Leadership Utah 2023

Jeff Aird currently serves as the Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). He partners with the president, board, and other executives on strategy formation and execution. He is currently working on analytics and strategy deployment in a public comprehensive community college. 

Nick began his career in 2008 at Intermountain Healthcare doing hospital operating and capital budgets. Since that time Nick has held instrumental roles influencing change both within Intermountain Healthcare and across the country in the journey towards value-based care. As a founding member of Castell (Intermountains’ value-based platform company) he was asked to lead the Population Health strategy with accountability for the following areas: commercial and government value-based contracting, physician compensation, network operations, post acute care operations and home-based services. Nick earned his BS degree in business finance from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Southern Utah University

Cammie Cable is the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources at Intermountain Healthcare. She joined Intermountain in September 2019 and brought with over 20 years of sales operations and human resource experience. She is experienced at shaping high-performing cultures by creating stable, collaborative connections with employees at all levels of dynamic and industry leading organizations.  Cammie has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah.  Outside of work, Cammie enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, son and dog. She’s a die-hard University of Utah fan—go Utes!—and has been a season ticket holder since she was twelve. Cammie loves to travel around the world and experience new cultures.

Nicole Carpenter is the director of the Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI), a 501(c)3 working with organizations to elevate women in business and in politics. In addition, Nicole serves on the Board of Directors for Reading Horizons and Stampin' Up! Previous to WLI, Nicole advocated for women as an author, speaker and coach. Nicole has a bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations from Weber State University. She and her husband Marty spend most of their free time raising four children ages 17, 15 and 12-year-old twins. She panic-purchased a puppy during the pandemic, so now she's also the dog-mom she swore she'd never become.

I am an experienced corporate training administrator for UTA with a passion for helping employees maximize their capabilities & development.  I love creating employee engagement and helping employees reach their greatest potential. I specialized in human resource management and labor relations for fifteen years at a large corporation with multiple company sites in other states and countries. I enjoy helping companies achieve their business goals and support them in their organization’s strategic initiatives.  I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah in human development and family studies and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.  I am the mother of three and grandmother of four.  If I am not with my family, I am traveling. 

Joe Cranford has worked for SUNPRO for 20 years. He moved from North East Florida in 2001 and started his career in 2002 as a customer service associate at SUNPRO’S small retail store. In 2005, he was given the opportunity to dispatch the larger Utah County lumber yard providing building materials across the Wasatch Front. In 2012, Joe was promoted to Production Manager in the Lindon truss manufacturing facility. After being in operations and production for the larger part of his time with SUNPRO, he was promoted to the role of Location manager at the Lindon truss plant. Joe and his wife have 4 children and live in Spanish Fork.

Dustin is an experienced professional in the international business consulting and advisory industries. He currently works for World Trade Center Utah as the Director of Market Entry & Global Engagement, where he is responsible for overseeing the production and delivery of technical international trade and investment research services geared towards helping Utah companies grow their businesses globally. Prior to join WTC Utah, Dustin worked for Dezan Shira & Associates, a pan-Asia foreign investment consultancy, where he led the International Business Advisory team in the company's Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi offices. Dustin obtained a BA in Political Science and Economics from Columbia University. Before returning to the US in 2018 he lived throughout China and Southeast Asia. Dustin and his wife Ha live in Taylorsville with their son Kaiden and their Goldador named Luke.

Chaz works as security analyst with American Express where he coordinates physical security policies and procedures, in addition to critical incident response.

Mark is a Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager in Wells Fargo's Utah Commercial Banking Office.  Mark works with a broad range of middle-market companies across a variety of sectors, providing capital and offering the full breadth of Wells Fargo's resources to his clients.  Mark completed his undergraduate studies at BYU and his MBA at the University of Michigan.  In his spare time Mark enjoys spending time with his wife and four girls, traveling, and just about anything in the outdoors.

Mike has worked for Dominion Energy for 22 years.  He started with the company in Meter Reading.  Mike worked as a supervisor in Meter Reading until 2007, when he became a supervisor in Credit and Collections.  In 2011, Mike was promoted to Credit Manager, responsible for the Company’s bad debt and delinquent account collections activity.  In 2014 Mike assumed the role of Manager, Revenue Cycle.  In 2018, Mike moved to Operations as the Northern Region Operations Manager. In 2022, Mike transferred to the Engineering group, where is currently Manager Pre-Construction.
 
Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and a Master’s of Business Administration both from Weber State University. Away from work, he enjoys spending time with his four children and wife on a small farm in western Weber County raising hay and animals. 

Erin Hallstrom is the Executive Director of Digital Business and Engagement for Deseret Book Company. She has spent the past 12 years leading digital content and social media teams transitioning traditional media to digital spaces while creating new digital products including videos and podcasts. Erin has 20 years of experience working in content marketing, eCommerce, and digital marketing - spending the vast majority of that time in the publishing industry. Born and raised in Honolulu, HI, Erin studied History and English at Brigham Young University - Provo. After graduation, she briefly flirted with a political career in Washington D.C. before coming to her senses and finding a home in publishing, working in Salt Lake City and Denver, CO. In another life, Erin would have been a high school English teacher or a comedy television writer. Erin is recently married and happily lives with her husband and two step-cats in Sugarhouse.

Credit Manager for Zions Bank in Salt Lake City, Utah. I lead a team of loan officers that underwrite commercial real estate loans for small businesses across the United States with a particular expertise in using the Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loan program. I have been with Zions Bank for 22 years. I graduated from BYU in finance, Executive MBA at the University of Utah and am a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School associated with the University of Washington as well.

Jeremy Kartchner is the AVP of public relations at Mountain America Credit Union. In this role he isresponsible for creating new public relations and financial literacy strategies as well as promoting brand recognition in industries and communities that benefit the credit unions’ members and the general public. Throughout his career, Kartchner has successfully developed and executed PR and communications plans and managed PR campaigns for some of the most recognizable brands, including the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the Utah Jazz, Dan Reynolds’ LOVELOUD Festival, FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Fear Factory,3Com Corporation and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Kartchner graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Utah. He is married and the father of three children. He enjoys spending time with family, running, golfing, playing basketball, traveling and reading.

Jeremiah LaFranca is the Executive Director for the American Red Cross Greater Salt Lake Area Chapter.  The chapter serves more than 1.6  million people, including the residents of Salt Lake City, Park City, Tooele, Vernal and Heber City.  As Executive Director, Jeremiah conducts media interviews, coordinates with community partners and elected officials, fundraises for the Greater Salt Lake Area, recruits and engages with volunteers; and works on enhancing relationships for blood donation and collection goals.  Jeremiah has an extensive history leading organizations and creating a supportive environment for staff and volunteers to flourish.  He has extensive knowledge of the community and experience engaging civic leaders, elected officials and business leaders as well as providing insight into the needs of the community. 

Kristen Lavelett serves as the Business Development Manager for the Downtown Alliance, where she engages with small to mid-sized businesses ensuring that they play a vital role in the Alliance's work to ensure that Downtown Salt Lake City is the cultural and economic hub of the Wasatch Front. Prior to joining the Downtown Alliance she served as executive director of Local First Utah, working on a statewide basis on behalf of locally owned, independent businesses. In addition to a background in grant writing, news writing and curriculum development, she is also a published playwright. Kristen studied political science at the University of Utah, and while in school served as the Games Organizing Chair for the Special Olympics Fall & Winter Sports Classics. 

Richard is a lawyer, lobbyist and consultant based in SLC specializing in corporate community impact and investment. Previously Richard spent 8 years with AT&T in multiple states including UT and ID. Throughout his career at AT&T, Richard was dedicated to corporate community impact, serving on the boards of several community and civic foundations. Before joining AT&T, Richard served as City Attorney and Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Gary, Indiana. Richard has degrees from the University of Chicago Law School and Butler University. Richard is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

Waylund Ludlow is the Division Manager of Bridgesource, overseeing all divisions, team members, finances, and future vision and direction of the company.He began working for Clyde Companies at Geneva Rock Products in 2004 as an asphalt production manager. Waylund’s responsibilities in the position steadily increased until he transitioned to Bridgesource in 2021. Prior to his time at Clyde Companies, he worked for seven years at a construction and civil engineering firm. Outside of Clyde Companies, Waylund was the organizing chair and founding charter member of the Utah Asphalt Pavement Association (UAPA) in 2010. He served as its President for two non-consecutive years and participated as a board member. Waylund graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from BYU and received his professional engineer’s license a year later, which he actively maintains. He and his wife, Marsha, are the parents of three children, two boys and a girl.

