BDC - Twenty Under Fourty

Jeremy Alcoke

Sherine Blackford

Aysha Carter

Casey Clark

Charlotte Durham

BreAnna Fisher

OCTOBER 2023

Erika Flowers

Norman Huynh

James Kaiser

Scott McBride

Maddie Miller

TWENTY UNDER

40

Jennifer Pearson

Russell Swan

Amanda Weber

Hillary Folkvord

Luis Islas

Maron Marchesini

Alex McGee

Evan Weiss

Bethany West

2 | TWENTY UNDER 40

TWENTY UNDER The 20 Under 40 Awards, created by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and sponsored by ERA Landmark Real Estate, First Security Bank and Bozeman Health, celebrate the best and brightest young people in the Gallatin Valley.

These rising stars in the business and non-profit worlds

OCTOBER 2023

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are also passionate about volunteerism and giving back to the community, and have been selected for this honor because of both their business acumen and their commitment to making our valley, and the world, a better place.

Scores of candidates for this award were nominated and

submitted by Daily Chronicle readers. A committee consisting of judges from both the business and non-profit worlds reviewed all of the submissions, and the 20 outstanding individuals featured on these pages and celebrated with a lunch at the Hilton Garden Inn on Oct. 23rd are this year’s chosen few.

TWENTY UNDER 40 | 3

Congrats

Erika Flowers

Jennifer Pearson

CONGRATULATIONS

Bethany West

ON BEING AWARDED BOZEMAN'S 20 UNDER 40!

and to all other honorees on behalf of PIE. Thank you for being leaders in our community.

We are so proud to have a strong leader and role model like you at WealthVest.

Congratulations Amanda Weber

on your 20 Under 40 honor!

amanda@eralandmark.com 406.539.8575

HEALTHIER DAYS. BRIGHTER FUTURES. STRONGER COMMUNITIES. Congratulations to all 20 under 40 winners!

406.586.1321 | info@eralandmark.com Robyn Erlenbush, CRB, Broker Owner. Each office independently owned & operated.

OCTOBER 2023

4 | TWENTY UNDER 40

Jeremy Alcoke

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It’s just a very beautiful thing that I’ve been able to be a part of.

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Jeremy Alcoke describes social work and supporting community mental health as a “beautiful” experience.

Alcoke graduated from Colorado State University in 2007 and earned a master’s in social work from Walla Walla University in 2018. He was born in Colorado and moved to Bozeman in 2012.

He found his passion for supporting youth while working as a social worker for Youth Dynamics. During a job interview with the Human Resource Development Council, he proposed an early idea for the program he supervises now, the Blueprint Continuum.

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Alcoke started at the HRDC in 2015. He said Blueprint was started in response to a lack of support for young adults aged 16 to 24 who weren’t getting housing support. After kids turn 18, they often “slip through the cracks” and lose support, he said.

He loves that the program helps Bozeman kids find housing, while also giving them more independence.

“It’s just a very beautiful thing that I’ve been able to be

a part of,” Alcoke said. “We’re really trying to help young people, and when you’re in a program where somebody’s watching you 24 hours a day, there’s not a lot of opportunity to grow. That’s what we really try to do is to provide that opportunity for the young people we’re working with.”

Three years ago, he started the HRDC’s BOAR race, an obstacle course that raises money for the Blueprint Continuum in partnership

with Montana State University architecture students.

Alcoke has also been a clinician for Reel Recovery for three years. The nonprofit organizes hosts fly fishing retreats for men living with cancer.

“There’s such an honor and perspective being in space with men that are facing mortality and dealing with all these complex emotions,” Alcoke said. “It’s a really beautiful thing.”

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Sherine Blackford “ Blackford was born and raised in Missoula. She completed her undergraduate studies and attended law school at the University of Montana. After several years of working for a law firm, gaining experience from trial work and time in the courtroom, she moved to Bozeman and started her own firm.

Today, she works for the Cotner Ryan law firm.

“I’m really happy to be working with [Dave Cotner

and Kyle Ryan] again,” Blackford said. “The goal is providing the best legal service we can to all Montanans.”

Blackford is also a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Montana, Gallatin County Bar Association, and Montana Trial Lawyers Association.

