Panels and Plenary Speakers

Thursday, March 12:

Generational Super Powers - Standing STRONGER Together!

Building winning partnerships and coalitions across generations

• Moderated by Margie MacDonald, Big Sky 55+ Legislative Chair

• Melody Cunningham, M.D.

  • Dr. Cunningham earned her bachelor’s degree in Literature from Wellesley College. She received her
    medical degree, completed her pediatrics residency and was selected as Chief Resident at the University of Massachusetts.

  • She serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Partners Hope Foundation that has built an
    End-of-Life Center and Hospice Residence for Missoula and Western Montana. Additionally, her focus
    has been to translate nearly 30 years of bedside experience to sensible and compassionate Health Policy for children and families. She fought hard to defeat LR-131, while knocking doors for statewide and local candidates. For that work, she was named one of five Montana Democratic Women honorees for 2023.

  • After testifying in Helena in 2023 on bills that impacted healthcare and children, she was encouraged to run for the Montana House of Representatives. She is grateful to be allowed to serve Montana in her
    first term. During the session, her committee assignments were Health and Human Services and
    Judiciary. In the interim she serves on Children, Families, Health and Human Services for Montana, as
    well as the National Council of State Legislators.

  • In her free time Melody refills her vessel with cooking, hiking, fire mitigation and stargazing.  

• Alex DuBois 

  • Alex received her AAS in Early Childhood Education through the University of Montana Western as a single mother to her 3-year-old son Heston. This has given her real life experience navigating raising a child in Montana in tandem with working to further her career. Alex has worked in many different roles in the early childhood system from preschool teacher to working in a Child Care Resource and Referral Agency. She is currently Policy and Engagement Director for Zero to Five Montana, a statewide early childhood organization focused on increasing access to early care and education, supporting and strengthening families. and increasing the stability, viability, and expansion of high-quality child care businesses in Montana. 

• Luke Ashmore 

  • ​Luke Ashmore is a Billings-born-and-raised writer, soccer coach, and communications professional. In 2025, he was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees for Billings Public Schools. Luke does his best to be an optimist, and he's certain positive outcomes can be found when working with neighbors. 

• Renn Stearns

  • A recent graduate of Occidental College in Los Angeles, Renn has been active in Montana politics since his summer spent interning with Forward Montana in high school. In college, he shifted his focus international, interning with the International LGBTI Association at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC. Renn looks forward to leveraging these experiences in law school in the coming years. 

 

Exploring, Understanding, and Responding to Religious Extremism

Perspectives on Christian Nationalism, Islamist Extremism, and Antisemitism

• Moderated by Trent Bolger, Big Sky 55+ Executive Director

• Dr. Bruce Gourley, PhD

  • Bruce Gourley is a historian (PhD, Auburn), author, and editor of Church & State magazine, the print publication of Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He has written extensively about church-state separation, religious freedom, and Christian Nationalism, and frequently speaks about these issues.

• Respondent:  Dr. Jeanette Fregulia, PhD

  • ​ Dr. Fregulia is a Carroll College scholar who teaches Islam and comparative religion. Dr. Fregulia earned her Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Reno (2007) in Renaissance Italian History. Her research focuses on merchants and material, cultural, and social exchanges between early modern Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean. She holds a Masters Degree in Middle East Area Studies from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, and continues to actively pursue research in the history of the Middle East and Islam. Her first book, A Rich and Tantalizing Brew, a History of How Coffee Connected the World was published by the University of Arkansas Press in 2019, and her second book, Windows into the Medieval Mediterranean, an edited collection, was published in 2025 by Taylor and Francis. She is currently working on a third book that examines women of the three Abrahamic faiths involved in trade in Italy and the Near East.

 

Thursday Night Plenary Speaker:

• Jon "Bowzer" Bauman -- Keynote Speaker​​

  • Jon Bauman is best known as “Bowzer” from the hit TV series and musical group, “Sha Na Na.” Since 2004, he has traveled the country acting as a surrogate on senior issues for literally dozens of political campaigns. Jon is currently president of Social Security Works PAC, a national organization working to elect candidates who support protecting and expanding Social Security benefits. He is a close associate and partner with Social Security Works for Everyone author Nancy Altman, and with Social Security Works Executive Director Alex Lawson, in leading an alliance of more than 300 organizations working to preserve Social Security. Jon is a magna cum laude graduate of Columbia University in New York. His blend of celebrity presence combined with understanding of both senior issues policy and the “show business” side of the political sphere is uniquely invaluable to the goal of electing strong advocates for seniors.

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Friday, March 13:

Navigating the Information Eco-system 2026

Engaging responsibly and effectively in a difficult information ecosystem

• Introduced by Sanna Porte, Big Sky 55+ Board Member

• Logan Davis

  • Logan M. Davis is an investigative journalist based in Denver, specializing in the threat posed by right-wing extremism. He is also a political communications consultant. He is a proud member of the Denver News Guild and co-founder of the Political Workers Guild of Colorado.​

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Global Perspectives on the Building Blocks of Democracies

Deepen understanding and appreciation of key building blocks that facilitate functional democracy.​

• Moderated by Mary Moe, Big Sky 55+ Member

• Dave Hunter 

  • Dave Hunter is a l​ong time national and state political consultant and Democracy and Civic Society consultant in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.

• Morgan Taylor

  • Morgan Taylor has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, a Fulbright Fellow in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and worked in Paris with UNESCO. She served as the Director of the World Health Organization with the American Public Health Association (APHA) before she joined the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer (a diplomat) for a decade, serving in São Paulo, Brazil, and Dushanbe, Tajikistan. She also did political/military work in Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia. Lastly, she served internationally as an election observer. Morgan holds a BA in political science and German from the University of Montana, and a MA in international studies from the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs at Denver University. ​

• Susan DeCamp

  • ​Susan DeCamp graduated from MSU-Billings and worked for the Montana Association of Churches, Yellowstone Public Radio and Community Seven. In 1999, she accepted a position at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Aleppo, Syria and then Chemonics International doing international development work in Afghanistan. She was hired and took an oath to the Constitution under the flag at a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Farah as a Foreign Service Officer for USAID.  She served a total of 10 years in Afghanistan as well as completing tours in Nepal and Haiti. She retired in 2020.

 

Friday Luncheon Plenary Speaker

• Nancy Leifer

  • Nancy Leifer holds a Bachelors, Masters, and PhD from the University of Montana, and Masters from Princeton University. In addition to two stints in the Montana Commerce Department, she worked with many Montana non-profits. She served as President of the League of Women Voters of Montana from 2017 to 2025, and currently serves as Secretary/Treasurer of Friends of the Montana Constitution.

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Moving Forward: Strength for Your Journey

Plenary Brainstorm on Organizing and Winning in 2026!

• Members of Big Sky 55+ Board

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Plus! -- Stretching sessions with Claudia Clifford (back by popular demand), and Corbin Howard will be sharing poems throughout the conference that fit the moment and help us reflect on the subjects at hand.