Tyler has been working in commercial banking for 15 years. He joined the Hillcrest Bank team in October 2019. He enjoys working with clients to find solutions that meet their particular needs. He works closely with business partners, inside and outside of the bank, to ensure clients succeed. He has experience in leveraged buyouts and M & A transactions.  He has worked with clients in manufacturing, machining, construction, real estate, wholesale foods, restaurants, healthcare, telecommunications, and indirect financing. Prior to joining Hillcrest Bank, he was a manager in the commercial department for America First Credit Union and before that worked in commercial and corporate lending positions at Zions Bank. He has a bachelor degree in marketing and an MBA from the University of Utah.

Curtis McGee is a Vice President and Relationship Manager for Wells Fargo Bank’s Commercial Bank in Utah. Curtis’s career has been focused within the financial market starting with First Security Bank in 2001 which was later acquired by Wells Fargo Bank. Curtis has been in WFB’s commercial banking group since 2007 holding various roles including Relationship Associate, Credit Analyst, Portfolio Manager and Relationship Manager. Curtis oversees the underwriting and credit monitoring of a credit portfolio over $200 million ranging from lines of credit, real estate financing, acquisition financing, and other working capital financing products. Additionally, Curtis previously worked for The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Kansas City, KS as a National Bank Examiner.

Kate Moss is the Market Executive for Bank of America’s Utah market. Kate is responsible for community partnerships, sponsorships and philanthropy. She is also the steward of the local strategic plan, which is designed to help make financial lives better by connecting with clients, communities, and our teammates. Prior to joining Bank of America, she held management positions in the Greater Salt Lake City area including at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business, Susan G. Komen Utah, YWCA Utah, HCA St. Mark’s Hospital, and Fidelity Investments. Kate currently serves her community on boards such as the Women’s Business Center of Utah, Salt Lake Chamber Board of Governors, and United Way of Salt Lake. Kate received a Bachelor of Science degree and an Executive MBA from the University of Utah and a Master of Professional Communication from Westminster College.  As a Utah native, she enjoys hiking, cycling, and traveling with her family.

Rod serves as the Senior most Executive in Utah for Sunbelt Rentals, the premier rental equipment company in North America. Sunbelt Rentals offers a highly diversified product mix including general construction equipment, industrial tools, pumps, power generation, climate control & HVAC, shoring solutions, scaffolding, remediation & restoration equipment, and more. rod obtained an Executive MBA from Taylor University in 2009. rod and his wife relocated to Utah in 2018 from South Carolina when he accepted the role as Regional Vice President of the Northwest Region for Sunbelt Rentals. Subsequently, all four of their grown children have also relocated to Utah to enjoy the beautiful area near their parents. Rod and his wife, Leslie, spend their free time enjoying skiing, hiking, and biking in the beautiful Utah mountains.

Julia is the MarComm Director for World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah), an organization that bolsters the efforts and success of Utah businesses ready to grow globally. 

In her four years with WTC Utah, Julia has dedicated herself to establishing Utah as an international economic hub through the support and development of the local business community. Having led numerous delegations abroad, she has played a role in creating more than $10 million in new trade opportunities for the life science and outdoor industries. 

Mika is the Director of Client Success for Integrated Companies (Integrated). While she has consistently worked for Integrated for the past six years, she has grown up with this business as a part of her day-to-day life since she was a child. Her parents, Teri and Flynn Paulson, started the first division of Integrated Companies in the year 2000. Today it serves over 3,500 small-to-medium-sized businesses here in the State of Utah. 

Mika's core focus is to continue aiding the success of the businesses Integrated serves (many of which are in the construction and industrial sector). The company manages several administrative tasks like payroll, HR, insurance, and accounting so that folks can focus on the core of their work. This results in greater business success, more jobs for our residents, and the infrastructure to build and improve our Utah communities.

Samantha Pero drives the strategic vision for DDM’s portfolio of mildly addictive products. She has 15 years of experience in e-commerce and SaaS products. She earned her bachelor’s of science degree at Weber State University.

Sam’s favorite activities involve her family and friends. She’s been in a bowling league with her parents and sister for 16 years and they meet for breakfast almost every Sunday. Sam, her husband and their son spend weekends tackling escape rooms and can proudly say they have a 90% completion rate. In her free time, Sam consumes way too many true crime podcasts, hosts game nights with her neighbors and dabbles in baking with her son.

