As director of HR, Kelly Rongstad has been “the constant behind Bold Orange’s people-first culture since day one,” says Margaret Murphy, CEO of the Minneapolis-based marketing services agency. Over the past year, Rongstad supported a 20% increase in head count. In the past three years, that growth was greater than 60%, and her work contributed to Bold Orange’s 97% voluntary retention rate in 2024. “In a year when employer-sponsored health care premiums are projected to rise 6.5% nationally—the highest increase in 15 years—Kelly led Bold Orange to deliver benefits with materially lower costs, including a zero-dollar plan for employees,” Murphy says, citing Mercer’s 2025 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.