Speakers

The mission of Children’s Home Society of South Dakota is to prevent, treat and heal trauma. From our founding in 1896 as the state’s first nonprofit social service agency, we have cared for thousands of children and families. 
In 1893 William and Elizabeth Sherrard founded Children’s Home Society, the first nonprofit social services organization in of South Dakota, which had joined the Union just four years earlier. Responding to the issues of the day, the Sherrard opened an orphanage. It’s estimated that they cared for 400 children during the first two years. Some of the children they took in were truly orphans. Others were left by parents too poor to provide for them. Today services include residential treatment and schools, foster care and adoption, shelter for family safety, outpatient mental lhealth services and more.

The Deadwood Gaming Association (DGA) is the only non-profit association representing the interests of South Dakota’s commercial casino industry. Founded in 1990, the association represents the gaming industry before the legislature, the South Dakota Commission on Gaming, and the Deadwood City Commission. Together, these businesses in Deadwood are the entertainment of choice for over a million people annually, generating enormous economic impact throughout South Dakota from out-of-state visitors to Deadwood. Our casinos are also good corporate citizens, contributing numerous resources to the local and state economies. Last year, Deadwood casinos contributed over $15,929,000 in gaming tax revenue for historic preservation, tourism promotion, Lawrence County and its municipalities and schools, the State of South Dakota’s general fund and other governmental entities.