EXPLORE HEART MOUNTAIN
The Mineta-Simpson Institute
The Mineta-Simpson Institute at Heart Mountain embodies friendship, courage, and the pursuit of justice. Named for former U.S. Secretary Norman Mineta and Senator Alan Simpson—who met as boys behind barbed wire—it serves as a center for dialogue, leadership, and civic engagement. Through workshops, youth programs, and national conversations, the Institute carries forward their shared belief that empathy and understanding can bridge even the deepest divides, inspiring new generations to defend democracy and human rights.
Introducing the Mineta-Simpson Institute
The leadership of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation is thrilled to introduce the Mineta-Simpson Institute at Heart Mountain! This expansion to our award-winning Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is a bold new vision for the future of our organization.
Over the past several years, fear and anger have become the dominant forces in American politics. For our elders, who were unjustly imprisoned during World War II because of their race, this political climate feels all too familiar. To satisfy our mission, we realize the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation must not only educate about the past, but also help shape the kind of leaders we need for the future.
The Mineta-Simpson Institute is a dedicated retreat space at the center, a home for workshops and programming specifically designed to foster empathy, courage, and cooperation in the next generation of leaders. The Institute has expanded the Foundation’s capacity for digital outreach, allowing us to carry our message all over the world.
We are inspired in this endeavor by the lives, accomplishments, and—most of all—the friendship of the late Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and the late Senator Alan K. Simpson, who met as boys at Heart Mountain and spent decades putting aside their political differences to work together and better the lives of all Americans.
