Wisconsin's 26 Most Influential Native American Leaders, Part 4

This is the fourth of a five-part series.

Karl Morrin

Karl Morrin is superintendent of the School District of Maple in far northern Wisconsin. He took on the role in 2023 after two years as superintendent of the School District of Florence County. Prior to Florence County, he served as the assistant superintendent of Menominee Indian School in Keshena where he began working in 2014. Morrin, who has been in K-12 education as a teacher and administrator for 27 years, is also a member and past president of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control. He earned his undergraduate degree in physical education from UW Superior and master’s and doctoral degrees from Marian University.

Ryan Crain

Ryan Crain is executive director of education for the Ho Chunk Nation, where he oversees a variety of early childhood, cultural and language education, and academic support programs. He too that role on in 2023 after several years as a project director and interim treasurer for the nation. He earned a degree in business administration at UW-La Crosse and a master’s degree in servant leadership at Viterbo.

Tia Menore

Tia Menore is quality control manager at Peters Concrete in Green Bay, a role she’s held for seven years, after six years as materials coordinator. She works with a variety of facets of the business, including reclamation plans; engineering, procurement, and construction agreements; the opening and closing of pits and quarries, and rezoning and conditional use permits. She started in the construction industry as a traffic flagger for Northeast Asphalt back in 2016. She is an outspoken advocate for women, especially Indigenous women, in the construction industry.

Todd van den Heuvel

Todd van den Heuvel is associate vice president for human resources at Lawrence University in Appleton, a role he took on in January. He comes to Lawrence from the Oneida Nation, where he served as executive human resources director since 2021. He previously worked in HR leadership positions at North Star Mohican Casino & Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, Winnebago Mental Health Institute, Brown County, and the State of Wisconsin. He also serves on the board of directors of Oneida Bay Bank. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Florida State and a master’s degree in human resource management at Marquette.

Alyssa Verstoppen

Alyssa Verstoppen is executive director of Woodland Financial Partners, a Native Community Development Financial Institution providing financing and technical assistance for Wisconsin tribal entrepreneurs and businesses. She took on the role last year after almost two years as director of lending at Woodland. Much of her career has been in agricultural banking, including nearly seven years as senior agricultural portfolio manager for BMO Harris and a stint as senior agricultural credit analyst at Nicolet National Bank. She earned a degree in agricultural business and management at UW-Madison.

Part 5 coming tomorrow!