Speakers for 2025
Veterans Talking To Veterans
@National Museum of Military Vehicles
Mark Gordon
Governor
State of Wyoming
Mark Gordon grew up on the family ranch in Kaycee, Wyoming, where he learned the values of hard work, integrity, and the importance of working together. As Governor, he brings those values to the table, maintaining his commitment to a Wyoming where her citizens can pursue their dreams while the state retains her unique character. He strongly believes that Wyoming must chart its own course and is a steadfast defender of its interests to do so.
As a conservative, Governor Gordon has worked tirelessly to set Wyoming on a sustainable fiscal path. He is committed to making government more transparent, accessible, productive, and efficient. He believes government is best when it is closest to the people and is committed to giving local communities the tools they need to thrive. He is a staunch advocate of quality education in all modes, public and private, and for all children.
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Governor Gordon served as Wyoming State Treasurer from October 2012 until January 2019, when he was sworn in as Governor. During his time in office, he was ranked in the top 100 "most significant and impactful public investor executives." In addition, under his guidance, Wyoming's sovereign funds earned a No.1 ranking for the United States and No.3 in the world for transparency by the Peterson Institute.
First elected Governor in 2018, he successfully led Wyoming through some historically difficult times. Consistently rated as one of the top ten governors in the country, he has spearheaded efforts to diversify Wyoming's economy from technology and finance to agriculture, energy, research, and tourism. He and his wife, Jennie, are dedicated to making Wyoming the best place to raise a family.
Shortly after becoming First Lady, Jennie called on her upbringing and management acumen as a rancher and mother to establish the Wyoming Hunger Initiative, which has meant so much for many in Wyoming suffering from food insecurity.
Governor Gordon and Jennie have four grown children - Aaron; Anne; Bea with husband Austen and their son Crawford; and Spencer with wife Sarah, their son Everett, and twin daughters Violet and Eloise.
Jaymes Poling
Jaymes Poling brings to Modern Warrior LIVE the fully immersed experience of a three-tour warrior with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan. Dealing with the memories of war, the loss of friends, and the isolation a combat veteran finds when leaving the military, Jaymes began to find through narrative arts and dynamic public speaking that the potential for growth can indeed follow adversity.
 Through education, writing, and public speaking, and now with the added layer of music, Jaymes came to recognize the universality of his journey which has evolved into a mission to bring to other veterans. He has engaged and interacted with military communities more than 120 times with Modern Warrior Live performances in schools, performing art centers, universities and even in a renowned prison, and now in a one-hour cinematic version. He’s also spoken about mental health challenges at home and at the front with thousands of active-duty soldiers in Afghanistan, through visits there with the Troops First Foundation.
 He says he wants – needs - to share his journey from isolation to healing, whether one-on-one, in a cohort of five veterans or in a concert hall seating 4,000.
 Jaymes grew up in Warren, Ohio, and enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina as an infantryman. During his eight years with the division, he spent three years fighting in Afghanistan as a Machine Gunner and Squad Leader. He earned a finance degree at John Carroll University in May 2018; he draws upon that knowledge and his armed forces experience in managing Modern Warrior’s nonprofit operations and business planning.
 His focus now: sharing his journey with members of the military community and partnering with organizations to help veterans find their own peace after war.
Conrad Washington
Executive Director
Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP)
Conrad Washington serves as the Director, for the VA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP). In this capacity, he provides collaborative strategic leadership to develop and cultivate partnerships with faith-based, non-profit, and community organizations. These partnerships assist to increase awareness and enrollment in VA programs and services for Veterans, their families, survivors, caregivers and other beneficiaries.
Previously, Mr. Washington served in the VA Corporate Senior Executive Management Office (CSEMO) administratively supporting CSEMO’s mission of delivering an enterprise-wide approach to executive personnel management for the VA’s nearly 600 senior executives and equivalents. He also served in the Office of the Secretary supporting senior leadership. Prior to joining the VA, he served as the Information Security Specialist supporting the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) in security education. Mr. Washington retired from the United States Marine Corps with 20 years of active duty service to include a combat tour in 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF-II). Positions during his military career include; Administrative/Personnel Chief, USMC Senior Drill Instructor, Formal Schools Instructor, and Adjunct Faculty.
Mr. Washington is a licensed Minister actively serving. He received his MDiv in Pastoral Studies from Moody Theological Seminary, MA in Business Management from the University of Redlands and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Additionally, he was a participant in the VA’s Secretary Leadership Forum 2023 and a graduate of VA’s class of 2017 Virtual Aspiring Leaders Program (VaLP).
