Mary Olinger, a 2012 South Dakota Hall of Fame Inductee, spent nearly eighteen years as President and CEO of Make-A-Wish South Dakota, transforming the organization from a single-employee operation into one of the top Make-A-Wish chapters in the country. Raised as the oldest of nine children on a farm near Emery, South Dakota, Mary's path to leadership was built on hard work, humility, and a deep belief in the power of relationships.

In this interview, 2020 Inductee Jack Marsh sits down with Mary to talk about her unlikely rise from a dollar-and-a-quarter-an-hour job to the head of a national nonprofit, the twenty-year friendship with country music star Garth Brooks that began with a single wish, and the values her parents instilled in her that have guided her life ever since.

Watch to learn:

• How Mary grew Make-A-Wish South Dakota from $30,000 in the bank to one of the top five chapters in the nation
• The story of Kelsey, a South Dakota girl whose wish to meet Garth Brooks became a lifelong family friendship
• How a life-threatening car accident in 2004 tested Mary's resilience, and how she returned to granting wishes within a year

Read more about Mary Olinger's life and legacy: https://sdexcellence.org/Mary_Olinger_2012

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