Scott Biggs grew up on a small farm in central Indiana. His engagement in activities through 4H and FFA led him to OSU. After finishing his agricultural economics degree at OSU, Mr. Biggs went to work for Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma as a loan officer. Following his time at Rural Enterprises, he attended the OU College of Law, where he received his J.D. in 2006. While in law school, he began working as an intern for the Grady County District Attorney’s office. He spent the following seven years as an assistant district attorney in McIntosh County and later Caddo County. He became skilled at managing various felony dockets, misdemeanor dockets, civil case dockets and managing drug courts and juvenile dockets. In 2011, Mr. Biggs was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he served five years. Through his service, he became a leading voice and strong advocate for law enforcement, victims’ groups and the agricultural community.

In 2017 he was appointed to serve as state executive director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) by President Trump. FSA employee demographics have changed under Mr. Biggs’ leadership. From day one, a focus on civil rights issues and EEO training has resulted in expanded opportunities for employee career advancement. He has recruited and promoted more minorities and female managers than any other state executive director before him. Another emphasis for Mr. Biggs has been FSA outreach requirements for his team of 350. These efforts have resulted in a significant increase in new producers, many of which reside in historically underserved communities. His outreach efforts garnered national recognition when his team received the FSA Administrator Award in 2020, and he received a Certificate of Appreciation from the USDA Deputy Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights. His focus on fair treatment of employees and producers through new requirements and training has positively transformed the FSA or years to come.

Mr. Biggs currently resides on his family farm in Stillwater with his wife, Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, and two daughters, Maguire and Spencer. He maintains a part-time legal practice and was recently commissioned to the Oklahoma Air National Guard. He is assigned to the 138th Fighter Wing as an assistant staff judge advocate.

Mary Frances Edmonds is vice president and assistant general counsel of Williams Companies Inc. She began her career in Williams Companies’ legal department in 1996. During her tenure, Ms. Edmonds had very distinct roles in various business units, working on mergers and acquisitions, commodity trading and structured transactions, contracts administration and risk management, and Gulf of Mexico/offshore construction and commercial agreements. In 2011, she became vice president and assistant general counsel for Williams Companies’ midstream unregulated operating areas.

Her family moved from New York to Tulsa in 1970, when American Airlines moved its computer headquarters. From an early age, she loved traveling with her father for business with American Airlines. The people she met brought new perspectives into her life, and thus began the thirst for diversity of thought, culture and opinion – just to name a few. In college, she lived in the international dorm at the University of Kansas. Watching international news and discussing international events with friends from Libya, Jordan, Ivory Coast and Venezuela were some of her most memorable times in college.

Each year, Williams Companies recognizes leaders who go above and beyond to create an inclusive work environment in which everyone feels respected, valued and connected through its Randy Barnard Leave the Ladder Down Award. The annual award was created by the Women’s Business Resource Group to recognize a leader who fosters an environment that attracts a high-performing and diverse workplace. In 2008, the first year the award was given, Ms. Edmonds was the runner up, and in 2009, she won the Leave the Ladder Down Award. Outside of work, she serves on the Tulsa Global Alliance Board and the Women’s Energy Network’s national board. Both organizations promote diversity and inclusion through their programming and platforms.

Patti Palmer Ghezzi is an attorney who is known to be a strong advocate for criminal justice reform. Ms. Ghezzi is currently an assistant federal public defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Western District of Oklahoma. Recently she has become well known for her representation of Patrick Murphy, a member of the Muskogee Tribe who was tried in state court and sentenced to death in 2000. In 2018, Ms. Ghezzi argued in front of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that Mr. Murphy was a tribal member who was alleged to have committed a crime on tribal land, meaning he should have been tried in federal court. The 10th Circuit ruled that Congress never disestablished the Creek Nation’s reservation, and Mr. Murphy should not have been tried in state court.

Oklahoma petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the issue of the reservation, and during the 2018-2019 term, Ms. Ghezzi argued the issue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. However, Justice Gorsuch had to recuse himself since he was involved in the 10th Circuit ruling, leaving a 4 to 4 deadlock. The case was held, and the Supreme Court took on a very similar case, McGirt v. Oklahoma, to allow Gorsuch to vote. This allowed the U.S. Supreme Court to find the Creek Nation’s reservations were never disestablished, and most of Eastern Oklahoma remains Native American Country as it relates to the Major Crimes Act. This ruling has changed the area of criminal law as it relates to tribal members in Oklahoma.