Leadership Utah 2021

Shule Bishop oversees federal, state, and local government affairs for the Utah Transit Authority. Shule earned his bachelor's in Political Science from Utah State University. He received his MA in English from Weber State University, which he began while working as WSU's Government Relations Director. In his younger years, Shule enjoyed playing baseball and basketball. Since getting older and slower he has learned to appreciate working in the yard, but does not enjoy pulling weeds.

Mitch Blackhurst is a sales manager for KSL.com. His teams include KSL Classifieds, KSL Services and Seniorleaf.com. Mitch earned his bachelors in Strategic Communication from the University of Utah. In Mitch's free time he loves spending time with his wife and 2 daughters. He loves to spend time in the outdoors and will go to the lake at any chance he gets. Mitch has a knack for design, and also loves working on home renovation projects.

Kathleen Bodenlos joins Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum (DGCM) as their new Executive Director with several years of prior museum leadership experience at both Cincinnati Museum Center and Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Dedicated to the importance of providing opportunities for children and families to learn while playing, she is excited to be part of the DGCM team. As a hiker and artist, she is also looking forward to enjoying the natural beauty of Utah and also to becoming active the Salt Lake City community.

Chris Bonnell is Vice President of Government Relations & Public Policy at Western Governors University.  In this role he oversees the Government Relations and Public Policy practice areas. Chris earned his bachelor's in Political Science/Physical Education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and his law degree from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Chris, and his wife Joni, enjoy travel and hiking.  He was raised in northern Minnesota, so has an affinity for the sport of hockey.  Chris has served in leadership positions with USA Hockey and is a member of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation.

Cate Boulden is the Sales Director of Large Employer Sales at SelectHealth where she is responsible for direction and development of the Large Employer Sales Team.  Cate has led sales teams for the last 17 years with over 30 years of experience in business development and sales. Cate has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing degree from the University of Utah. 

Kyle Curtis is President of R&R Partners' Salt Lake City office. An expert in marketing strategy, creative development and behavior change, Kyle has created many of Utah's most memorable and effective ad campaigns. Kyle earned his bachelor's in Advertising Communications with a minor in English from Brigham Young University. After graduating, he served as President of AAF Utah and was named the American Advertising Federation's Utah Advertising Professional of the Year. Kyle enjoys spending time with his wife and four children traveling and serving in the community. He's a fan of comedy clubs and has done amateur stand-up. He is not a good golfer, but it's not for lack of trying.

Carla is the Development Manager for Utah Community Action. She is in charge of all fundraising and special events while overseeing Volunteer & In-Kind, Grants, Communications, the Intake Center, and the Sauté catering program. 

She has a Bachelor's in Communication and Media Studies with continuing education in Public Policy & Gender. 

Carla is originally from Mexico City and has been in Salt Lake for three years now. She is passionate about making a difference at work and in her personal life. She enjoys spending time with her two dogs, being outdoors with her husband, traveling, and watching documentaries. 

Dr. Gilmore began her career at Highline Community College as faculty in the Business Information Technology Department. After leaving Highline, she helped create and lead Pearson Education’s Customer Experience division with the goal of developing tools to support Pearson’s educational technology products across all higher education disciplines. After Pearson, Jessica returned to campus life first at Walla Walla Community College as a Dean of Business, Entrepreneurial Programs and Extended Education then moving to Utah to serve as an Associate Provost of Community Outreach and Economic Development. In Feb 2021, Jessica joined USHE as an Associate Commissioner for Workforce Development & Industry Engagement. Jessica is committed to working across both public and private institutions, industry and governmental agencies to aligning academic programs and ensure increased student access, success and completion across the USHE system.

Jason Gowan is in charge of the retail branch network from Southern Salt Lake County through Orem. He is responsible for all aspects of retail management including risk, compliance, human resources, and growth. He studied Economics/Communications at the University of Utah and then transferred to Northern Arizona University when he moved to Tucson to complete his bachelors in Business Management. Jason will be completing this program within the next year. He loves all things sports. He has been a season ticket holder at the University of Utah since going to school there and in my free time he loves to be with family camping or hiking. Jason  moved back to Utah to be close to his family which is extremely important to him. His family, especially his daughters, love the beach and anything Disney related so they travel to Florida a lot.

As the Operations Manager for CBRE, Michelle Hansen is responsible for all the financial reporting and budgeting for the Salt Lake Market. She also manages the office and a team of staff who handle administrative and financial duties for the office and also for all the Commercial Real Estate brokers.Michelle earned her Bachelors of Science from Brigham Young University with a degree in Finance.  In her free time, Michelle can be found enjoying the outdoors.  She is an avid bike rider, and spends most Saturday's putting in many miles on her bike.  She also loves boating, hiking and travels whenever she can.  She is thrilled that her two sons have similar hobbies and they love sharing adventures together.

