Kirby Stewart Ross, also known as Kirby G. Ross, was born in Huntington, Oregon, in 1893. In 1899, his family relocated to Hood River, Oregon. In 1914, he moved to Portland from Hood River and joined the Oregon National Guard. He served on the U.S.-Mexico Border in 1916. He served in the U.S. Army in France and Germany during World War I, and was awarded a Silver Star. He attended Oregon State College. In 1921, he and Madeline Alice Nelson were married; they later had three children. He worked as a Multnomah County bridge operator, primarily on the Broadway Bridge, retiring in 1966. Ross died in 1984.

Chang-Shee Chang, who also goes by George Chang, was born in 1937 in Yilan, Taiwan. In the 1950s, his family moved to Taipei. In 1961, he and Hwei Chang were married; they later had three children. In 1963, he earned a medical degree from National Taiwan University. In 1968, he came to the United States to complete his hospital residency in Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1973, he and his family received green cards. The next year, they relocated to Portland, Oregon, where Chang worked as a vascular surgeon at Kaiser. He retired in 2005.

Baher Butti was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1961. In 1984, he earned a degree in psychiatry from the University of Baghdad. That same year, he and Balsam Matti were married; they later had three children. In 1995, he earned a Ph.D. in psychiatry, also from the University of Baghdad. In 1999, Butti became the director of the Al-Rashad Mental Health Hospital in Baghdad. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he became involved in politics. He founded the al-Jannah organization to advocate for what he describes as humanitarian psycho-social care and ran for office. He left Iraq after learning that he was on a list of assassination targets, and in 2007, he immigrated to Portland, Oregon; his family followed soon after. After arriving in Oregon, he started the first Arabic-language mental health program at Oregon Health & Science University, founded the Iraqi Society of Oregon and the Center for Intercultural Wellness, and worked as a mental health professional for Catholic Charities of Oregon.

Peter Magai Bul was born in Wangulei, Sudan, a village of the Dinka people, around 1982. In 1988, his village was attacked and he fled to Ethiopia with a group of other children from his village, known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan. He spent several years in a refugee camp in Dima, being trained as a child soldier by the Ethiopian Army. He fled during the Ethiopian Civil War, and in 1992, he arrived at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. In 2001, he was granted a visa to the United States and he settled in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Truman College, and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Northeastern Illinois University. He became a public speaker, activist, and community organizer, and became a U.S. citizen in 2007.

Mohammed Husson Ali was born in 1951 in Myo Thu Gyi, Burma, also known as Myanmar. In 1974, he and Asha Katun were married. In 1978, he earned a diploma of education. That same year, he fled with his family to Bangladesh during Operation Dragon King. They later returned after the governments of Burma and Bangladesh reached an agreement to repatriate displaced Rohingya. During the 1980s and 1990s, he worked for the World Food Organization and with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He also taught high school math and chemistry. In 2008, he again fled to Bangladesh. In 2011, he settled in Portland, Oregon, while his family remained in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Daniel Jackson Evans was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1925. He attended the University of Washington, and joined the V-12 Navy College Training Program in 1943. A short time later, he was transferred to an ROTC program at the University of California, Berkeley. After his discharge from the U.S. Navy in 1946, he returned to UW, and earned a bachelor's degree in 1948 and a master's degree in 1949, both in civil engineering. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War, from 1951 to 1953. In 1953, he and Nancy Bell were married; they later had three children. From 1957 to 1965, he represented the 43rd District in the Washington State House of Representatives as a Republican, and was minority leader during his final two terms. He then served as Washington governor from 1965 to 1977. After leaving the governor's office, he served as president of The Evergreen State College in Olympia. He represented Washington on the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, from 1981 to 1983, and served as the council's first chair. After the death of U.S. Senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson in 1983, Evans was appointed by Governor John Spellman to the vacant seat. He served in the Senate from 1983 to 1989.

Frances Lovetta Van Hevelingen was born in Juneau, Alaska, in 1915. She studied art at the University of Oregon. She was married to Donald Abbott. She specialized in the technique of encaustic painting, which uses hot beeswax mixed with pigments. She died in 2002.

Louis DeMott Bunce was born in Lander, Wyoming, in 1907, and came with his family to Portland, Oregon, in 1920. He attended the Museum Art School in Portland, now known as the Pacific Northwest College of Art. In 1927, he began attending the Arts Student League in New York. In 1939, he worked for the Works Progress Administration on the East Coast. He returned to Oregon a few years later and continued his work for the WPA as an art instructor in Salem. He worked in the Portland shipyards during World War II, and after the war's end, he began teaching at the Museum Art School. He retired in 1972. He died in 1983.

Charles Thomas Collins was born in Butte, Montana, in 1941. In the early 1950s, his family relocated to Spokane, Washington. He attended the Georgetown University Foreign Service School, then transferred to Gonzaga University in Spokane. He attended the University of Washington Law School until he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was a cavalry platoon leader in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In 1966, he and Nancy Querna were married; they later had two children. After his discharge from the Army, he earned a master's degree in public administration from the University of Washington. He interned with King County Executive John Spellman, then became King County administrator, and from 1976 to 1981, he served as director of King County Metro. From 1981 to 1986, he represented Washington on the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. After leaving the council, he served on the Washington State Commission on Student Learning, and later remodeled buildings in Montana.

Robert Angus Duncan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1946. In 1948, his family relocated to Oregon, and settled in Medford a few years later. In 1967, he earned a degree in government from Harvard University. From 1974 to 1979, he served as an aide to Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt, and continued to assist Goldschmidt in the U.S. Department of Transportation from 1979 to 1980. He participated in the creation of the 1980 Northwest Power Act. During the 1980s, he worked in the private sector for various renewable energy companies, and in 1990, he became a member of the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. He served as chair from 1994 to 1995.

Thomas Lester Eckman was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1949. He earned a bachelor's degree in forestry and a master's degree in environmental science from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. In 1972, he relocated to the Pacific Northwest and worked in environmental education at Central Washington University and for Education Research Systems. In 1977, he became the chair of the Washington Environmental Council. He served as manager of conservation resources for the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, from 1982 to 2014. He was then director of the power division for the NWPPC until his retirement in 2016.

Edward Wendell "Ed" Sheets was born in Missoula, Montana, in 1949. When he was four, his family relocated to Spokane, Washington, and in 1960, the family relocated to Portland, Oregon. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a master's degree in communications from the University of Washington. He was special assistant to U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson from 1977 until Magnuson left office in 1981. That same year, he and Ronda Skubi were married. He served as director of the Washington State Energy Office during Governor John Spellman's administration, where he played a role in the creation of the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. From 1981 to 1995, he served as executive director of the NWPPC. After leaving the council, he started a consulting company, Ed Sheets Consulting.

The Northwest Power Planning Council is a four-state regional planning body formed by Congress through the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to develop and maintain regional conservation and electric power plans and a fish and wildlife program. The council is composed of two representatives from each member state: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The mission of the council is "to preserve the benefits of the Columbia River for future generations." The body was originally known as the Pacific Northwest Electric Power and Conservation Planning Council; the name was shortened to Northwest Power Planning Council in October 1981, and in 2003, the name was changed to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Peter J. Paquet was born in Vanport, Oregon, in 1945. In 1967, he earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Santa Clara in California. He worked at the NASA Ames Research Center for a few years. He returned to Portland and in 1978, he earned a combined master's degree and Ph.D. in environmental science from Portland State University. He was wildlife and resident fish manager for the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, from 1981 to 2014. From 1992 to 2015, he was also the director of the watershed management professional program at Portland State University.