Ryan Sistad is from Fosston, Minnesota and attended the University of North Dakota to study business management. Ryan has led Better In Our Back Yard since its founding in 2019, growing the organization from 2 members to over 80 and building a social media presence of over 25,000 followers. Under Ryan’s leadership, Better in Our Back Yard has gained national recognition, expanding its reach and membership far beyond northern Minnesota. 

As Better in Our Back Yard’s executive director, Ryan connects with public officials, business leaders and communities to share a positive, pro-industry message. Better in Our Back Yard advocates for federal permitting reform, critical minerals and domestic energy production to drive a more prosperous future for all.

Better in Our Back Yard supports responsible industrial projects, including NewRange Copper Nickel’s NorthMet Project, Twin Metals Minnesota’s proposed Copper-Nickel mine, Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho, Talon Metals’ proposed Nickel-Copper-Cobalt mine in Minnesota, Enbridge’s Line 5 Segment Relocation Project in Wisconsin, Enbridge’s Great Lakes Tunnel Project in Michigan and Resolution Copper’s proposed Copper mine in Arizona.

Jeff is a lifelong resident of the Iron Range. He was born and raised in Hibbing, MN, and is a graduate of Hibbing Community College with a degree in Electrical Maintenance. 

Jeff has worked in the mining industry for nearly 20 years, kickstarting his career at the Minorca Mine as a Shift Operations Supervisor and a Plant Maintenance Supervisor. For the past 10 years, he has focused on sales management. Jeff is currently the Regional Sales Manager-US East for ME Elecmetal, where he is responsible for sales and service of mining wear solutions in the Eastern United States.

Jeff is a passionate outdoors enthusiast who enjoys spending time with his family at their cabin in northern Minnesota. Jeff and his wife, Juli, have two daughters attending Hibbing High School. He enjoys fishing, hunting, and anything outdoor-related in his spare time.

Kirk Ilenda is Vice President – Business Development with Lakehead Constructors. His primary role is to oversee company-wide efforts for sales, marketing and client relationships. As one of Lakehead Constructors’ core executive level leaders, he also supports strategic planning, employee mentoring and company culture.

Kirk is a life-long resident of the Duluth/Superior area, and knows the history, industries and local economics of the entire region of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. He has been an advocate for area industry and workforce development; speaking at public hearings in support of the Nemadji Trail Energy Center and Cenovus Energy, submitting letters of support to public agencies and rolling up his sleeves to talk to high school students about careers in the trades.

Lisa is an experienced science teacher with a demonstrated history of working in the primary, secondary, and college education industries. She is skilled in classroom management, lesson planning, science, educational technology, community outreach, and curriculum development.

Lisa is a vetted education professional with a Bachelor of Science focused in Biology, Education from the University of Minnesota, Duluth and a Master’s of Science in secondary Science Education with an emphasis in Chemistry and Physics, Education from Bemidji State University.

Interested in helping kids become the best version of themselves, and connecting young adults to meaningful and relevant opportunities regionally in order to sustainably develop the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota.

Mr. Wronka has an extensive professional history in environmental consulting that is firmly rooted in assessment and remediation spanning more than 28 years. He also supports clients in a broad range of industries including the responsible development of natural resources, intermodal transportation, and energy production, transmission and distribution systems from pipelines to utility scale solar, geothermal and carbon capture, utilization and storage. He is employed as an Environmental Department Manager at Burns & McDonnell, a 100% employee owned company, where he leverages his company’s vertically integrated services from site selection, planning and environmental permitting to Engineer Procure Construct (EPC) for turn-key project delivery.

Dan is the Mayor of Cook, MN and a retired 32-year member of IUOE Local 49 and was a public sector business representative covering northeast Minnesota and all of the Arrowhead region. Local 49 represents over 14,000 operating engineers in many fields of work from highways/bridges, oil and gas pipelines, housing/high rise development, sand and gravel as well as contract work in Iron Range mines. In addition to being strong advocates for a career with great pay and benefits, Local 49 is at the forefront of introducing our industry into the high school classroom through its Workforce Development Program.

Dan also serves as board chair on ISD 2142 School Board and is also the Vice Chair on St. Louis County Planning and Zoning Commission. Dan was a long-time high school baseball and softball coach in Cook and has spent many years coaching youth sports in his hometown of Cook, Minnesota. 

Mark is the general manager of Lake Country Power (LCP), an electric distribution cooperative serving parts of 8 counties in northeastern Minnesota.  LCP provides electric service to more than 50,000 homes and business throughout the region.  Since joining LCP in 2008, and prior to being named general manager in January 2021, Mark has held various positions within the finance and administrative area of the cooperative, most recently CFO.

Mark is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

Mark is a life-long resident of northeastern Minnesota, having grown up in the Lake Vermilion area.  He is an advocate for our rural communities and our rural, resource-based, way of life.  He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota Rural Electric Trust, a workers’ compensation insurance provider to many of Minnesota’s rural electric cooperatives and is a past Board member and past Board President of the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota.

