What's Your Why?

We need to encourage women to take a deep dive into their passions and break free from societal labels. We can conquer any field and be successful. - Joanna Kail For Joanna Kail, her journey began with an instilled Wyoming pride and a natural affinity for communication. Born and raised in Lander, she was influenced by the close-knit community and the one-degree separation that tightly binds Wyomin...

Step into a world where cowboy culture meets an unseen community, a world that will leave you captivated and yearning for more. Ivan McClellan, a self-taught photographer, learned about the existence of black cowboys and black cowboy rodeos and embarked on a journey that defied his expectations. From the dusty rodeos of Oklahoma to the heart and soul of a culture unknown to many, Ivan's immersion...

In the vast, untamed landscapes of Wyoming, where the echoes of hooves on public lands seem to whisper tales of forgotten beauty, lies a captivating story that will leave you breathless. Join us on a journey that uncovers the unexpected twist in Chad Hanson's mission to nurture gratitude and appreciation for the environment. As the son of a Minnesota Christmas tree farmer, Chad's love for nature w...

Do you want to empower Native youth through increased representation of Native literature? If so, I have the solution for you. As an expert in Native representation in media and literature, I can share with you the importance of including Native voices and perspectives in educational materials. By doing so, we can provide Native youth with positive role models and a sense of cultural identity, ult...

About Alyson Alyson aims to amplify stories that are often unheard of in the mainstream. She’s driven by a passion for justice, authenticity, and a really good story. She earned a BA in public policy, and after nearly a decade in social work, then an MFA from the University of Montana in Media Arts. Her focus is in community media documentary filmmaking. Her most recent work, The Sister Cities Doc...

Her memoir is called "Lightning Flowers: My Journey To Uncover The Cost Of Saving A Life." “This book will make you feel less alone. Pick it up and you will hear a human voice.” New York Times Eleven years ago, when she was 24, Katherine Standefer was working as a ski instructor and a climbing teacher in Jackson, Wyo., when she suddenly passed out in a parking lot. She later learned that she has l...

When I first heard of the book, Fault Lines in the Constitution : I was excited for the opportunity to learn the reason and development of writing this book. And basically, their WHY?  Many of the political issues we struggle with today have their roots in the US Constitution. Husband-and-wife team Cynthia and Sanford Levinson take readers back to the creation of this historic document and discuss...

April is National Poetry Month    We celebrate and promote the art of poetry and storytelling.  We recognize the place and possibilities that poets and poetry have in civic life, including helping communities address issues of importance.   Kealoha  is the first Poet Laureate of Hawaiʻi. As an internationally acclaimed poet and storyteller, he has performed throughout the world -- from the White H...

Do you know what you truly want from your life?  “You can’t have it all but you can have what matters.” Bonnie Wan   That’s her motto and mantra. In her interview she talks about where she grew up, her journey and her inspiration.  As the creator of “The Life Brief,” Bonnie Wan has crafted a strategy for helping everyday people live with greater clarity, creativity, and courage.  “The Life Brief”...

Mat Hames is an Emmy winning Executive Producer and Director, known for his two feature length Independent Lens documentaries What Was Ours and When I Rise (both available on Prime video), as well as award winning documentary series including Power Trip: The Story of Energy (Prime Video, PBS, AppleTV).  Mat is currently directing A State of Mind for Wyoming PBS, a series focused on mental health i...

Tori Murden McClure is no stranger to trail blazing.  Tori Murden McClure is the President of Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Tori may be best known as the first woman and first American to row solo and unassisted across the Atlantic Ocean. Also she was the first woman and first American to travel over land to the geographic South Pole skiing 750-miles from the ice-shelf to the pole....

Dr. Gigi Jasper is a retired English teacher living in Rock Springs, Wyoming. In this episode, you'll hear about why Gigi moved to Wyoming, her career as a public school teacher, and her experience with discrimination as an African American woman living in rural Wyoming. Her inspiration, guidance, and resilience as she taught and mentored young people throughout her teaching career, and through th...

