2024 economic summit

Bart Cochran is the CEO and founder of LEAP Housing. From Sandpoint, Idaho, he attended the University of Idaho before moving to the “big city” of Boise to begin his real estate career. Seeing an increasing number of people unable to access housing in the region and felt the need to create avenues to housing for those facing difficult market forces and other barriers. In 2016, Bart began working as the volunteer founder and CEO of the nonprofit now known as LEAP Housing. LEAP’s mission is to develop and preserve affordable housing in Idaho while providing empowering services that lead to greater housing stability. Both Boise Regional REALTORS and Idaho Regional REALTORS awarded Bart with the Good Neighbor Award in 2023. This award recognizes a REALTOR who volunteers time and resources to the community through volunteerism. 

Bart pivoted to leading LEAP Housing full-time in 2021 while remaining a licensed Realtor. Since then, LEAP has become a leader in affordable housing in Idaho and is on track to bring more than 1,000 affordable housing opportunities to Idaho by 2026.

Dr. Nick Swayne assumed the presidency of North Idaho College on August 1, 2020. Prior to this role, he served as the executive director of 4-VA, a collaborative initiative among eight universities in Virginia. While at James Madison University, Dr. Swayne founded JMU X-Labs, an innovative academic ecosystem. His programs garnered attention in publications including the Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times. He co-founded the Stanford Faculty Innovation Fellows program and championed STEM education through initiatives like Virginia’s VA-DC FIRST LEGO League.

His military career included leadership in nuclear-capable artillery battalions, combat deployments to Iraq and Bosnia, and global special operations. He attended the Army’s Command and General Staff College and received awards such as the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service, and Legion of Merit. At North Idaho College, Dr. Swayne has focused on accreditation, recruitment, and retention. He holds degrees from the University of Idaho, Northeastern University, and James Madison University.

Jaap Vos is a professor of Planning and Natural Resources at the University of Idaho, heads its Department of Natural Resources and Society, and is the UI Director of Environmental Science. He has a Ph.D. in regional planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and a MS in Environmental Science from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Born in a small farmhouse and having grown up in a small rural place, Dr. Vos is really interested in rural places and how to maintain rural places as rural places rather than as places that are waiting to become urban. His current research is focused on how rural places can maintain their own unique character in the face of development pressure and increased external pressure.

Dr. Vos teaches courses on community planning, sustainable communities and rural planning issues. He is a frequent presenter on current population change in Idaho and the consequences of this change for communities throughout the state. He is the founding co-chair of APA Idaho’s Ag Chat, a group of planners and  stakeholders that studies emerging planning issues in rural communities.