Battle Creek. Communications and evaluation professional with foundations and nonprofits (retired). Award-winning writer/photographer and author of books, including American Barns (2013) and dozens of magazine feature stories on Michigan barns. Raised on an Upper Michigan dairy farm where the barn was the heart of the farm, Jan is known by the nickname, “The Barn Lady.” A red oak standing at her home features carvings of 11 barns. She is a co-founder of Barn Believers because “Barns are worth saving. This is a passion and a calling.” (www.jancoreyarnett.com)

Bedford. Retired nurse. Sue focused her career on mothers and infants. She is the owner of a 1920s Sears Kit Barn named “Old Girl” and co-author of the history of Bedford village,its buildings and barns. Sue says,”The barn is a sentry for the whole farm property and my family. Old Girl stands tall to the ravages of weather and passage of time. Her wooden beams and siding come from the trees of life with roots deep into the ground, with a memory of the tree's purpose.... to be strong and protect. She stands as a tribute to what nature and man can build together. I will leave this farm and miss my barn someday. I hope to have an album of those pictures to look at and remind me of my farm days where we explored and played in the barn, put up hay, sheltered our beloved cows and horses and chickens, and witnessed birth and death.”

Ceresco. Partner in agriculture. “I’ve lived on a farm most of my life and have been married to a farmer for 40+ years. We enjoy travel in the Midwest and are dismayed by the dwindling number of traditional barns as they fall to decay, neglect, or the fact that owners don’t realize their value. Once they are gone, nothing can replace them.”

St. Johns. Editor of both Michigan Farmer and Ohio Farmer magazines and co-editor for American Agriculturist. Board member of the Michigan 4-H Foundation. “Deeply aware of the challenges of agriculture today, I am concerned about how perceptions of farms and farm structures have changed. Informing and inspiring people to give new life to old barns is essential if these valuable structures are to be saved."

Lansing. "I grew up on a dairy farm in Menominee County, partially in our family’s old barn. In my professional life, I am the Director of the Office of Legal Affairs and Emergency Management for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and teach Agriculture Law at Michigan State University College of Law. My interest in how barns are used, maintained, and adapted for new purposes is both professional and personal."