Although Blackford loves her job and according to her nominator, is a “superhero”, what is most important to her is fighting for her son. In May, her son, Loic, was diagnosed with Pantothenate kinase-

The goal is providing the best legal service we can to all Montanans. associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), a rare genetic neurological disorder. At this time, there is no known cure, and typically, Blackford said, those with PKAN rarely live past 10 years old.

“I’ve never experienced grief… and we spent the first month being sad and figuring out how this even exists in our world,” she said. But then, Blackford switched gears, determined to help Loic in any way she possibly could. “I have set up a nonprofit for him and I spent the summer writing letters to various universities and biotech companies to find someone that would be willing to take on a gene therapy

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program because there isn’t one.” Eventually, she heard back from the University of Massachusetts which is willing to work with the Oregon Health & Science University to study PKAN. For now, Blackford is continuing to raise $5 million to help fund the program through her nonprofit, the Loving Loic Foundation. “This has been what my life encompasses right now: being a mom, being a wife, and being an advocate for all these kids with this disorder.”

For more information about the Loving Loic Foundation at www.lovingloic.org OCTOBER 2023

6 | TWENTY UNDER 40

Aysha Carter

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Having the recognition is awesome.

I love our community, and I don’t feel like I do it alone by any means.

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As Aysha Carter spends her days teaching and mentoring small children, she feels like she’s doing what she was wired for.

Carter is the owner and leader of Roots Nature School, a childcare facility in Belgrade that she’s been running for the past ten years.

farm to school and serves the kids fresh local meals each day.

The school teaches kids aged zero through five in a mixed age classroom. Carter’s teachings focus on naturebased education and helping kids connect with the natural world. The school also prioritizes organic foods from

“Everything we do is related to the community and helping parents be better parents, and kids learn through play and through nature,” Carter said.

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Every day, a lesson is taught outside for the children at Roots Nature School.

The curriculum also has a

heavy focus on creating art and involving art in learning, Carter said. Her degree is in art education. She is also an accomplished metalsmithing artist in Montana.

“I love what I get to do every day. I feel like I was wired for it. I was just raised this way to really inspire kids and help them grow,” Carter said.

Carter was raised near Eureka and has lived in the Gallatin Valley ever since attending Montana State University. She has four kids of her own, too.

Of the 20 under 40 awards, Carter said that “having the recognition is awesome. I love our community, and I don’t feel like I do it alone by any means.”

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Casey Clark “ Casey Clark knew all of her students’ names on the first day of class because she believes building a relationship with them is the key to their success.

Clark was born in Helena and graduated in 2012 from Montana Technological University after studying environmental science.

While taking a break from environmental work, she fell in love with teaching at MTU. “I think it was kind of

a happy accident,” Clark said. “I just really loved working with students and helping them have those ‘ah ha’ moments or realize their potential. I just enjoy working with people.”

To keep her love of teaching going, she earned a master’s in mathematics from Montana State University in 2016. She started teaching developmental math at Gallatin College in 2020, helping students learn college prerequisites like calculus.

I just really loved working with students and helping them have those ‘ah ha’ moments or realize their potential. I just enjoy working with people.

Clark approaches teaching thoughtfully and doesn’t assume that students are in her class just because they struggle with math.

Their reasons could also be underlying factors like negative past experiences with the subject, she said.

“You get to know those students and you help them navigate those challenges,” Clark said. “That can be really rewarding. There’s more to these students than just the one class you see them in during the day.”

Clark spends much of her time outside of class meeting one-on-one with her students to make sure their needs are met.

“I think a big part of

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my job is just making sure students feel understood and know there’s someone who believes in them,” she said.

“Students don’t always get that.”

Clark also started a faculty training program at Gallatin College and hosted guest speakers with the Allen Yarnell Center for Student Success. She also personally guides students towards counseling services and math tutoring to help them access essential resources.

She was also nominated for the MSU President’s Excellence in Teaching Award for 2023.

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Charlotte Durham “ ” Instead of just handling the paperwork and getting them the keys, we really treat it as an advisor experience.

Charlotte Durham believes buying real estate should be more than just a transaction, but it should be about building a relationship with the community.

Durham grew up as a fifth-generation Montana in Lewistown. She graduated from Montana State University in 2011 and has worked as a real estate broker for Big Sky Sotheby’s International Reality since 2016.

Last year, she was the top-selling real estate broker in the Gallatin Valley, an acheivement she said feels “surreal.”

“I set out to deliver the best possible service to people that I could,” Durham said.

