2025 North Sound Leadership Conference Presenters
We are excited to offer two in-person days of leadership development - one in Seattle and one in Tacoma - dedicated to thanking, inspiring, and empowering The Mountaineers current and aspiring volunteer leaders. Both conferences will offer equivalent content, with a similar line-up of presenters, expanding our reach and giving volunteers the flexibility to select the program that is most convenient for them.
Join us at one of our Leadership Conferences!
Breakout sessions
- Click here to view a list of the North Sound Leadership Conference breakout sessions
Presenters
Rachel Heaton
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Activation
My name is Rachel Heaton. I come from a rich heritage, as a member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and a descendant of the Duwamish people, with European roots as well. I am a mother to 3 beautiful children and they are my greatest motivation.
In recent years, I became deeply involved in environmental justice, notably as part of the coalition that successfully urged Seattle to divest from Wells Fargo, a primary funder of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This experience led me to co-found Mazaska Talks, an Indigenous-led divestment organization. I now travel globally, sharing insights on how Wall Street banks and the fossil fuel industry contribute to our planet's destruction. I also speak passionately about the violations of our rights as Native and Indigenous peoples, always seeking creative ways—whether through public speaking, connecting through nature, or physical fitness—to educate and raise awareness beyond my community. In my everyday life, I work as a culture educator for my tribe, dedicated to learning, building, and sustaining our ancestral practices.
Dr. Dennis Eller
RISK MANAGEMENT FROM A MOUNTAIN RESCUE PERSPECTIVE
Dr. Dennis Eller has been a member of the Mountaineers since 2017, an educator in FWPS, a veteran, an AMGA certified guide, and a Rescue Technician with Tacoma Mountain Rescue. Dr. Eller shares a deep passion for nature and a commitment to share its wonders with others, which has created a lifelong pursuit of environmental education and advocacy in addition to promoting safe access through risk management.
Dennis has served in numerous high-risk environments as a Special Operations Team leader, Firefighter/EMT, and Rescue Support Specialist with TMRU. He has led and participated on multiple missions throughout the Pacific Northwest with many being on Mt Rainier NPS.
One of Dennis's most remarkable contributions has been his dedication to making outdoor spaces more accessible to Native American communities and creating standardized training for Mountain Rescue Units. This has allowed him to actively promote diversity and inclusion within outdoor organizations and the broader outdoor industry. He has advocated for recruiting and training Native American guides, leaders, and educators, ensuring that there are role models and mentors for future generations through his work with public education organizations, volunteer organizations, and Mountain rescue organizations.
Dave Hunter
How to THINK LIKE A BEE
Dave Hunter has been raising mason bees for over 20 years. What started as a backyard hobby has turned into a unique business that engages backyard gardeners and orchardists to help provide solitary mason bees to commercial orchards and crops for pollination. Dave is the founder and owner of Crown Bees, a Board Member of the Planet Bee Foundation, and the author of Mason Bee Revolution. His work has been featured in Urban Farm, the Seattle Times, NPR, and more. He lives in Woodinville, Washington.
Stacy Earlywine
RESILIENCE IN THE MOUNTAINS
Stacy Earlywine is a dynamic and engaging presenter with a passion for creating a safe space for anyone she works with. Her background is in movement, outdoor program management, bodywork and trauma healing. All of this, along with her own trauma journey, blend together to provide a framework for the exploration of how understanding and befriending the nervous system is a powerful tool when addressing difficult experiences in the mountains and beyond. Stacy is a Structural Medicine Specialist, Board Certified Structural Integrator and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. She loves travel, climbing, skiing and wandering the wilds of the PNW with her husband and two boys.
Steve Smith
LESSONS LEARNED FROM AASGARD PASS
Steve Smith is a risk management consultant at Experiential Consulting, LLC. He has worked in the outdoor industry for over thirty years, including hundreds of days in the field instructing, administrative leadership roles with national organizations including Outward Bound and The Student Conservation Association, and helping The Mountaineers envision and launch Progressive Climbing Education as a member of the Adult Education department. Steve served as chair of the Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC) for three years. He has a master's degree in English composition, along with six years of university-level teaching experience, and earned a Professional in
Human Resources (PHR) certification from the Society for Human Resources Management, all of which help him view outdoor education through a variety of educational and administrative lenses. A regular speaker at regional and national conferences, Steve strives to make his presentations fun, engaging, and
practical. He lives in Langley on Whidbey Island and enjoys exploring the mountains, forests, and coastlines of the Pacific Northwest. His superpower has to do with deep frying buffalo wings in improbable places.
