Leeanna Torres worked for years on the rivers of the Southwest as a fish biology technician. She found spare moments on those rafts to scribble thoughts and observations in a pocket notebook. In 2021, her passions for rivers and words converged on Freeflow Institute’s Gates of Lodore Workshop on Utah’s Green River. On the river this time, as a committed writer with a very specific focus, Leeanna explored the concepts of identity, belonging, craft, and connection.

Lailani Upham grew up on Amskapi Pikuni (Blackfeet) traditional lands in Northwest Montana. As a child, she listened to stories and songs about her people and their culture, as told by her grandparents and Tribal elders. As an adult, Lailani took these stories with her everywhere – they helped ground her, wherever she was, even if she was far from home. In 2019, she realized she wanted to take her stories to the next level by starting her own Indigenous-led company that facilitates “cultural storytelling hikes” on Blackfeet lands. Iron Shield Creative takes Tribal and non-Tribal people on hikes that are steeped in language, narrative, song, and community. Lailani’s goal is to cultivate understanding from an Indigenous perspective and diminish damaging stereotypes by sharing traditions and stories.

As a professional kayaker, Brooke Hess’s life revolves around wild rivers. But in recent years she’s become increasingly concerned about threats to river ecosystems – like the dams on the lower Snake River. She knew she had to do something to encourage more people to advocate for the removal of those dams. That’s why, in April 2022, she and three other women set out on the trip of a lifetime: kayaking all 1000 miles of Idaho’s Salmon River from its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean.