild Resources that served people re-entering society following incarceration. Additionally, she has worked with many performing arts organizations over the years including: Great Northern Union Chorus, In the Basement Productions, Park Square Theatre, the Jungle Theatre, Utah Festival Opera, Theatre L’Homme Dieu, and Lakeshore Players. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Moving Company theatre. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Theater Arts from Simpson College, a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management and a Master of Business Administration from Hamline University. Joanna is a busy mom of two, a hobbyist musician, an avid gardener, and is working her way through the 1,001 Movies to See Before You Die list. (currently at 406 viewed!)

Leah Cooper has been passionately devoted to the performing arts for over 30 years. She is currently Co-Artistic Director of Wonderlust Productions, a community-story-driven arts ensemble. She is also a freelance stage director, and a consultant in arts leadership and community engagement. Leah was the first Executive Director of the Minnesota Theater Alliance, serving all 450 theaters in the state, from 2010 to 2016; Co-Founder and Partner at MinnesotaPlaylist.com, the state’s performing arts trade journal, from 2008-2017; and the Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival from 2001-2006. Prior to her full time transition to work in the performing arts in 2001, Leah worked by day in the corporate sector as a software engineer and business consultant for ten years. She lives, gardens and bicycles in Minneapolis and works in St. Paul. See More: Wonderlust Productions

Leu Solomon is a Creative Director at Microgigantic; a digital agency based in Minneapolis, MN. She’s worked for 10+ years creating impactful content for brands. She brings creative and technology together in innovative ways to help tell stories for healthcare, retail, restaurant, education, corporate and nonprofit clients. From mobile, to web, to large-scale interactive installations, no screen is beyond her reach. An innately curious and resourceful person, she always gets excited about the work and the people she collaborates with. She lives in Northeast Minneapolis and enjoys doing the crossword on Sunday’s with friends.

Community and storytelling are at the heart of Melissa Wray’s creative practice. She moved back to her rural hometown in 2019 after over a decade in the Twin Cities nonprofit arts world. Now happily living among the bluffs of southeast Minnesota, she is the program director at rural community arts nonprofit Lanesboro Arts as well as founding director of Mainspring, a community cultural center in Caledonia, MN. Past community work of Melissa’s includes co-founder of the literary community organization Hazel & Wren and producer of MinnePod, a podcast about Minnesota’s rural-to-urban communities. She received her Masters in Arts & Cultural Leadership from the University of Minnesota in 2018. See more: Mainspring, MinneStory Podcast

Rachel Engh is interested in supporting communities as they understand and tell their stories of culture, connection, and place. She currently serves as a learning partner to health and human services organizations in her position at ACET, Inc. Trained in urban and regional planning, Rachel previously worked at Metris Arts Consulting, a firm that strives to reveal arts’ impacts and help communities equitably improve their cultural vitality. Rachel lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.