“I wanted to offer a real

OCTOBER 2023

estate experience that was more catered and bespoke than what I’ve been hearing. My goal has always been to just listen to people and understand how we can offer them a custom experience.”

Among countless brokers in the valley, she said, it can be easy to lose the human element of buying property. Durham believes in helping people find everything they need in the place they live, not just a roof.

She offers a holistic experience for clients, helping them find their nearest healthcare, vendors or anything else they need for their lifestyle.

“It’s the biggest investment that people make in their lives,” Durham said.

“Instead of just handling the paperwork and getting them the keys, we really treat it as an advisor experience.”

Durham has also worked against Bozeman’s affordable housing crisis. This summer, she helped the Family Promise of Gallatin Valley expand its housing offerings on part of an unused Montana Bible College campus.

“Obviously the cost of

real estate in Bozeman has gotten really high,” Durham said. “There’s a lot of people moving here, so we have serious supply and demand issue. I wanted to focus on that and give back how I could.”

She has also helped Family Promise organize supply drives and fundraisers. Durham also volunteers with Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter and the Montana Rescue Mission.

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BreAnna Fisher “

BreAnna Fisher’s favorite part of Bozeman is being able to connect with her fellow community members and hear their stories.

She ended up in the right place to do just that as the new patient coordinator for Bozeman Orthodontics.

“Basically, my job is working with people,” Fisher said. “I’m not directly

I worked for the greatest docter that I could honestly imagine and he’s taught me everything that I know. I’ve just honestly fallen in love with it.

tightening the braces or anything like that. My job is really peoplebased. I’m the treatment coordinator, which means I make sure people feel happy, they understand the treatment and the services that we’re going to provide them.

“I get to meet people from all walks of life. I think so many people think [orthodontics] is youth-based, and that’s not necessarily true.

There’s a lot of adults that come in, and people come in with such amazing stories.

I have the privilege of truly getting to know them.

Fisher said she had no idea she would end up working in oral health. A native of Billings, she moved to Bozeman in 2005 to attend Montana State University.

After graduation (get start date), she applied to a job ad for Bozeman Orthodontics without having any experience.

Luckily, she said Dr. Ryan Pulfer has been a great mentor for her.

“I had zero experience,” Fisher said. “I worked for the greatest docter that I could honestly imagine and he’s taught me everything that I know. I’ve just honestly fallen in love with it.”

Aside from helping patients every day, Fisher has helped Dr. Pulfer organize backto-school giveaways to help

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local teachers get important supplies like paper, pencils and whiteboard markers.

In the summer, Fisher and her husband run Bozeman Sports Camp, which lets her connect with the community even further.

“We get to connect with so many kids throughout the summer and just get to know them and their families,” Fisher said. “We just love Bozeman. The community here is very, very special. So many people are moving here and I see why they want to. The talent that’s hidden throughout this valley is honestly next level. Our kids have literally the best place that I can imagine to grow up.”

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Erika Flowers “

I think the (20 under 40) nomination comes from being in a community of people who recognize the value in helping others and being successful not only in your own pursuits, but in other areas of life.

Erika Flowers, an athlete for the North Face brand, spends many of her days running and training in the mountains.

Flowers has always been an athlete. She grew up racing for the Bridger Ski Foundation Nordic program, raced later for Dartmouth College and then with the SMS T2 team in Stratton, Vermont.

Working with North Face “has been an incredible opportunity for me to learn from some of the best athletes in the world, not only runners, but climbers and alpinists and mountaineers and skiers,” Flowers said.

OCTOBER 2023

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Since moving back to Bozeman, Flowers has consulted for the Profitable Ideas Exchange, volunteered for Protect Our Winters and advocated for bipartisan policy to address climate change.

She also helps train and mentor youth athletes at the Bridger Ski Foundation.

“I’m very happy to be back in Bozeman. I love the West and being in the mountains. So it’s been good to get reconnected with the community that I grew up in,” Flowers said.

“I think the (20 under 40) nomination comes from being

in a community of people who recognize the value in helping others and being successful not only in your own pursuits, but in other areas of life,” Flowers said.

Though her path isn’t exactly what she expected – at first she was on a pre-med track to be a doctor – Flowers

said there’s beauty in that.

“I think what I’ve learned is to follow the things that you love and do them, kind of all in. And I think, even if the path is not what you expect, it will probably bring you a lot more joy than you expected as well.”