Marci Knight is the Chief Marketing Officer / Business Development for Park State Bank, one of the larger independently owned community banks located in Northern Minnesota, the North Shore and the Twin Cities, with over one billion dollars in assets and a history committed to serving clients and small businesses in Minnesota for over one hundred years. In her role at Park State Bank she is the driving force in modernizing Park State Bank’s brand and integrated marketing strategy, deepening the banks connections with clients and the communities they serve. As an executive leader for the bank she works on and supports strategic planning, core values, client service standards and company culture.

Marci has been an advocate for our area since relocating to the Iron Range in 2002. She currently serves on the Board of the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota where she has been Board President and currently sits on their Executive Board. She has been on the Board of the Iron Mining Association, chairing their Public Relations Committee, has been Board President of both the Hibbing Chamber of Commerce and the Laurentian Chamber of Commerce.  She currently is a member of the government affairs committee for the Laurentian Chamber. Throughout her years she has been involved with many organizations either serving on their boards or volunteering of her time to support our communities. In her spare time she loves to golf, take a side by side ride in with her husband Chris and dog Vinnie and enjoy the all that Northeastern Minnesota has to offer.

Adam Hawkins is your in-house expert on external affairs in the mining industry. His decades of experience span every phase of the mining process, from early-stage exploration and entitling projects to permitting new facilities, expanding operations, and closures. He has worked on projects on every continent except Antarctica. Adam began his career as a U.S. Senate staffer and worked in-house with Rio Tinto.

Adam is a go-to on mining policy, an MSHA Part 48c ertified surface miner, a former board trustee of the Arizona Mining Association, and the 2020 president of the American Exploration and Mining Association.

He holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and has domestic and international professional experience. Adam’s expertise is trusted and sought by firms seeking effective guidance in moving mining projects from concept to closure.

Chris Summers is a seasoned executive leader with over 30 years of experience in finance, mining, and business consulting. Chris served as the Chief Financial Officer at Burgex Mining Consultants, and was instrumental in developing financial frameworks that enhanced decision-making and drove company growth. Previously, as CEO of Burgex, he led the company’s expansion, successfully scaling operations and building a high-performing team.

With a background in financial asset analysis, capital project evaluation, and strategic management, Chris has held key roles at major corporations, including Rio Tinto and Nyrstar. His expertise spans financial modeling, mineral economics, and business development, making him a strategic force in optimizing financial performance. He holds an MBA from Westminster College and a BS in Accounting from Utah State University.

Chris is passionate about fostering innovation, building strong partnerships, and driving sustainable growth within the mining sector.

Brian “Bud” Mickelson has been managing and designing industrial projects for over 17 years. Working previously as an Electrical Project Manager and Maintenance Manager for Magnetation and an Electrical Project Engineer and Operations Manager for Cleveland-Cliffs, Bud acquired an extensive background in industrial operation, maintenance, and electrical applications. At TKDA, he is now contributing to a growing portfolio of multidiscipline and multidivisional large-scale projects managing and designing power, control, process, operating, and maintenance systems

Kathy oversees the execution of Twin Metals’ communications and public affairs strategies. Her goal is to raise awareness of the importance of metals in our everyday lives and in advancing the transition to a clean energy future. She particularly enjoys the educational aspect of her work in helping the public better understand the supply chain, where our products come from and how strategic minerals play a key role. Graul previously worked in several marketing and communications roles in transportation, agriculture and in the nonprofit sector.

Paul has over 30 years of experience with the past 21 years at Enbridge. He holds a Civil Engineering degree from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan and also a Masters in Business from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Past roles at Enbridge have included increasing responsibilities within the Environment group from Operations support for water and waste issues to leading environmental permitting for large mainline cross country pipeline, powerline and green energy projects. He has substantial experience in regulatory and environmental permitting in several Midwest states. Past roles have also included front end project development of large pipeline, powerline and rail projects. Currently he leads a team of professionals overseeing stakeholder engagement who facilitate local community engagement activities near Enbridge assets in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and northern Wisconsin.

Tyson manages Resolution Copper’s internal and external communications. Before he came to Resolution Copper, Tyson was the Vice President of External Affairs for the United Food Bank in the metro Phoenix Area. He has been with Resolution Copper since 2022 and has over 10 years of experience working in Communications and Public Relations. Tyson has a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Arizona State University and is an Arizona native.

Roland Hill grew up and resides in Aitkin, Mn.  He started working with his father at Simon’s Body Shop painting his first car at age 15. Cars and racing stock cars was a passion shared with family, but his father encouraged him to get out of the auto body business, complete college and go do “something easier”.  Roland worked for the USDA Soil Conservation Service for 3 years and in 1992 he joined Grand Casino Mille Lacs as a community liaison and eventually became Vice President of Marketing. In 2002, Roland left Grand Casino and started his entrepreneurship and fun ventures. Roland has a Bachelor Degree in Marketing from Concordia College in St Paul.

Over the years, the true passion for building bridges between culture and community became evident resulting in Roland making his career and livelihood in putting people around the table for business, philanthropic, engagement and community reasons. His network stretches over several Tribes, regions and industries, including real estate, gaming, energy, insurance, automotive, non-profit, education, outdoors and philanthropic organizations. As a proud member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, he spends ample time within the Red Lake Nation Community and is Board President for Red Lake Incorporated.