Kelly Armstrong is the Governor of North Dakota and has always been a servant to his community. He was a local firefighter and a youth coach, he also served in the state legislature and as a congressman. He champions infrastructure investment, DUI reform, property rights while supporting veterans and local charities.
Sage Blickensderfer is a graduate student at the University of Montana in Physical Therapy School. She has done research for skiing equipment for disabled athletes, and even went to Italy to present her work at a conference. She not only helps people through her work in making them stronger and able- but works to make sports and life more accessible for people with disabilities.
Scott Skokos is the executive director at the Dakota Resource Council, an organization that promotes sustainability in North Dakota and rural farmers. Skokos has dedicated much of his life to serving his community and communities around North Dakota, recently helping with a colleges air monitoring project in the heart of industry. He has worked on many sustainability campaigns around North Dakota and is a voice and advocate for keeping the environment safe.
April Fairfield has dedicated much of her life to service, serving on multiple boards in North Dakota, running and helping nonprofits around the state and serving as a North Dakota House and Senate member where she advocated for communities and the people across North Dakota. She has worked on on just about everything, from large bills passed in the North Dakota Legislator to community food libraries.
Charles Fox is an air quality officer for the Environmental Division at the MHA Nation. Recently, Fox has been working on a grant that is allowing the tribe to set up and monitor air quality around the reservation. This will allow the community to access air quality information, especially when there are fires or natural events that cause low air quality. Additionally, this area is home large amounts of flaring and natural gas industry- and Fox's work will help to better understand the human health impacts of industry for the communities.
Melanie Minafore is a resident in Fort Berthold, she has been an advocate for air quality monitoring since she had a near death experience- now suffering from severe asthma- since moving to where industry is prominent. She is courageous in using her voice for her community. Minafore also is works as a massage therapist and holistic health worker, helping community members heal.
Jodi Moore is a physician assistant and administrator at the Mott Health Care Clinic. Moore is always one of the many people in her community who helped save and revamp this healthcare center, after the previous building had closed. Through huge community efforts they were able to open the Mott Health Care Clinic, and more importantly give accessible healthcare to rural North Dakotan's.
Cobretti Parisien is a lineworker for the rural electric cooperatives, working rain, shine or snow to service his community. Doing hard, sometimes dangerous work to keep people safe in -40 below winters by ensure they have access to power.
Joe Weigand is a historian and Teddy Roosevelt impersonator. He has travelled the world sharing the story of Teddy Roosevelt, his life, loss, comeback, and passion for conservation, he has focused on using Teddy's story to empower others. Inspiring them to get back up after they are knocked down, he has many stories of the people he has truly impacted with is work and role as Teddy. Joe also is an active community member, working with the Medora Foundation, tourism, and doing anything and everything he can to make peoples days brighter and connect with everyone he meets.
Ray Tescher is a rural North Dakota rancher who advocates for the way of life in the west. He is on the board of his rural electric cooperative- which serves communities by providing them power- and was an advocate for the wild horses of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Ray grew up ranching, worked in the park for years, did trail rides and even helped round up some of the wild horses back in the day- and uses his incredible experience to keep the way of the west alive.
Syndi Musland Miski is a cardiac rehab nurse who has always been a passionate horsewoman. Miski now lives just 40 miles away from Theodore Roosevelt National Park, home to wild horses. This year the park was considering removing all of the wild horses from the park, and Miski was one of the powerful voices who advocated for them. She called community members, wrote letters and used her voice to preserve the herd and preserve the west.
Kerry Hartman is academic dean and environmental chair at the Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College on the Fort Berthold Reservation. He is passionate about his students and the environment- teaching the future leaders of his community, state and nation. He is also the lead principle investigator on a project that is using drones to transport medicine to rural North Dakota- especially in severe weather.
Jonah Nuefeld, International Peace Garden conservatory horticulturist, works at the peace gardens tending to the one of the world's most diverse indoor collections of cacti and succulents. There are over 6,000 species of plants from around the world in this conservatory, and his work supports species diversity, history, and he gets to help educate the public on the plants and their importance.
Mike Davis uses his story to inspire others and empowers them to change their lives. Hard times pushed him down a dark path with drugs. His children were his motivation to change his life, and he did. He now helps people get well and stay well at the new recovery center in Belcourt, North Dakota . The recovery center and Davis also use indigenous practices like sweat lodges and more to help people heal and start a new chapter.
Mark Fox is the Tribal Chairman for the Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. He uses his voice to support his community on the state and national scale. Fox works on projects like a greenhouse that will give his community access to fresh food and has capitalized on the opportunity industry has given his community. Helping to build new buildings, gyms, schools and community centers.
Barbie Martin is the head cook at a rural school in Anamoose, ND. This school participates in a Farm To School Program, which encourages schools to purchase local food to support North Dakota producers. Barbie spends the school year supporting this program, the kids, and prepping and serving children with vegetables the children tended to in a local garden.
Beverly Greenwald is president of the North Dakota Cancer Coalition and endoscopy nurse of more than 25 years. She has spent much of her life advocating for colon cancer screenings. The best way to prevent colon cancer is screening, and her advocacy and just - getting the conversation started- can inspire people to go get screened, and maybe even save their life.
Mike Hagens is a fourth generation farmer in rural North Dakota who helps feed the world. He dedicates countless hours and long days away from his family to grow and harvest his crops and bring food to the tables of many.
Erin Oban's leadership is grounded in collaboration and deep-rooted commitment to rural communities. She began teaching middle school math before transitioning into nonprofit work and education leadership roles- serving her communities and educating the future leaders of them. She then stepped into politics, holding various positions in North Dakota and was appointed by President Biden as the North Dakota State Director of USDA Rural Development. She chaired the bipartisan interim education policy committee, and has lead efforts to expand broadband, support electric cooperatives, improve housing infrastructure, and enhance the quality of life in North Dakota.