Ryan Prows is the Director of Real Estate for Ivory Homes. He and his wife Christina have four daughters and live in Kaysville, Utah. Ryan has enjoyed a multi-faceted career working in real estate for Ivory Homes and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in business development for several healthcare technology companies in Silicon Valley. He has a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and received his MBA from Stanford Business School. Ryan loves any endurance race that gets him in the mountains.

Tammy is a General Manager for the Hamilton Partners Asset Services department and oversees the Salt Lake City Asset Services team. Her responsibilities include the effective development and implementation of annual budgets, operating expense reconciliations, and monthly and quarterly reporting packages, as well as lease review and abstracting, vendor oversight and the management of the receivable accounts.

Tammy’s has been responsible for the oversight and execution of over $20,000,000 in construction projects related to tenant improvement and building improvement projects. She currently leads a team of five Asset Services professionals and takes pride in leading by example and mentoring her teammates. Tammy values the importance of creating strong and meaningful relationships with her clients, tenants, brokers and vendors and is focused on providing them with exceptional, best in class service.
 

Cory is the Market Manager over the Salt Lake Metro area for America First Credit Union. As such, he manages their Metro Branch and oversees three additional locations. He's also responsible for community relations and business development in the Salt Lake area. Cory loves wrestling with ideas and problems, finding a great solution and then moving forward toward greater engagement and performance. He craves community involvement. He currently serves on the Salt Lake Chamber's Military Affairs Committee and the board of directors for the Fort Douglas Military Museum. He is also involved in Hispanic business development, financial literacy, and refugee work. His formal education consists of a B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Utah. He loves to work with soldiers, veterans, history and the arts. When not working or volunteering, he's woodworking, reading or having adventures with his wife and two (soon to be three) children.

Prior to joining The Utah Asphalt Pavement Association (UAPA) in 2012 as the organization’s first Executive Director, Reed worked in Washington, D.C. as a Legislative Aide to Senator Orrin Hatch and as a Public Affairs Specialist to the Office of Public and International Affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has a BA in Political Science from Brigham Young University and a JD from The George Washington University. Originally from the mountains of Colorado, Reed enjoys the outdoors, playing golf, and working in the yard. As a bit of a sports enthusiast his favorite teams, the Denver Broncos, BYU Football, the Washington Nationals, the Washington Capitals, and the Utah Jazz continually disappoint him. However, he finds great joy in raising three sons and a daughter with Syndi, his wife of twenty-one years.
 

Jenny Sass brings 15 years of sales and marketing experience to my529. She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing communications, with a minor in business management. After eight years in advertising sales at the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis, Jenny moved to Utah to continue working in media-and education-oriented companies. For the last 9 years, Jenny has worked as an outreach/marketing specialist at my529 working on sponsorships, contests, education and business initiatives and much more.  
 

While Lindsay is new to Salt Lake City Department of Airports, she brings 12 years of communications experience to her role -- including five years of communications experience at another international airport. Lindsay has a bachelor's degree in mass communications and a master's degree in strategic communication management. 

Erik Simper is a corporate real estate professional. He fills a leadership role on Salt Lake City’s market-leading Global Advisory and Transaction Services team, which services global organizations with site locations throughout the world. Erik has serviced a diverse set of global organizations, including non-profit organizations, specialty retailers, funeral home operators, the mining and drilling industry, and travel centers. Most recently, he has focused on special use land acquisition projects across the United States. At CBRE, Erik has helped create and foster a culture of respect, transparency, outstanding client service delivery, and appreciation on his team. He believes firmly in a positive workplace experience for everyone.

Erik and his wife Amanda live in South Jordan with their 4 kids. 

Matt has been a software developer for 15+ years since he graduated from the University of Utah in 2005. Has been at WCF Insurance for 6+ years and is currently the VP of Application Services. He has the pleasure of working with several introverted teams to produce working software to meet the growing demands of WCF Insurance's software needs. When he's not working, he's spending at one of his many kids' extracurricular activities such as soccer, music, and dance. If he's not there he will be out golfing, biking, or doing some other outdoor activity.

Sally Steed is the Director of Sales with the Deseret News and has spent the last 16 years working for Utah Media Group/Deseret News in a number of leadership positions, serving as the Senior Vice President of Advertising for the majority of her time with Utah Media Group.  As a leader in the media industry, she is well versed in all areas of print media, online digital media, and social media platforms.