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Hillary Folkvord “

There’s so many powerhouse ladies here in Bozeman, so to be part of this group is such an honor.

family run the Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks. Then five years ago, Folkvord opened the RSVP Motel in Bozeman’s Midtown and its accompanying Farmer’s Daughters Cafe.

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“In terms of hospitality, we knew Bozeman was a hotspot,” Folkvord said. “We knew that it was growing and we wanted a piece of it.”

Hillary Folkvord credits her success as a female entrepreneur in Montana to family. Growing up on a farm in Three Forks to the hardworking family that started Wheat Montana, Folkvord said she became interested in business at a young age. Now a wife and mother to young

children, she is trying to raise her kids with similar values and an appreciation for grit.

Folkvord attended Montana State University on a golf scholarship and earned a graduate degree in business from the University of Denver. She came back to Montana and helped her

Folkvord, RSVP’s general manager, worked hard to grow her business while also spending valuable time with family. She said her two kids, ages six and three, are her “why.”

It’s an honor to be an awardee alongside so many other amazing women, Folkvord said.

“There’s so many

powerhouse ladies here in Bozeman, so to be part of this group is such an honor,” she said. “Being an entrepreneur, being a mother, I think I could be a great role model to younger women saying, hey, you can do it all – you can run your own business and still have a family.”

Folkvord also serves on the Women’s Foundation Board in Montana, the Midtown Board, and has previously worked with Eagle Mount and the Montana Chamber of Commerce. She runs her own lifestyle blog called Lady H. She loves to cook beautiful meals and travel, where she picks up ideas for RSVP Motel back home.

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Norman Huynh “

I love that I found a true place of community where I can really see the difference and the impact that I have.

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Norman Huynh, the music director and conductor for the Bozeman Symphony, has been thrilled to see the arts community in Bozeman grow in recent years. His ambitions are higher than ever.

cutting edge of trying to be in front of the growth.”

Huynh started leading the Bozeman Symphony in 2020, and has since grown the audience to a record number of subscribers and into younger age groups.

The symphony has added concerts, expanded the genres of music they play, and hopes to continue adding holiday shows and performing popular film scores.

Huynh is advocating for a performing arts and concert hall center to be built in Bozeman.

‘We’re on a trajectory going up and I feel like I’m surfing a wave right now with so much energy because it’s so fun and exciting,” Huynh said. “It feels like we’re sort of on the OCTOBER 2023

The Bozeman symphony has also expanded outreach efforts and sent musicians into rural schools in Montana to play, Huynh said.

“There is a large need in our community for a performing arts center, a concert hall… a lot of talent our size do have a true dedicated space for the performing arts,” Huynh said. “So that is sort of one of my missions here, is to try to get one built.

Huynh first became interested in the performing arts when he joined band in

the 7th grade as a trombone player. It felt natural and easy to him. Later, he became interested in conducting and earned a masters in orchestral conducting at the Peabody Institute.

Huynh said he’s proud

to have found a home in Bozeman and set down roots here.

“I love that I found a true place of community where I can really see the difference and the impact that I have,” Huynh said.

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Luis Islas “

At the end of the day, its people to people contact, it’s a very human aspect of the work.

Luis Islas knew he was home when he came out to southwest Montana in 2019 for what was originally a ninemonth placement through the American Red Cross.

Someone suggested he check out Livingston to find a place to live. While walking around town and in and out of businesses, Islas said he was blown away by the hospitality. He knew he made the right choice when people he struck up conversations with at local restaurants bought his meal for him -

twice.

“I had never experienced that anywhere,” Islas said.

“So I stayed.”

He got involved in the community, joining the board of the Park County Environmental Council.

Now, Islas is the director of philanthropy at the One Valley Community Foundation, where he works to support the local nonprofit community.

Islas, 31, said he became interested in nonprofit work because of his childhood - his

family was undocumented and moved around a lot.

While in Portland, Islas said they became homeless for about two years. It was eventually getting connected with local nonprofits that helped them out.

“I really feel like I’ve come full circle from being a recipient of those services, to now being able to help the sector as a whole,” Islas said. “I feel very privileged and honored to be able to do that.”

Islas said he thinks nonprofit work is vital to the wellbeing of any community.

Beyond just the amount of money raised for the numbers of people who receive services, Islas said he thinks the connections they foster are crucial.

