Stephen McDougall Graham and his wife Naomi first came to Blaine County as the Community Library’s first-ever long-term artists-in-residence. They quickly fell in love with the Wood River Valley and its wonderful community, and decided to move here permanently. Like many people who now call the Wood River Valley home, they came for a visit and decided to stay for a lifetime. On top of the unparalleled natural beauty, they were moved by the extraordinary people who live in this extraordinary place, with whom they felt a deep connection while doing community service work during the residency—including performing at the Senior Connection and Community Library, and teaching classes at Wood River High School and Community Campus.

Stephen started working for Blaine County in October 2020 as its Grants and Procurement Specialist and, in less than a year, was appointed to the clerkship by a unanimous vote of the Board of County Commissioners.

To date, Stephen has secured millions of dollars for Blaine County from state and federal sources, which the County has used to support local community service organizations, and to fund important new initiatives, such as bringing broadband internet to the Picabo and Carey south valley communities. Stephen is the County’s in-house expert on the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021’s (ARPA) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), and he is focused on ensuring that this important resource is deployed in Blaine County to mitigate the negative health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to address the County’s affordable and workforce housing crisis. 

Prior to joining Blaine County, Stephen enjoyed an accomplished career as a nonprofit administration professional, with experience in grantwriting and proposal budget development at the city, state, federal, and international levels, working for international nonprofits focused on women’s health and humanitarian relief as well as major arts and cultural institutions. For over a decade, Stephen’s career has been focused on bringing in millions of dollars in grant funding to communities, nonprofits and service organizations, and the people that they serve. He is thrilled to bring this expertise to Blaine County to deliver support and relief to his new community.