Tami Haaland is the Dean of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Montana State University Billings, where she was a professor of creative writing for many years. Her most recent poetry collection, If I Had Said Beauty, was published in 2025. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies and has been featured on Writers' Almanac, American Life in Poetry, and The Slowdown.

Krys Holmes is executive director of the Montana Arts Council, and has been an arts instigator in Montana for many years. She was executive director of The Myrna Loy, one of Montana's most innovative arts centers, has advised and consulted with numerous arts nonprofits, was an early founder of the Montana Center for the Book, is a published writer and poet, was a jazz/philosophy singer in her wicked youth, and is author of the statewide history book, Montana: Stories of the Land.

Jodi Lightner is a Professor of Art at Montana State University Billings where she teaches courses that involve pencils, paint, and presses and is chair of the Art Department. She received her MFA in painting from Wichita State University, Kansas, and continues her studio practice in Montana and New York.

Leigh Ann Ruggiero is a novelist, playwright, and Assistant Professor of English. Their debut novel, Unfollowers, won the Juniper Prize for Fiction in 2021 and went on to win the National Indie Excellence Award for Multicultural Fiction; more recently, it was selected for One Book Billings. Leigh Ann's short plays (and those cowritten with her partner, Brent McCafferty) have been selected for the annual Last Chance New Play Fest in Helena, MT, since 2023.

Jessica Kay Ogdin is Executive Director at the Yellowstone Art Museum (YAM) in Billings. The YAM is a contemporary art space focused on regional artists. Prior to her time in Billings, Ogdin was at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University as the Education Director. With a background in museum education, she is passionate about making the arts accessible to visitors of all ages and from diverse backgrounds. Her work has included programs for visitors with dementia and she has a strong interest in working at the intersection between the arts and healthcare.

Corby Skinner is an independent marketing professional with an enormous capacity for assessing issues and creating positive, effective messages. His work is evident in all aspects of performing, visual and literary arts. He led the marketing and programming for the Alberta Bair Theater for 18 years, and served as Arts and Humanities Field Coordinator for the National YMCA of the USA for eight years. Skinner has been the Director of The Writer's Voice since its beginning in 1991. Skinner has coordinated seven Big Read programs for the National Endowment for the Arts and 17 consecutive High Plains Book Festivals featuring 40-60 authors from a seven state region and three Canadian provinces. Skinner is currently on the board of the Montana Chamber Music, Alberta Bair Theater, Art House Cinema, and the Susan Scott Heyneman Foundation. He is cohost of the arts and culture radio program, “Resounds,” which airs on Yellowstone Public Radio. In 2009, Corby Skinner was awarded the Montana Governor’s Humanities Award. In 2015, Skinner received the Philip M. Fortin Humanitarian Award. Skinner was educated at the University of Montana (B.F.A.), and Claremont Graduate School, California (M.F.A.).