By Sue Muncaster
Leadership, like nature, thrives in connection. On November 6–7, Womentum and Central Wyoming College’s Teton Leadership Center (TLC) will co-host the 2025 Teton Leadership Summit on November 6–7, 2025 at the Center for the Arts, Jackson Hole, Wyoming — a two-day gathering designed to spark collective action across business, policy, and community life. The event invites emerging and established leaders — business owners, students, public servants, and community builders — to explore how shared purpose, rather than individual heroics, can drive lasting impact.
This year’s theme — Uniting for Impact — challenges the myth of exceptionalism and highlights how collaboration fuels transformation. The Summit blends powerful storytelling with actionable tools, following the throughline:
Action = Vision + Agency + Path (held together by Story).
Thursday evening opens with Colorado State Senator Julie Gonzales, whose keynote will be “Doing What We Can with What We’ve Got.” Gonzales invites audiences to transform personal stories into structural change — showing how systems thinking, civic engagement, dignified communication, and community organizing can bridge divides and inspire local leadership.
She is followed by Montana’s 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year, Sarah Calhoun, founder of Red Ants Pants and the Red Ants Pants Foundation who will present “Neighbor as a Verb: Building Community the Rural Way.” Calhoun shares how a single idea — women’s workwear — revitalized an entire Montana town through entrepreneurship, music, and philanthropy, proving that thriving communities grow from the ground up.
Friday’s program, “Game Time: Tools for Transformation,” offers practical insight and inspiration. The speakers are:
Katie Gatti Tassin, founder of the podcast Money with Katie and author of Rich Girl Nation, reframes finance in “Your Money, Our System: Collective Tools to Move the Needle.” She moves beyond budgeting to explore how economic redesign and collective ownership can reshape our shared future.
Stacy Bare, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, challenges the “lone hero” myth in “Beyond the Pedestal: Rewriting the Hero(ine)’s Journey.” His talk — equal parts funny, raw, and restorative — explores how awe, nature, and belonging are the real engines of leadership.
Olympic medalist Shannon Bahrke Happe brings energy and focus to “Micro-Beliefs, Macro Wins: The Practice of Momentum.” Her high-impact session turns the Olympic mindset into a framework for building confidence and momentum through everyday action.
Leadership coach Rose Hendricks closes the summit with “Relational Intelligence: Story as Infrastructure.” Through neuroscience and narrative practice, Hendricks shows how expanding our stories — about ourselves and each other — is key to unlocking collaboration, creativity, and collective impact.
The day concludes with a speaker panel that invites reflection on the central question: How do we move from isolated excellence to shared flourishing?
A Gathering for the Common Good
“The Summit is a call to step off the pedestal and into the circle,” says TLC Executive Director Sue Muncaster. “If we want to make real progress, we have to build leadership that’s shared, relational, and rooted in community.”
“Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or civic leader, this is a space to learn, connect, and take one tangible next step,” adds Womentum Executive Director Kristen Fox. “The future of leadership isn’t about standing out — it’s about standing together.”
Conference Details
Dates: November 6–7, 2025
Location: Center for the Arts, 240 S. Glenwood, Jackson, WY
Tickets: $175 (Full Summit), $150 (Friday only), $50 (Thursday only)
Scholarships: Available through donor-funded accessibility grants
Registration: tetonleadershipcenter.org
Sponsors and Partners
Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) and the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board make the 2025 Teton Leadership Summit possible, with support from Silver Star Communications, Bank of Jackson Hole, Jackson Hole Airport, The Wort Hotel, Jedediah’s Catering, First Western Trust, Teton Orthopedics, Holland & Hart, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Teton Science Schools, and Mountain Modern Motel.
Sue Muncaster writes for Central Wyoming College.