I want to give a warm welcome to Danielle Allen. Danielle's work to improve the world for the youth has taken her from intructing college classes to the helm of a $6 billion foundation, writing as a national opinion columnist, democracy, reform, civic education, and most recently running for governer of Massachusetts. She made history as the first black woman to ever run for statewide office in th...

Bronwyn Minton is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator, and arts leader living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Minton holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. She is the recipient of the Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award, two Wyoming Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowships, a Wyoming Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship Honorable mention, and the Cultur...

Katy Ann Fox wanders through the West witnessing windblown mountains and sunlight to gather emotion and imagery for her landscape paintings. Her oil paintings host a feeling of peace and respect for her subject as she focuses on texture and color harmony. She grew up in north central Idaho, moved to San Francisco, California for her Masters in Fine Art degree at the Academy of Art University and n...

Sarah Ortegon is an enrolled Eastern Shoshone and also is Northern Arapaho. She is number 10 in a family of 12 kids. In 2013 she graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art with a concentration in drawing.  In August of 2013 Sarah was crowned Miss Native American, USA. Soon after, Ortegon started touring with the Native Pride Dancers, traveling and p...

"They each have a different perspective. They each in their own way... And I can say this just based on how I've heard them talk about this and from what I think you'll see in this wonderful video about this project that we have made, each of our five artists is so profoundly connected to the land of Wyoming as their raison d'etre for doing what they do. I think so much of their vision and their w...

Leah Hardy, an amazing artist, is 1 of 5 Wyoming artists selected for Women To Watch . The 2024 exhibit is the National Museum of Women in the Art's biennial exhibition series that features underrepresented and emerging women artists who create in any medium including, but not limited to, painting, sculpture, print, drawing, photography, film, digital, installation, and sound. Wyoming will partici...

Juan Martinez received the 2022 Rising Leader Award given to outstanding young professionals in the field of conservation. He received his award alongside famed ethologist and global conservation icon Dr. Jane Goodall whose life work demonstrates a commitment to conservation, civility and community. Presented by Teton Science Schools, The Murie Spirit of Conservation Awards is a celebration of con...

Patricia McInroy, a filmmaker, is a former photojournalist who grew up in Wyoming and graduated from Casper College in 1989. After graduating from the University of Missouri, she returned to Wyoming to work as a photographer for the Casper Star-Tribune in the 1990s. After more than 10 years in the newspaper business, she went back to school to earn an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. To date...

Travis Helms is the author of Blowing Clover, Falling Rain: A Theological Commentary On The Poetic Canon Of The ‘American Religion’ (Wipf & Stock). His poetry and prose has been published, or is forthcoming, in Image Journal, Poetry Northwest, Slushpile, New Haven Review, The Austin American-Statesman, North American Review, and Book 2.0 among other venues. He was the inaugural William W. Cook...

Jason Baldes, an Eastern Shoshone who lives on the Wind River Reservation, is the Tribal Buffalo Coordinator for the Tribal Partnerships Program at the National Wildlife Federation. He works to restore bison back to homelands of indigenous tribes, like his own, as a way to reconnect and celebrate cultural ways, as well as heal from the atrocities of the past and present.  As the tribal bison coord...

Tyler Rogers is the author of The Marvelous Invention of Orion McBride, and is also the music educator at Big Horn Elementary School in Sheridan, WY. Between piano, percussion, acting, and writing, Tyler has found many homes in the world of the arts. Outside of work, Tyler directs the Sheridan County Boys Choir year round, as well as local community children's theater musicals in the summer.   Tyl...

Megan Kate Nelson is a historian and writer, with a BA from Harvard and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She is the author of Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (Scribner 2022) and her previous book, The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (Scribner 2020) was a finalist for the 20...

Sarah Ortegon was born in Denver, Colorado and is an enrolled Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho. In 2013 she graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a Bachelors degree in Fine Art with a concentration in drawing. In August 2013 she was crowned Miss Native American, USA. Soon after Ortegon started touring with the Native Pride Dancers, traveling and performing the jingle dre...