Mountaineers Conservation & Advocacy Team
Defending Public Lands: Grassroots Advocacy for Outdoor Leaders
Betsy Robblee: As The Mountaineers’ Conservation & Advocacy Director, Betsy Robblee leads The Mountaineers conservation and advocacy programming, including driving partnerships, executing advocacy campaigns, and supporting fundraising efforts that result in long-term outcomes to protect public lands and the outdoor experience. Betsy joined The Mountaineers in 2020 with ten years of experience in policy, advocacy, and community engagement experience. She previously served as the Policy and Outreach Manager at the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, where she led advocacy campaigns in support of funding for conservation and recreation projects in Washington state. Earlier in her career, she spent six years in Washington, DC as a legislative aide to Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Rick Larsen. As an outdoor enthusiast and an advocate for our wild places, Betsy is honored for the opportunity to engage The Mountaineers community to protect public lands.
Conor Marshall: As The Mountaineers Advocacy & Engagement Manager, Conor deepens The Mountaineers conservation and advocacy impact through work focused on education, stewardship, and advocacy. Conor envisions and produces conservation communications and member engagement campaigns that educate, inspire, and activate our community to protect public lands and the outdoor experience. He also manages the organization’s Washington state legislative work and supports Outdoor Alliance Washington. Conor previously worked on digital advocacy for the Sierra Club’s national lands, waters, and wildlife campaigns and led policy and advocacy communications for the American Bird Conservancy. Conservation and recreation lie at the confluence of Conor’s personal and professional pursuits. After honing his policy and advocacy skills while living and working in Washington, D.C., Conor deeply values the opportunity to advance conservation initiatives on behalf of Washington's public lands and waters - the places that first connected him to nature.
Katja Hurt
PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID FOR MOUNTAINEERS
Katjarina “Katja” Hurt (she/her/hers) is the Founder and Director of the non-profit organization, Wilderness Chaplains. She is a master-level trainer with a background in behavioral health and public safety and volunteers as a chaplain with the King County Sheriff's Office. With over eight years as a member of The Mountaineers and 17 years as a Ski Patroller, you will most likely find her in the mountains.
Tom Vogl, Mountaineers CEO
Beyond the Piton : Technology is Reshaping Risk in the Outdoors
As Chief Executive Officer, Tom Vogl oversees the Seattle Program Division, the Publishing Division, Tacoma facility staff, and Olympia youth staff while reporting to the Board President to work in concert with the Board of Directors.
Tom joins The Mountaineers with more than 20 years of general management, marketing expertise, and capacity building experience with a variety of organizations, including REI, The Clymb, Redfin, and Dell. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Vogl brings extensive experience in the outdoor industry, including six years as senior vice president for marketing at REI from 2006 to 2012. In the four years prior to joining The Mountaineers staff, he worked as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer in Seattle’s start-up community. His expertise has also impacted several nonprofit organizations. He has served on the board of directors of The REI Foundation, and the Chief Seattle Council of Boy Scouts of America as well as a committee of the National Parks Advisory Board. A passionate climber, backcountry skier and outdoor adventurer, he has explored many wilderness areas of the Pacific Northwest since moving to Seattle with his family in 2006.
Paul Bannick
WOODPECKER
Paul Bannick is an award-winning author and photographer who makes images to inspire education and conservation. Paul’s photography has won awards in several prestigious contests, including those hosted by Audubon Magazine and the International Conservation Photography Awards. His work appears in many bird guides, including those from Audubon, Peterson, and The Smithsonian and has been featured in a variety of other books, publications and national exhibits.
Kallie Hurtz
WHEN THE RIVER TAKES
Kallie Kurtz is a Behavioral Health Clinician specializing in trauma, ADHD, and crisis response in emergency departments, individual therapy, and public health policy. An avid whitewater kayaker and mountain enthusiast, she has been exploring the outdoors for over 30 years. Bringing together her passions for the outdoors, wilderness medicine, and behavioral health, she has been working to ensure Backcountry Behavioral Health is fully incorporated into wilderness medicine and outdoor adventure fields. A Wilderness First Responder since 2009, she spent nearly a decade instructing and guiding outdoor expeditions, where she witnessed firsthand the profound connection between mental health, risk, and resilience in remote environments. With expertise in trauma, PTSD recovery, and resilience building, Kallie equips outdoor enthusiasts to understand behavioral health, navigate high-stress incidents and foster post-traumatic growth in wilderness settings.
