Board of Directors

Destination Imagination North Dakota is a program of Create North Dakota

It is the goal of Create ND to provide opportunities for students to develop creative problem solving skills in a positive atmosphere with quality sportsmanship exhibited by those involved at all levels of competition.

Mary Howatt, Affiliate Co-Director & Board Chair

Mary started as a DI parent and Rising Stars appraiser in 2004 and has since served in volunteer roles ranging from Team Manager, Appraiser, Tournament Site Coordinator, Affiliate Board member, and most recently as Affiliate Board Chair. In 2017, Mary took on the role of North Dakota Affiliate Co-Director.  Serving in multiple civic roles, Mary is auditor for the City of Argusville and serves as Northern Cass School’s DI Program Coordinator. DI is a family affair with all three of her children as alumni and her Affiliate Challenge Master husband, Kirk.

Malinda Lindstrom, Affiliate Co-Director & Affiliate Training Director

Malinda has been involved with Destination Imagination in North Dakota since 1996 serving at all levels from active parent, to Team Manager, School Coordinator, Tournament Site Coordinator, and Affiliate Training Director. A nurse by profession, she retired to raise her family on the farm and in doing so became a full-time volunteer with leadership roles in Farm Safety and 4H in addition to her DI duties. The spirit of volunteerism runs deep in the Lindstrom family. Over the years, all three of her kids and her husband have taken leadership roles in Appraising, Score room, and Tournament Activities.

Linda Sell, Board Treasurer

A founding member of Create North Dakota and Destination Imagination North Dakota Board of Directors, Linda has been an integral pillar in bringing creative problem-solving strategies to the students of North Dakota since 1991. In that time, she’s served virtually every position from Team Manager to Appraiser, Affiliate Challenge Master, Global Finals Appraiser, and most recently served as Affiliate Board Treasurer since 1999. In addition to her DI involvement, she keeps busy as a bookkeeper and preparing taxes as well as playing taxi driver and cook to two DI grandkids.

Dawn Walden, Board Member

Dawn has been an active volunteer in the Destination Imagination North Dakota community since 2009. Starting as a Team Manager at that time, she has continued to manage multiple teams, assist with training, and tournament volunteer. She now begins her journey as a CreateND Board Member. Her devotion to youth development is also shown as a 4-H leader for many years. DI is a family affair for the Waldens as her husband Scott is our Scientific Challenge Master and son Nate is a three-time Global Finalist.

Max Kringen, Board Member

Max has a lifetime of involvement within Destination Imagination starting in 1994 as a Rising Stars Challenge participant and continuing to compete through high school. From there, he served as an Appraiser and Affiliate Challenge Master before joining the Affiliate Board of Directors and becoming Affiliate Director from 2010-2017. Max lives the spirit of imagination to innovation as founder and CEO of Tellwell, a social media agency start-up headquartered in Fargo. In addition to regional DI leadership, Max was elected to the Destination Imagination International Board of Trustees in 2013 and served on the Executive Council as chair of the Marketing and Technology Committee through 2018.

Interested in serving the board? Here’s our handy dandy application!