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“At the end of the day, its people to people contact, it’s a very human aspect of the work,” Islas said.

Islas, who is married and has a daughter, also worked as a community liaison helping the city of Bozeman with outreach to the Latino community for their new parks and recreation plan.

When he’s not working or volunteering, Islas said he and his family enjoy card games, camping and hiking.

Islas said he appreciates that his new home has a “culture of abundance,” and said he views his work as supporting that.

“There’s a very strong culture of giving back and helping out your neighbors,” Islas said.

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James Kaiser “

A lot of that experience and lessons learned in real life, basically created the foundation of planning that we carry forward today.

James Kaiser enjoyed working for Northwestern Mutual from when he first interned there while attending Montana State University, but it took a couple of years before he started to realize the impact of his work.

As a financial advisor, Kaiser said he helps people prepare financially for life disruptions, but also for all the good things life can bring.

“I think it’s more of the sunshine and rainbows. We’ve helped a lot of clients get into their first homes, put their kids through school, help them retire, sell businesses,” Kaiser said. “Once you really realize the importance of the work you’re doing, it’s very special, and it’s hard to walk away from that.”

Kaiser, 36, actually applied for an internship at the behest

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of someone who worked in property and casualty insurance, who suggested he cut his teeth and intern for Northwestern Mutual and work in life insurance first.

That person told Kaiser to call him after the internship for a job, but Kaiser never did. For years, Kaiser would get calls asking if he was ready to leave his job yet.

“We just joked, I was like, ‘You messed up, telling me to go here. I’m not gonna leave,’” Kaiser said.

Kaiser started in financial services about 6 months before the 2008 recession, where he said he saw both how good planning can help people weather a storm, and how bad planning can cause things to fall apart.

“A lot of that experience and lessons learned in real

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life, basically created the foundation of planning that we carry forward today,” Kaiser said.

Kaiser grew up in Bozeman, and always imagined he would move to a big city and come back home eventually. But, he never left, and is now raising his two kids here.

Eventually, Kaiser said, he hopes to work with the business college at MSU and mentor and coach more people and grow his team at Northwestern Mutual.

“Our mission is providing prosperity to the people that

we work with and helping them align their values with action, strategy, and intention,” Kaiser said. “And I think at the end of the day, my goal is to build something that lives beyond me, and to be able to generationally help our clients.”

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Maren Marchesini “

Dr. Maren Haynes Marchesini was born and raised in Bozeman and today, she is the Director of Worship and Music at Hope Lutheran Church in Bozeman and the

Interim Symphonic Choir Conductor at the Bozeman Symphony — with whom she played from 2000 to 2002. Marchesini is also on the Board of the Kaj Seifert

I’m most proud of the scholarly work that I have done, my dissertation project has turned out to be something that has been very interesting to a lot of people.

Foundation for Aspiring Young Artists. After attending Whitworth University, Marchesini earned a master’s and her doctorate at the University of Washington in ethnomusicology. “My area of research ended up being mega-churches and Christian congregational music,” she said. “[I was] curious about why some churches were growing and others weren’t and [I] looked into one particular megachurch that was really a pioneer in bringing in pop and punk musical styles.”

Marchesini and her husband, Michael, have two kids, and when not at work, she can be found playing the cello, whether at home or in a band. She enjoys “writing music, improvising, and playing gigs.” According to

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her nominator, Marchesini “has excelled in the musical world of Montana as well as on an international level…

She has proven herself to be a person who is able to network throughout not only the arts communities but also serves to connect institutions for collaborative work.” In her own words, however: “I’m most proud of the scholarly work that I have done, my dissertation project has turned out to be something that has been very interesting to a lot of people.” It has led her to help others with new congregation structures and music making. “We create places that people from all walks of life truly feel a sense of belonging and welcome whether or not they are part of the church… that’s been a real passion of mine.”

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Scott McBride

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Hopefully that impact on people individually affects their relationship with their partners and families and friends and that can have a ripple effect.

Born and raised in Billings, Montana, Scott McBride found his way back to the Big Sky state after several years away. McBride went to Baylor University in Texas and received a bachelor’s in business after which he spent time in Thailand teaching English. When he returned to Montana, he worked for a nonprofit supporting youth with mental health or developmental disabilities in Anaconda until moving to Colorado to attend Denver Seminary to study counseling psychology. Today, as a therapist, he runs his private practice, Stillwater Counseling, and provides numerous types of support to different clients including couples, those working on identity development, and those working through trauma.

