LORIE POPE

Co-Founder/Executive Vice President Nexus Innovations Bismarck, N.D.

Lorie Pope co-founded Nexus Innovations, a technology consulting company located in Bismarck and Fargo in North Dakota, in 2000. Nexus provides strategic solutions in IT consulting, custom software development, project management, SharePoint and organizational consulting and is a North Dakota Certified Women Owned Business. In 2015, Pope was recognized as the Center for Technology Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. As an entrepreneurial business owner, she knows all about meeting the challenges, perseverance and vision required to own and grow a successful company. Pope is passionate about organizational consulting, specifically on ways to create a healthy culture that can be leveraged to achieve the organization’s strategic success. She is a certified team member of John Maxwell, an internationally recognized expert in leadership. Along with being a certified executive/personal coach, she loves to help leaders create the long-term results they want in their business and personal lives. Pope volunteers with CRU, teaching, mentoring and speaking for various groups. Pope and her husband, Bob, have four grown sons, three daughters-in-law and three grandchildren with one more on the way.

Chief Financial Officer First International Bank & Trust Watford City, N.D.

Anita Quale is the first chief financial officer for First International Bank & Trust, as well as the first woman to hold a C-level position at the bank. Quale has been with the bank for 34 years, beginning in 1981 in bookkeeping. She has held various positions with the bank, most recently as director of accounting and finance before being named chief financial officer in 2015. As chief financial officer, Quale is responsible for all of the bank’s fiscal operating results and ensuring the safeguard of bank assets. She advises senior management on fiscal control and profitability, prepares, presents and interprets financial reports to senior management and adheres to regulatory compliance to properly reflect the financial position of the bank. Quale received a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. She is active in her church and many community organizations. Quale is married and has three children.

Kya Schroeder

Vice President/Architect

LJA Fargo, N.D.

Kya Schroeder began working at LJA while completing her architecture degree at North Dakota State University in Fargo. Upon graduation, Schroeder was promoted to a project manager for the company’s hospitality department. In 2011, she became a registered architect in North Dakota and has been accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED Designer since 2008. She has since branched out into the commercial market, and has been involved with notable projects including the Dakota Events Center in Aberdeen, S.D., the Information Technology Department Office Building in Bismarck, and the still-in-design Dakota Magic Casino remodel and expansion in Hankinson, N.D., as well as numerous hotels nationwide. In 2015, Schroeder celebrated her 10th anniversary at LJA, joined the Board of Directors as a vice president and became an owner of the firm. Schroeder is an active member of the AFLC Grace Free Lutheran Church in Valley City, N.D. She has served as the chair of the Christian Education Board and teaches Wednesday night Answers in Genesis curriculum to first through third graders. The biennial design-build CANstruction competition that raises food for the local Great Plains Food Bank is one of Schroeder’s passions.

Susan Sisk

Vice President of Finance

KLJ Solutions Bismarck, N.D.

Susan Sisk joined KLJ Solutions as vice president of finance in 2015. In this role, she provides strategic and fiduciary oversight as well as direction for the financial functions of KLJ Solutions and its family of companies. In addition, Sisk is responsible for financial planning, analysis and reporting as well as budget management. Before joining KLJ Solutions, Sisk served as director of finance for the North Dakota Supreme Court and chief financial officer/controller for CHI St. Alexius Health. She earned a master’s degree in business administration from Troy University in Troy, Ala., and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Minot State University in Minot, N.D. Sisk is also a certified public accountant. In addition to being a graduate of Leadership Bismarck-Mandan in North Dakota, Sisk has served as president of the North Dakota Health Finance Management Association, St. Alexius Toastmasters Club and Good Shepherd Endowment Council. She has also been a board member for the Bismarck Cancer Center, Bismarck Transition Center, Northland Healthcare Alliance and Northland PACE Senior Care Services. She currently serves as a board member for the Missouri Valley YMCA and Bismarck Cancer Advisory Board. She serves as a committee member for the Judicial Conduct Commission, the Judicial Nominating Committee and the Bismarck City Human Relations Committee.

Stacy Somerville

President Dynamics Marketing Inc. Cooperstown, N.D.

