60 YEARS WILD - Twin Cities 

Sean Leary is an Associate Principal and Vice President of Transaction Risk Management with GZA GeoEnvironmental, a multidisciplinary environmental consulting firm. He is an Environmental Professional with 18-years of environmental due diligence and remediation consulting experience with an environmental science and biology degree from Saint John’s University. Mr. Leary also serves as a national instructor and content developer for ASTM International, where he teaches environmental assessment and investigation courses to a diverse profile of industry professionals and regulators, including State and Federal agencies and the US EPA.

Mr. Leary is also co-owner of North of North Resort on beautiful and wild Birch Lake in Ely, MN. North of North Resort was built on the principles of universal design and is accessible to people with disabilities. Finally, Mr. Leary is co-founder of Adaptive Wilderness Within Reach, or AWWR, or if you howl it out -insert wolf howl here!  AWWR is a 501(c)(3) MN -based non-profit that working to eliminated physical, financial, and community preparedness barriers to adaptive outdoor recreation in Northern MN. 

Tadd M. Johnson, Esq., is a Professor Emeritus, recently retired as the University of Minnesota’s first senior director of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations where he served as the liaison between the entire University of Minnesota and regional Tribal Nations. He joined the UMD American Indian Studies Department in the fall of 2010, and served as a Full Professor, Department Head, Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of the Tribal Sovereignty Institute. An enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Johnson served as a tribal attorney for more than 35 years, and has also served as a tribal court judge, a tribal administrator, and is a frequent lecturer on American Indian history and Federal Indian Law. He spent five years with the U.S. House of Representatives, ultimately becoming staff director and counsel to the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs. In 1997 President Clinton appointed Professor Emeritus Johnson to chair the National Indian Gaming Commission. Johnson earned his B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and his law degree from the University of Minnesota. He has served as a faculty member of the National Judicial College and has served on the Board of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. He was nominated by the President, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a Trustee of the Udall Foundation and continues to serve in that role. Johnson is currently serving on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.

Becky Rom, a retired attorney, is a third-generation resident of Ely. She is the daughter of Bill Rom, who has owned and operated Ely-based Canoe Country Outfitters for 30 years. Becky worked in the family business and learned at an early age the importance of this wild country. She first worked on wilderness preservation when she was a seventh-grader, engaging in public debates on the merits of the bill that became the Wilderness Act. For the past 40 years, Becky has worked as a citizen activist on wilderness preservation throughout the United States but she continues to be drawn back home to the Boundary Waters. The Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters is her fourth national campaign to protect the area.

The Boundary Waters and surrounding communities have played an integral role in fostering Ingrid's love of the outdoors - she began traveling from New York City to Ely every year with her family at age 4. Since joining Save the Boundary Waters in 2015, Ingrid has worked in multiple roles, including as Arrowhead Regional Organizer from 2015 to 2017 and as the head of the Development team from 2018 to 2021. Ingrid is a graduate of Carleton College, where she received her degree in Environmental Studies, Conservation and Development. as well as the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where she received her degree in Nonprofit Management and Governance. She loves summer, gardening, and her big stinky dog.