Zach Hawkins has been Director of Indian Education for All at the Montana Office of Public Instruction since December, 2018. Prior to joining the OPI, he worked with American Indian students and school communities as a classroom teacher and Federal college access program administrator for 18 years. In previous positions, he led the Hays-Lodgepole Thunderbirds to their first football victory in five years, was chosen as a Helena Education Foundation Distinguished Educator, and co-led the National Council for Community Educational Partnerships' College and Career Readiness Evaluation Project.

As the IEFA team leader, he stresses the importance of Indigenous contributions to the Treasure State's rich history and integration of the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians into curriculum and lesson planning. He relishes any and all opportunities to work with teachers, schools, and stakeholders in their efforts to realize Montana's constitutionally mandated IEFA implementation requirement.

Zach and his wife have two boys ages 11 and 14. In his free time, he attends his boys' sporting events, skis, and explores Montana with his family.

I have been teaching for 10 years. I am a veteran of the Marine Corps and MT National Guard.

My name is Susan Hayes, and I have worked for 10 years in Lavina Public Schools as the ELA teacher. I teach seventh grade through twelfth grade. I am a mother of three and a grandma. My youngest child just graduated this last year. Susan Hayes is an ELA teacher with ten years of experience at Lavina Public Schools. She teaches students from the 7th to 12th grades. Besides her professional life, she is a mother of three and a grandmother. Her youngest child recently graduated.

Kari Hinkle has taught integrated science, human biology, chemistry, and AP Chemistry at Cut Bank High School since 2018. Kari is an NSF Noyce Master Teacher Fellow at Montana State University. Her passions include career and technical education in healthcare and STEM, as well as exploring the great outdoors by kayak with her dog, Shady.

Jen Hossack has worked in libraries since 2001, and as a school librarian K12 since 2007. During this time she has also worked in academic and public libraries. As an active Board member of the MT Library Association since 2023, she worked to qualify MT for membership in the American Association of School Librarians and serves as the state delegate to that body, and as the state representative for the American Library Association since 2024. Jen holds degrees in Elementary Ed, Library Science, Dance Education, and Psychology. In her spare time she can be found teaching fitness classes, gardening, and traveling with her husband. Jen loves finding that “just right book” for her students and helping them grow into lifelong learners and active members of their communities.

Megan Hoyer is the Invasive Species Education Coordinator for the Montana Department of Agriculture, leading statewide efforts to expand accessible invasive species education and resources for communities and land managers.

Dylan Huisken teaches middle school social studies at Bonner School outside Missoula, where has been for the past 14 years. He is the 2019 Montana Teacher of the Year, a Teacher Leader for the Montana Historical Society, a Smithsonian National Education Summit Teacher Advisor, and an instructor of Social Studies Methods at the University of Montana.

Gesine Janzen is Professor of Art and Head of Printmaking at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, where she has lived since 2002. She studied art at Bethel College and at the University of Kansas. In 1998 she received an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa. She was a lecturer in printmaking at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the Kansas City Art Institute and worked as Assistant Printer at the Lawrence Lithography Workshop in Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri for three years.

Gesine Janzen’s artwork has been shown in numerous exhibitions across America, including solo shows at the Yellowstone Art Museum and the Missoula Art Museum in Montana, and the Oats Park Center in Fallon, Nevada. She has shown in group shows in New York City, Boston, and Los Angeles. Janzen’s artwork is included in multiple corporate and public collections, such as the Library of Congress, the Hallmark Collection in Kansas City, and the Artist/Printmaker Research Collection at the Museum of Texas Tech University.

Gesine Janzen’s gestural wood block prints and evocative collages, drawings and objects reference her attachment to landscape and memory. Influenced by her formative years in the open spaces of the Great Plains, her work evokes a quiet connection to the places and times that are important to her.

Don Jenkins is the Manager of Program Partnerships for the Bill of Rights Institute and was a classroom teacher for thirty years. He has worked with organizations such as the Korean War Legacy Foundation, iCivics, and The Genocide Education Project. He spent the 2024-2025 school year in Norway as a Fulbright Roving Scholar in American Studies. He has presented at NCSS conferences and was named the 2021 NCSS Middle Level Teacher of the Year.

Don earned his B.S. from Southern Illinois University and an M.S. from Western Washington University. Outside of work, he enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and disc golf.

I live and work in Billings, Montana. Bachelor in Art Education with a Writing Minor from Rocky Mountain College, Montana and also Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon. Billings Public Schools Senior High School, Castle Rock Middle School, Sky View High School, etc.

Mike Jetty is an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation and a Turtle Mountain Chippewa descendant. Mike is currently working at the Montana Office of Public Instruction as an Indian Education Specialist. He has been working with Indian Education issues for the past 35 years and has teaching experience at both the K-12 and University level. He has a B.S. in History Education, a Master’s in School Administration and an Education Specialist Degree.

Chair, Voter Services Committee for MT League of Women Voters 2023-2026
Voter Services Organizer, League of Women Voters of Helena, 2017-2026
Chair, Civics Education Committee for MT League of Women Voters 2024-2026

Marie leads statewide initiatives in assessment, standards implementation, early learning, professional learning, literacy, IEFA, and tribal student achievement. Marie has taught students across grades K-8 and served as an elementary principal and district leader in Montana. With experience spanning classroom instruction, school leadership, statewide assessment administration, and educational policy, she brings deep expertise in advancing high-quality teaching, learning, and student outcomes across Montana.