Shantel Krebs

Former Chair of the Board, President & CEO

Shantel Krebs is a businesswoman and was elected the 28th South Dakota Secretary of State. She previously served in the South Dakota House of Representatives and South Dakota Senate, and currently works as Regional President and CEO of Avera Hospital.

A life-long South Dakotan, she holds a BS in Business Administration from Dakota State University. Shantel was honored as a Dakota State University Distinguished Alumnus.

Shantel comes from a family of entrepreneurs. That hard-working entrepreneurial spirit inspired Shantel to start her own lawn mowing business when she was just 10 years old pushing a used lawn mower for $4 a yard. Shantel followed in her family’s footsteps as business owners and chose to open her own retail businesses in downtown Sioux Falls, SD.

Shantel served in the South Dakota Legislature from 2005 to 2015, first in the House of Representatives from 2005-2011 followed by the Senate from 2011-2015. Elected by her peers as Majority Whip in both chambers, she chaired both the Transportation committee in the House and the Agricultural & Natural Resources committee in the Senate. Working together with her fellow legislators, Krebs helped cut $127 million from the state budget without raising taxes. She was recognized and honored by many associations for her legislative work.

In 2014, after taking on her own party to turn around a failing bureaucracy, she was elected as the twenty-eighth South Dakota Secretary of State. A true reformer, Shantel brought back accountability by operating the office like a business with zero based budgeting, audits and improved government transparency.

Shantel served as Miss South Dakota 1997. She is married to former TV news anchor Mitch Krebs.

Shantel states: The scholarships and skills I gained from the Miss America Organization helped shape my life personally and professionally. I’m excited to be a part of empowering the next generation of influential, exceptional young women.