When it comes to his big successes, he says that what’s been most valuable to him has been seeing his clients grow over

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time, even if the successes aren’t as visible. “I get to see those successes at times and sometimes I don’t,” he said. “But hopefully that impact on people individually affects their relationship with their partners and families and friends and that can have a ripple effect.”

Beyond work, McBride enjoys golfing, spending time with his family rafting on rivers, and spending time with his kids and coaching their sports teams.

He’s also a board member of the nonprofit, Aware, for which he worked in Anaconda. “I really enjoy being able to help that company, be successful and sustainable and continue to do the good work they’re doing to impact people’s lives that are truly helpless and need other people in their life to actually have a life,” he said. “The developmentally disabled community is huge and there’s a lot of need there and it’s enjoyable to be a part of that”

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Alex McGee “

I go home every day and know that if I do a good job at work, I’m making an impact on someone’s life or someone’s day through the programs that we deliver, and that feels worth it to me. about them. It’s a great way for community members to get in the school to see what’s going on when the nation is experiencing a mental health crisis, so this can provide some additional support.”

Alex McGee found her love for Thrive, nonprofit work and Bozeman very quickly thanks to a strong sense of community.

McGee was born in Indiana and graduated from Indiana University in 2011. She moved to Bozeman in 2013 and started a job at the Hilton Garden Inn. Thanks to her involvement with planning Thrive’s annual gala, she

got an introduction to the nonprofit and fell in love with its mission.

Since then – even before she worked for Thrive – she has volunteered as a mentor for Thrive’s Child Advancement Program (CAP).

“I always think of the term ‘widening the circle,’” McGee said. “Just being able to show students that there’s one more adult out there that cares

McGee started at Thrive in October 2022 as its development director, helping fundraise and organize Thrive’s programs, including CAP. Working in nonprofit has been a very rewarding experience, she said, and her coworkers share her drive to help the community.

“I go home every day and know that if I do a good job at work, I’m making an impact on someone’s life or someone’s day through the programs that we deliver, and that feels worth it to me,”

McGee said.

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McGee also joined the Bozeman Adult Soccer League after moving to town, which helped her feel at home. She also volunteers with the Billings Clinic Foundation and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Bozeman Women Techmakers, 100 Strong Gallatin Valley and the Montana High Tech Business Alliance.

“I love that this place is changing rapidly,” McGee said. “I know all of us say that, but at least for my family, it still has such a strong sense of community and we feel really deeply tethered to that. Even through the changes, it still feels like home to us.”

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18 | TWENTY UNDER 40

Maddie Miller “

It is so fun to sit with business owners and help them feel like their financial statements aren’t scary.

For Maddie MIller, 2023 has been about finding a life after diagnosis.

Miller, 36, worked as a certified public accountant for about a decade where she helped launch a nationwide Payroll Protection program during the COVID-19 pandemic, was involved in the Montana Society of Certified Public Accountants and was accepted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Leadership Academy.

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spent the next several months doing treatment, and is now launching a new company and diving back into her community.

“A big part of my story is that doing all these things and getting really involved in the community, really driving hard at my career. And then I got breast cancer,” Miller said.

As she built her career, Miller also gave back to the community, serving on boards for Prospera Business Network and the Women’s Business Center.

The diagnosis turned her whole life upside down, Miller said. This year, after spending time reflecting on what “fills her cup,” Miller said she decided to launch FNCH (pronounced “finch”) Financial + Consulting this year, which she serves as an “outsourced CFO” for medium size businesses.

Miller had just started a new role at XY Planning Network in 2022 when she found out she had breast cancer. She

Miller said she finds it rewarding to give businesses advice they couldn’t otherwise get.

OCTOBER 2023

“It is so fun to sit with business owners and help them feel like their financial statements aren’t scary,” Miller said. “It’s really rewarding.”

And, after struggling to find office space in town, Miller and her husband decided to solve their own problem and help others in the process. They recently launched NECO, a coworking space in northeast Bozeman.

As she gets healthier, Miller said she is also getting more involved in the community,

rejoining Prospera’s board and looking for other opportunities to volunteer. When she’s not volunteering or working, Miller, her husband and their sevenyear-old daughter enjoy the Montana outdoors, hot springs and trips to Cooke City.