Prior to her time with the newspaper media industry, she worked as a Regional Manager for the Technics Musical Instruments division of Panasonic.  She spent 14 years working with the Technics product and has an extensive amount of experience in national and local retail marketing, which led her to be honored as the recipient of the Marketing Excellence Achievement Award from Panasonic 3 consecutive years in a row and was recognized as an Executive Member of The Technics Summit Club for 12 years. 

Adam handles government & external relations for REH Company, an organization with businesses in the oil & gas, hospitality & tourism, and cattle ranching industries. Before joining REH Company, Adam worked for a nationwide fuel & convenience retailer and as a lawyer in private practice and for the government. Adam graduated from the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business and Levin College of Law. 

Taylor Turner provides legal analysis and contracting support in his role as Corporate Counsel for SelectHealth. He has presented on various topics related to health insurance regulation and legal developments. Prior to joining SelectHealth, Taylor provided health plan compliance consulting for large employers while working for the Seattle office of a benefits consulting company. Taylor earned an LL.M. degree in Taxation from New York University after a year of litigation experience with a Nevada firm following law school. He received his Juris Doctor and Bachelor’s degrees from Brigham Young University. 

I am a Cash Business Analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco/Salt Lake City Branch helping to provide currency and coin to the community we serve. I work with financial institutions and armored carriers to facilitate their customer's cash orders and deposits. 

Sarah is a Fabian VanCott shareholder with a practice devoted to litigation. She represents clients in an array of matters from small familial disputes to large complex commercial litigation. 

As a transplant to Utah, she enjoys hiking and skiing with her husband. She is looking forward to getting her two young children out on the mountains soon, too.

After a decade working in higher education and consulting, Megan Walker-Young joined BW Productions in 2023 as the Operations Manager and  a Utah Women in Production and Photography chair. Prior to BW Productions, she was a business consultant for WGU Labs where she coached edtech CEOs through business optimization and communication strategies to bring innovative educational pathways to underserved and non-traditional learners. Megan considers herself a life-long learner and holds a B.S. Communication from the University of Utah, an MBA and a M.S. Management and Leadership from the College of Business at Western Governors University. Megan lives in Northern Utah with her husband where she spends time hiking, practicing aerial arts, stand up paddle boarding, maxing out library loan limits, and practicing trivia questions to secure a spot as a Jeopardy contestant.

Terese is the Managing Director & Principal Broker at Gaddis Investments, a commercial real estate investment and development firm. With 26 years experience in the field, she is Managing Director of assets, investments and development. 

Terese has worked for developers including owning her own property management company. One of her career highlights was working as Retail Services Manager for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games where she negotiated leases for the outdoor “mall” within the Olympic Village. 

Terese is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, serving as Past Chair of the 2015 ICSC Mountain States Idea Exchange. She served as the 2013 President of CREW Utah, a chapter of CREW Network, one of more than 75 markets of whose mission is "Transforming the commercial real estate industry by advancing women globally." 
 

Dr. Ruchi M. Watson serves as Managing Director of the Goff Strategic Leadership Center and Professor (Lecturer) at the University of Utah. 

Prior to Goff, she spent eight years at the David Eccles School of Business where she led many strategic initiatives, including the Hope Corps. Prior to working at the U, Watson spent 10 years in the corporate sector at Fortune 500 companies.

Watson graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BS in chemical engineering and earned an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. She holds a doctoral degree in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Marianne is the AVP of Claims and Provider Operations at SelectHealth. She has worked for Selecthealth for over 26 years and oversees operational efficiency for processes which affect medical and dental insurance claims. This involves the demographic and pricing for the provider to other coverage information of the member and overall timeliness and accuracy of claims.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and a Master's of Business Administration both from Western Governor's University. 
Away from work she enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren boating and camping.

Heather has been with Prestige, an LHM Company, since 2009, holding various roles of increasing responsibility in its servicing operations. In 2019, Heather was named Senior Vice President of Servicing for Prestige Financial Services. In this capacity, she manages all aspects of customer service, loss mitigation, deficiency collections and litigation, credit reporting, insurance claims, inventory control, and repossession. Heather graduated magna cum laude in business administration from Tusculum College and completed her M.B.A. at the University of Utah in 2020. She is certified in consumer credit compliance through the National Auto Finance Association and serves on the Utah Presents Board. She married her best friend, Tappan, in February of 2009.