David "Clay" Ward
Director, Office of Rural Engagement
Acting Director, Office of Tribal Relations
VA Office of Intergovernmental and Public
David “Clay” Ward serves as the Director, Office of Rural Engagement (ORE), an office within the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. As the Rural Desk Officer, Clay leads the VA in collaboration with the White House Domestic Policy Council, Rural Partners Network (RPN) and the Rural Prosperity Inter-Agency Policy Council. Through the RPN, Federal agencies are renewing their commitment to rural communities by providing targeted staffing, tools, and resources. For VA, the ORE engages with internal and external stakeholders to deliver outreach, communications, and coordination with rural communities so that Veterans can more easily access the health care, benefits, and other resources they have earned.
 Clay also serves as the Acting Director for the Office of Tribal Government Relations (OTGR). OTGR works to strengthen and build closer relations between VA, tribal governments, and other key federal, state, private, and non-profit partners to respectfully serve Veterans across Indian Country.
Clay’s father was a combat Vietnam Veteran and so he brings a special enthusiasm to his work at VA. He shares what he knows from personal family experience and the positive impact VA services and benefits make on the lives of Veterans and their families. Clay has extensive experience working in the Indian Health Service, tribal health programs, urban Indian health programs, and rural communities. He recently served in OTGR as a program analyst and the Designated Federal Officer for the Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs.
Clay is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and received a Master of Science in Human Resources (Counseling) from East Central University and a Bachelor of Arts from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. In 2022, he completed the Public Health Graduate Training Certificate in American Indian Health from the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health.
Tim Sheppard
Executive Director
Wyoming Veterans Commission
Tim retired from the Army after a 40-year career which included serving as the Chief of Staff for the Wyoming Army National Guard. As an Army Engineer, he enjoyed completing construction projects throughout Wyoming and the world. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director of the Wyoming Veterans Commission. Along with serving as the distinguished past governor for the Rocky Mountain District of Kiwanis; president of the board of directors for Raising Readers in Wyoming; vice-president of the board of directors for the Cheyenne After School for Kids program and as past-president of the board for the Cheyenne YMCA. He's also a regional director for the First Lady's Wyoming Hunger Initiative (WHI). He holds an MS in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. Tim graduated from Leadership Wyoming in 2007 and currently serves as its chairman of the board. He's also participating in the Wyoming Academy 2024--a collaboration between Leadershipship Wyoming and the Wyoming Business Council. He is married with seven children, including two sets of back-to-back twins.
Dr. Julie Elledge
CEO
Mentor Agility & Founder of Veterans Talking To Veterans
Dr. Julie Elledge has enjoyed a successful, diverse career as an educator, a therapist, an entrepreneur and a world-class coach. It is as a master certified coach (MCC), the highest certification in the coaching community worldwide, that she found her calling sharing her passion for innovation and storytelling with others.
As an educator, with her PhD in Education, Julie specialized in creativity and organizational dynamics, collaborating to build education and training programs for Apple Education, Twentieth Century Fox, NOAA, BP and INEEL, often using her gifts for storytelling to advance client goals.
Dr. Elledge, as a licensed therapist, has helped clients of every social and economic level navigate the challenges clients face when they’ve experience trauma while maintaining their dignity and self esteem.
Her coaching practice has grown from those foundations of creativity, storytelling, and the importance of self. The creator of the Hero’s Journey® Change Model, Julie pioneered such techniques as trauma informed coaching, cinema coaching, nature coaching, and Financial Well-Being coaching to guide clients through challenges by integrating story to project a clients’ challenges as parts of their story. Her method puts clients on the path to a life that engenders heroic achievement and satisfaction.

The formation of Mentor Agility has allowed Julie to use her creativity and diverse skill set to broaden the skills and perspectives of professional coaches, to become proficient and creative in the applications of their creativity to arouse in their clients the ability to become the heroes of their own stories. She has sought out the best, both in the coaching industry and in other realms of expertise, to create a company steeped in story.
Her work with veterans and our protectors are near to her heart. Being a part of their healing journey is a great privilege, especially as those that serve do what gives them the most pleasure — to serve others.
Julie and her family have lived for over 20 years in the natural world and the grandeur of Jackson Hole, where health and a rousing story are all part of the life and the ethos she inspires at Mentor Agility.