“Something that I got out of going through cancer is to only do things that make me feel good and fill my cup. And every single thing about my business fills my cup,” Miller said. “There is life after a diagnosis like that.”

TWENTY UNDER 40 | 19

Jennifer Pearson “

Pearson, 39, said switching to nonprofit work was a nobrainer for her.

“It sounds cliche or silly, but I want to make the world a better place,” Pearson said. “So if I can improve other people’s lives or make someone’s day, that’s just a piece of my core values to help people around me.”

Giving back is in Jennifer Pearson’s blood.

Pearson spent about a decade after graduating college working with children in the mental healthcare field, before deciding she needed a new challenge and switching to the nonprofit

sector. She worked in fundraising for both the Central Asia Institute and the Cancer Support Community Montana, helping to bring in around $15 million for both organizations through direct fundraising, campaigns and events.

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We all succeed when everyone is stronger.

Pearson has also worked with the Belgrade Community Coalition and as a committee member for Give Big Gallatin Valley. The work the community coalition does to bring people together is rewarding, Pearson said, as is being involved with Give Big, which she said has literally brought her to tears before.

“We all succeed when everyone is stronger,” Pearson said.

She also quite literally

sacrifices to help other people; as a regular blood donor she has given well over two gallons of blood over the years.

Now a senior project coordinator at Profitable Ideas Exchange, Pearson said she enjoys taking a leadership role and building relationships through her work.

Pearson has two kids, ages 10 and 15, and lost her husband two years ago. She stepped back from some of her community involvement to focus on family, and said she is preparing to get involved again in the Belgrade Community Coalition.

“I think it’s important to have a community aspect to our lives, and it just is fulfilling to be part of bringing the people of Belgrade together,” Pearson said.

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20 | TWENTY UNDER 40

Russell Swan “

It’s really a unique opportunity to bring some of the world’s newest and best technology to patients here in Montana where it previously wasn’t available to them.

Getting to markedly improve people’s lives is all the reward Dr. Russell Swan needs to enjoy his work as an ophthalmologist for Vance Thompson Vision.

Giving people their vision back, or giving it to them in the first place is at the core of what Swan does.

It’s a bonus that Swan finds the work interesting, too.

“I always kind of had a heart for service oriented career paths. And what really drew me to medicine originally was just the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life,” Swan said. “One of the things I love most about ophthalmology and eye care is it’s one of the very unique areas in medicine where a lot of what we’re

OCTOBER 2023

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doing is enhancing or making people’s lives better.”

Swan, 38, focuses on surgical and complex eye care at Vance Thompson Vision in Bozeman, and also travels to Billings to care for patients there. Swan said he is drawn to participating in research trials.

“It’s really a unique opportunity to bring some of the world’s newest and best technology to patients here in Montana where it previously wasn’t available to them,” Swan said. “We want to have a commitment to the world’s best technology, that commitment to the world’s best technology really starts with participating in FDA clinical research trials.”

Swan said he is also

passionate about getting eye care to people who may not be able to afford it, and partners with a group called Operation Sight to give free surgery to patients. When not working in Montana, Swan also volunteers with a group that trains eye surgeons in Central America, and plans to travel to Honduras in January with that group.

Faith, family and work are at the core of Swan’s life. He and his wife volunteer with their church, and keep plenty

busy looking after four kids and enjoying all the outdoor activities Montana has to offer.

Swan also volunteers with Thrive, following a lifelong passion for mentorship.

“They do in my opinion, one of the best jobs of really partnering with students and families in creating meaningful connection and partnership and helping bridge challenging situations for kids and families,” Swan said.

TWENTY UNDER 40 | 21

Amanda Weber “

You are allowing physically and cognitively impaired participants that want to learn about horses ride horses.

volunteers in ways that align with big reasons she moved here in the first place: skiing, horses and a river close to town.

Weber and others started community paddle days for Bozeman a few years ago, which Weber said helped her find more community in water sports and people looking to get into them.

When Amanda Weber moved to Bozeman from Maryland some six years ago, she dove into the community head first.

Weber is a real estate agent with ERA Landmark, and has kept busy working with homeseekers both before

COVID and during the subsequent housing boom.

“If you were in it and ready to hustle, it was very productive for an agent,” Weber said.

Aside from work, Weber pursues her hobbies and

“I think a lot of newer paddlers or people newer to the community, the community paddle days were kind of a way to just have this default day and time where anyone who wants to show up, and there’s going to be people there, there’s going to be safety there,” Weber said.

