Speakers:
Mark Bond, Olivia Bullis, Scot Chisholm, Bill Cole, Wilmot Collins, Lander Cooney, Tim Corcoran, Andrea Davis, Lisa Seacat Deluca, Katie Dolen, Richard Florida, J.P. Gallagher, Jenni Graff, Padden Guy Murphy, Caitlin Jensen, Robin Kelson, Otho Kerr, Matt Kidd, Yarrow Kraner, Cory Lawrence, Coby Lefkowitz, Erica Mackey, Melanie Maganias, Cole Mannix, Brannin McBee, Simon Muskett, Mallory Ottariano, Erika Peterman, Will Price, Godfrey Saunders, Trish Schreiber, Yasmeen Sokol, Michael Spencer, Dave Stephenson, Pete Strom, Charlie Strom, Performing Artist: Supaman, Derek Thompson, Lumay Wang Murphy, Shauna White Bear, Lisa Wood, Rob Watson
Schedule:
9:00 AM-9:30 AM - Welcome to Montana Festival 2025
The Ellen Theater
Padden Guy Murphy
Founder
Last Best Future
9:35 AM-10:00 AM - Abundance
Derek Thompson
Staff Writer
The Atlantic
Padden Guy Murphy
Founder
Last Best Future
10:00 AM-10:30 AM - The Mayors
The Ellen Theater
Andrea Davis
Mayor
Missoula
Bill Cole
Mayor
Billings
Wilmot Collins
Mayor
Helena
J.P. Gallagher
Chief Executive
Butte-Silver Bow
Lumay Wang Murphy
VP of Finance
mpathic
Erica Mackey
CEO
11VEN
10:30 AM-10:50 AM - Break
10:50 AM-11:00 AM - Father & Son: Story & Music
Charlie Strom
Founder
BDB
Pete Strom
Co-Founder | CFO
MagDrive Technologies INC
11:20 AM-11:45 AM - Montana Innovators Showcase
The Ellen Theater
Caitlin Jensen
Executive Director
Zero to Five Montana
Katie Dolen
Co-Founder
State of Play
Lander Cooney
Executive Vice President
One Health
11:45 AM-12:15 PM - How do we make our schools the envy of the world?
Olivia Bullis
Student and Researcher
Columbia University
Godfrey Saunders
Trish Schreiber
Senior Education Fellow
Frontier Institute
Erika Peterman
Owner
Rae
Rob Watson
Executive Director
School Administrators of Montana
12:30 PM-2:00 PM - Community Lunch Table
N. Tracy Ave.
Great communities break bread together. Following the morning Main Stage, all attendees will roll out to N. Tracey Ave. for a one big family style lunch at the longest communal table you’ve ever seen before kicking off the afternoon Main Stage.
2:00 PM-2:20 PM - Opening Remarks: Our Economy
The Ellen Theater
2:20 PM-2:40 PM - The Cowboy Way of Life
The Ellen Theater
Melanie Maganias
Owner
Melanie Maganias Photography
2:40 PM-3:00 PM - Making Missing Markets
The Ellen Theater
Otho Kerr
Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Impact Investing
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
3:00 PM-3:25 PM - Regenerative Food & Agriculture: Building Resilient Ecosystems and Economies
Scot Chisholm
Founder & Investor
Highland
Cole Mannix
President
Old Salt Co-op
Robin Kelson
Executive Director
Abundant Montana
3:25 PM-3:45 - Break
The Ellen Theater
3:45 PM-4:10 PM - A Conversation with Dave Stephenson
The Ellen Theater
Lumay Wang Murphy
VP of Finance
mpathic
Dave Stephenson
Chief Business Officer and Head of Employee Experience
Airbnb
4:10 PM-4:35 PM - Montana Startup Showcase
The Ellen Theater
Lisa Seacat Deluca
Vice President of Engineering, Product, and Design
Unstoppable Domains
Lisa Wood
CEO
Analog Physics Inc.
Simon Muskett
CEO
Mountain Computing
Brannin McBee
Co-Founder & CDO
CoreWeave
Jenni Graff
Executive Director
Scaling Montana
4:35 PM-4:55 PM - How do we train, attract, & retain the 21stC workforce?
The Ellen Theater
5:00 PM-7:45 PM - Founders & Operators Dinner
Next Frontier Capital / The Sidecar
Please join us for a special fireside chat with Scot Chisholm and Will Price at Next Frontier Capital. Then we will walk next door to The Sidecar for a special Startup Founders & Remote Workers dinner hosted by Highland.
Sign up Required
5:00 PM-7:00 PM - The Montana Festival Storytellers Show
The Rialto
By grace or journey we are all Montana. Join us for five exceptional Montanans share their Montana story and meet great people from across the state over a beer and heavy appetizers as we all share our stories home.
7:15 PM-9:15 PM - Mainstreet Entrepreneurs Party
Meridian
Our historic main streets, central avenues, and town squares are home to local retail boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants, and watering holes that create the culture, community and social fabric of our cities and towns. Come join for good drinks, great music and live discussion with leading main street entrepreneurs, landlords, and policymakers about the future of our main streets.
Sign up Required
7:30 PM-10:00 PM - Creators & Designers Party
Live from the Divide
Come join fellow creators at Live from the Divide for an intimate evening of music, discussion, and good drinks in Montana’s most charming music venue.
Sign up Required
8:00 PM-9:00 PM - Bourbon & Bruises Comedy Show
Last Best Comedy
If you are a startup founder, startup investor, or startup operator – or are curious about becoming any of those things – come join us for a night of entrepreneurship & Improv brought to you by Scaling Montana at Last Best Comedy, Montana’s top comedy club.
Sign up Required
9:15 PM-11:45 PM - The Science Party
Copper Whiskey Bar
Biotech, Photonics, AI, and Quantum are best served cold. Hosted by the Montana Bioscience Alliance, the Science Party is an opportunity to get a great cocktail in a beaker served by a bartender in a lab coat and let loose, nerd out, and connect with some of the greatest minds shaping the frontier of science and technology in America.
Sign up Required
Click Here to Register
