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In honor of Campus Pride Month Marshalltown Community College will be welcoming nationally renowned presenter Mikah Meyer. Meyer is a world record traveler, inspirational speaker, national park expert, travel show host, diversity and inclusion advocate and so much.

Meyer’s journey began in 2005, days after his father’s funeral. At just 19, Meyer embarked on his first independent road trip. What was initially planned as a post-freshman year getaway quickly became a transformative experience that showed him the healing power of road trips. Since then, he has taken one road trip a year to honor this experience, including his noted journey to all 400 plus National Parks at age 30. He currently holds the world record road trip for visiting 419 U.S. National Park Service sites in a single journey. The project reached its Finale on April 29, 2019, at the steps of The Lincoln Memorial after traveling nearly 200,000 miles to every U.S. state and territory.

Writings about Meyer’s travels have been featured by a variety of outlets. He made history as the First Openly Gay Man Featured in an Outdoors Recreation Campaign. His work was recognized by NBC as one of their Stonewall #Pride50 “innovators and change-makers.”

Meyer’s focus continues to be traveling beyond convention and using his expertise to engender others’ dreams. Future projects include a photo guidebook and ranking of all 419 NPS sites, a memoir, a TV show, and more travel that showcases the imagination of the human spirit.

He’s continued that passion in the 2020s with the creation of the Outside Safe Space Program, which provides allies a simple way of making The Great Outdoors more accessible. Since its launch in 2020 with a Run Across Minnesota, Meyer has raised awareness for the OSS through the Run Across Mississippi, Bike Across Oregon, and other “Across” projects. With an adventure ethos inspired by the loss of his road-trip-loving father to cancer at a young age, Meyer now uses travel to advocate for others in groundbreaking ways, and to take audiences on journeys that inspire them to live “beyond convention.”

Sought after for projects that focus on bringing cultures together, he created a multimedia campaign “Rainbow Nation” series of LGBT flag photos with America’s most iconic natural landmarks. Combining his skills, Meyer is an inspirational speaker and comedic performer, encouraging others to follow their dreams before it’s too late, be comfortable with their unique traits, and use those diverse skills to change the world.

Also, an accomplished singer, Meyer has sung professionally with the Washington National Cathedral choirs, the Memphis Symphony and various international ensembles. He is currently the Artist-In-Residence at Minnesota’s Hennepin Ave United Methodist.

Following academic studies that named him a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar, he has continued that unifying ethos by devoting his life to helping people find common ground.

Meyer will be presenting on the MCC campus Thursday, April 21 at 7 pm in Dejardin Hall, room 808. There is no cost to attend this amazing presentation and light refreshments will be available. Meyer’s visit to campus is sponsored by the MCC Diversity Committee and MCC Student Senate.