Weber also helped restart the Gallatin Whitewater Festival following COVID,

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and volunteers with the adaptive riding program at Eagle Mount to help teach horsemanship and horseback riding, which she has done nearly weekly for the past six years.

“You are allowing physically and cognitively impaired participants that want to learn about horses ride horses,” said Weber, who has a childhood and continuing affinity for horses herself.

“So my piece of it is to help prep the horses for the lesson, and then being a part of the lesson we’re either leading or being a sidewalker.”

It’s pretty rewarding as you can see a lot of progress with participants that started at one level and have become more independent with it,” Weber said.

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22 | TWENTY UNDER 40

Evan Weiss “

A lot of times you need a hand from the community to help out to get our operations completed.

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A lifelong skier, Evan Weiss grew up in Western Washington and was a member of a ski racing program at Stevens Pass. After skiing in college and on the U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Weiss coached NCAA and youth programs.

Today, he’s in his sixth year as the Executive Director of the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF).

“What attracted me to this program is the town and the access to skiing and the relationships we have with other nonprofits in the area — it’s a unique place to run a ski team,” he said. “BSF is one of the older nonprofits in the community [having] been around for 87 years, so it’ll be around for a long time after me [but] I think that I bring a skillset in to listen and take some challenges and risks with building programs.”

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Since his arrival, Weiss said that BSF has been able to “almost double the size of participants in our program over the last four or five years.”

He’s also helped BSF subsidize kids’ programs and he’s helped add mental health programs for participants and their coaches.

According to Weiss’ nominator, he also helped start the Freeskiing/Big Mountains program and has been deeply involved in Lindley Park’s continued development as a local ski access point. “He is well respected by his board, community partners, and staff for his leadership, empathy, and drive,” they said.

His influence on nonprofits extends far beyond his responsibilities at BSF. Understanding the importance of volunteers, he often finds

himself as one for other organizations in the area.

“I know firsthand how much of this work is volunteer-based, so going out there and working with Friends of Hyalite, it’s just kind of full circle and acknowledging those other groups that we can’t get this done on our own,” Weiss said.

“A lot of times you need a

hand from the community to help out to get our operations completed.”

When not skiing or leading BSF, Weiss spends time in Hyalite Canyon with his wife and their Brittany Spaniel.

They enjoy mountain biking and spending time on the local rivers.

TWENTY UNDER 40 | 23

Bethany West “

Being able to be a part of these organizations has really helped to be an advocate for those issues.

Originally from a small town in Arizona, Bethany West found her way to Montana after an impressive career in the military. As a combat veteran of the Air Force, West served in Iraq when the United States Military forces captured

Saddam Hussein in 2003.

She was also stationed in Qatar, Honduras for Joint Task Force Bravo, Djibouti for Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, and Portugal. She then returned to the United States and was stationed at Malmstrom Air Force

Base in Great Falls, Idaho.

However, as her son grew older, she says she no longer wanted to miss important life events and decided to leave the service and settle in Gallatin Gateway. “Montana had captured my heart, growing up in the mountains of Arizona,” West said. “I was able to find community in Gallatin Gateway and fell in love with the area.”

It’s here that West began her new successful career at WealthVest, a financial services firm. She is currently the Director of New Business. “[West] continues to rise professionally inside her company and within the Bozeman Community,” her former manager said. “She has overcome setbacks to arrive where she is, and what

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I find most admirable about Bethany is that no matter what happens, she remains steadfastly positive.”

Beyond work, West is very active in her community.

She is the Second Vice Commander of the Gallatin Post 14 of the American Legion and frequently supports Warriors and Quiet Waters, a veteran support group, as well as other groups.

“There’s a lot of issues that can come up after your [military] service [and] things like suicide prevention, especially amongst the veteran community has been really near and dear to my heart,” she said. “Being able to be a part of these organizations has really helped to be an advocate for those issues.”

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24 | TWENTY UNDER 40

TWENTY UNDER

40

Congratulations!

First Security Bank would like to congratulate the 20 Under 40 recipients!

OURBANK.com /// 406.585.3800

Hope Lutheran Church of Bozeman

Congratulates

Maren Marchesini and the other 20 Under 40 award recipients.

Thanks for sharing the light in all you do!

OCTOBER 2023