Cowboy Ethics and Leadership

After a successful 35-year business career, Jim Owen reinvented himself as an author, film producer and social innovator. He also created the Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership, a nonprofit foundation, to help spread the message that "we can all be heroes in our own lives." Jim's book credits include ​Cowboy Ethics​ (2004), a best seller with more than 120,000 copies sold to date, and ​Cowboy Values (2008).
 

Jim found his calling in 2003 when he was so dismayed by the country's spreading epidemic of corporate scandals and social discord that he felt compelled to speak out, urging a return to the basic core values that all Americans can share. Inspired by his life-long interest in Western history and lore, Jim coined the phrase "Cowboy Ethics" and wrote his book distilling the unwritten Code of the West into "Ten Principles to Live By." In 2010, the state of Wyoming adopted the Ten Principles of Cowboy Ethics as its official state code.

Now, with the publication of his latest book, The Try​, and a companion DVD, Jim is tackling the issue an entire generation is facing: What does it take to succeed in America today? Says Jim, "It's all about the Try - that blend of passion, attitude and effort that enables ordinary people to do extraordinary things and rise above the crows." The Center's newest program, ​Be Somebody!​, helps young people set personal goals and reach for the best in themselves.

Jim is a ​summa cum laude​ graduate of Regis University. He and his wife, Stanya, have two grown children and reside in Austin, Texas.
 

 

Executive Director and CEO of the South Dakota Board of Regents and past president of NASPA

Jack Warner is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the South Dakota Board of Regents, which provides governance and leadership for the six universities, three university centers, and two special schools in the State of South Dakota's public higher education system. Prior to this position, Dr. Warner spent seven years as Commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, the governing board for the public research university, master's comprehensive college and community college in Rhode Island. Dr. Warner previously spent 32 years in the Massachusetts public higher education system, five of them as Vice Chancellor of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, the state coordinating board for 15 community colleges, 9 state colleges and five campuses of the University of Massachusetts, and two as Associate Chancellor at the University of Massachusetts campus in Dartmouth.

 

Warner spent 17 years as Dean of Student Affairs at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts. He is a past president of NASPA and a former member of the New England Student Affairs Think Tank. He has taught in the Boston College Graduate School of Education for 13 years. 

 

He holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Administration from Boston College; a Master of Education from Springfield College in Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education; and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Vermont. He is a past chair of the Executive Committee of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO).
 

 

Director of Residential Life, University of Missouri-Kansas City
 

Kristen is the Director of Residential Life at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she has worked since 2007. She has worked in student affairs full-time since 2001, where she started her career at the University of Kansas. She has a bachelor's in psychology, women's studies and English and a master's in social welfare. 

 

Kristen currently serves as the Communications Work Group Coordinator and IT Coordinator for Region IV-West, and she has previously served as the Technology KC Representative for the region. She authors a student affairs and technology blog (Kristendom Talks Tech) and co-founded/co-manages a collaborative blog focusing on the role of women in technology and student affairs (Student Affairs Women Talk Tech), in addition to co-hosting the weekly #SATech chat on Twitter. She has presented nationally on social media, blogging and the role of women in technology and consulted on social media and technology use in student affairs. In addition to her blogs, she has written for regional and national newsletters and journals on these topics. You can follow her on Twitter at @kristendom. 

 

Lakota Language Teacher

Philomine Lakota is a 65-year-old mother of four and grandmother of ten and was recently widowed after 44 years with her husband, Zachary Lakota. She resides at her home in Oglala, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She is an Oglala and Hohwozu Lakota of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

 

She is presently in her seventh year of teaching Lakota Language to high school students at Red Cloud Indian School. Philomine has been involved in restoring Lakota cultural practices for her nation and is well known for her work in restoring rites of passage for young Lakota women. Philomine loves story telling, which she has learned from her parents as well as her grandparents.