Stacy Somerville opened her first research call center in Cooperstown, N.D., in 1992, under the name Dynamics Marketing Inc. In 1994, a 42-seat facility was opened in Jamestown, N.D. In 1997, Dynamics Marketing and Uniband Enterprises joined together to open a call center on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, located in Belcourt, N.D. Today, through all businesses she is involved in, Somerville employs 200 people throughout North Dakota, as well as 20 individuals in administrative positions. She has also been a partner in other family business ventures, including Posi Lock Puller Inc., P.L. Manufacturing and Dakota Turbines LLC. She has held various industry board seats. Somerville and her husband, Ryan Iverson, have two grown children.

Debbie Stang

Chief Operating Officer Midco Burnsville, Minn.

Debbie Stang serves as chief operating officer of Midco, with management responsibilities for customer service, field operations, supply chain, training and operations systems and support. She also oversees Midco Connections, a subsidiary customer contact center with locations in North Dakota and South Dakota providing call center services to a variety of industries. Stang leads more than 1,200 operations employees throughout the Dakotas, Minnesota and part of Wisconsin. Stang began her Midco career in 1984 in the company’s cable division in Sioux Falls, S.D. She continually progressed in the organization while accepting corporate roles in accounting, finance and human resources. During her career, she served as the company’s first director of employee services and the first vice president of human resources before returning to operations in 2015. The HR positions served as the starting point in pursuing her passion for developing and expanding female leadership programs at Midco. Stang holds a bachelor’s degree from Concordia University-St. Paul. In January, Stang began a position as a Women in Cable Television board member. She is also involved with women’s programs at her church and volunteers at a local Feed My Starving Children location.

Elizabeth Vreswyk

Founder/President

AWTY Logistics

Dickinson, N.D.

Raised in Colorado, Elizabeth Vreswyk trained and hauled horses to national events before moving to Houston, Texas, to further her equine career, until a life-changing accident forced her from the saddle. From there, she found a love for Geographic Information Systems and gained experience in GIS enterprise solution development and process management with a few organizations: Duke Energy North America in refining New Generation interactive web mapping for both gas and electric traders; Duke Energy Field Services (DCP Midstream) enhancing early GIS Pipeline Integrity Management Programs supporting 56,000 miles of pipeline; and Gulf South Pipeline/Boardwalk Pipeline Partners completing numerous corporate enterprise GIS initiatives. After narrowly missing Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Vreswyk moved to North Dakota and quickly identified a unique niche for “off-line” Android/ Apple navigation applications to guide oilfield workers, vendors and crews to their remote, hard-to-find destinations. This led Vreswyk to start AWTY Logistics, providing highly accurate navigation and data delivery solutions that enhance oilfield safety and industry cost savings while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in North Dakota. Vreswyk also teamed up with the North Dakota Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties to develop a web-based interactive map allowing users to view real-time road restrictions, which then becomes available for those using her navigation solutions in the field.

Diane Stiles

Vice President

Lake Area Technical Institute

Watertown, S.D.

Diane Stiles has served as vice president at Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, S.D., since July 2014. Before her current role, Stiles served as assistant vice president for student affairs at Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland, Kan., before moving to a leadership role in academic affairs. In addition to her post-secondary education experience, Stiles previously served as the executive director of Norton County Economic Development in Kansas and as an English professor in Beijing, China. Stiles has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Master of Arts in Education. She is the co-chair of the H20-20 Vision Committee for the Watertown area, a community-driven strategic planning process defining the community’s vision for the future. She also serves on the Watertown Workforce Advisory Council. Stiles and her husband, Asa, have two children.

Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development

South Dakota Wheat Growers

Aberdeen, S.D.

As senior vice president of human resources and organizational development, Judy Stulken is an instrumental part of the leadership team at Wheat Growers, with more than 600 employees in the Dakotas. Before joining Wheat Growers in April 2008, Stulken was assistant vice president of human resources with Student Loan Finance Corp. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a Master of Science degree in Business Management from Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D. Stulken is a certified senior professional in human resources and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and her local Aberdeen Area Human Resources Association chapter. Stulken serves on the board for Agriculture Cooperative Employment Services and the Land O’Lakes Human Resources Council. She also volunteers for her local chapter of Junior Achievement as a classroom consultant and is active with the Boy Scouts of America. Stulken and her husband, Brett, have two sons.