Patrick Harris is the Vice President of Risk Management within the underwriting department at WCF Insurance. He is also serving a second term on the South Jordan City Council.   Patrick has an MBA in Executive Management from Drake University and a BA in Information Systems from the University of Utah.   Patrick has a strong level of expertise in risk analysis with the ability to implement measures to reduce unnecessary liabilities. He has expertise in analyzing contracts and subcontractor agreements and has been an instructor for construction-related contracts. He is the President of the Oak Hills Homeowners Association in South Jordan where he lives with his wife, Shari, and their two children. Patrick enjoys spending time with his family, especially skiing, hiking, biking, and engaging in other outdoor activities.

Michael Isom helps oversee all infrastructure engineering operations for Adobe and advises on corporate-wide veteran and diversity initiatives. Michael earned his BA from Brigham Young University before attending law school at Duke and graduating from Georgetown Law with an emphasis in national security affairs. He then clerked for the Court of Federal Claims before working on Capitol Hill, within the Intelligence Community and at the White House. In addition to spending time with his family, Michael enjoys volunteering with the Utah Boy Scouts and serving as the Europe, Middle East and Africa regional chair for a global pro bono-focused organization. He also serves as the Chamber's representative to the Utah Legislature's Military and Veterans Affairs Commission.

Nate Lavin joined the Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) as the Air Service Development Manager in March 2020. In this position, he is responsible for the development and implementation of market strategies to support the retention and expansion of international and domestic air service. Originally from the Salt Lake City area, Nate is thrilled to be back home and witness the grand opening of The New SLC.
 
Prior to landing at SLC, Nate worked for San Antonio International Airport (SAT) and Colorado Springs Airport (COS) where he held various roles in air service development and marketing. Among his first tasks at SLC, Nate implemented a comprehensive air service recovery plan to restore passenger air service at SLC to pre-pandemic levels as quickly and strategically as possible.
 
Nate holds a Bachelor of Aviation Science from Utah Valley University and is a Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE).

Jennifer Leary is the Community Health Operations Director at Intermountain Healthcare.  She is responsible for the execution and outcomes of Community Health’s portfolio of initiatives.  This includes management of the operating model and leadership for the day-to-day operations.

Jennifer has more than ten years of healthcare leadership experience including roles in community health, behavioral health, practice management, palliative care, virtual health and healthcare strategy.  She holds a Master of Science in Health Administration and a Master of Science in Health Informatics from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Outside of work Jennifer enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and three small dogs, hiking, and exploring Utah.

Lewisa Lucero is an SVP at Zions Bancorporation and Operations Manager in Treasury Management (TM). Her team consists of Client Services who provide TM customer support, as well as Implementation Specialists who onboard new TM clients and implement maintenance or new products for existing clients. Lewisa has been with Zions since 2007 and prior to managing operations she led the Portfolio Manager team in the TM Sales Division while also maintaining a portfolio of commercial and corporate clients. Her earlier roles at the bank were Loan Workout Officer in the Special Assets Group and Loan Specialist in Commercial Lending. Lewisa earned her BS of Finance from the University of Utah. Her passion outside of work is her family, with whom with she enjoys holidays or simple weekend get-togethers. They particularly enjoy camping and ATV riding.

Victoria is an attorney at Parr Brown Gee & Loveless. Her practice involves commercial litigation, entertainment and media law, employment law, and business immigration. Victoria works with employers to develop effective employment policies and handles a variety of issues for her clients throughout the television, film, and music industries. Victoria earned her bachelor’s in Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies and her J.D. from the University of Utah. Following graduation from law school, she clerked for the Honorable J. Frederic Voros, Jr. on the Utah Court of Appeals and Justice John A. Pearce on the Utah Supreme Court. In her free time, Victoria enjoys spending time fly fishing, hiking, biking, camping, surfing, and backcountry skiing with her husband and their dogs, Gru and Lucy. Victoria is a proud dog mom and loves volunteering at Best Friends Animal Society as a dog walker.

Adam Macklin is a senior vice president in PNC’s Mountain Region corporate banking group and is responsible for growing PNC’s business in Utah with lending, advisory, capital markets and treasury management solutions. As PNC’s first Utah-based corporate banker, he is also tasked with the development of the bank’s community and philanthropic strategy in the state. Adam previously held various underwriting and relationship management roles in Chicago for PNC. During his time in Chicago, he was part National City integration and also helped execute on the PNC’s growth market strategy by delivering value added capital structure and treasury ideas to clients and prospects. Adam joined PNC in 2010 and was part of the bank’s corporate banking development program. Adam graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a BSBA in finance and received his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Tina is the Manager of Environmental Compliance for the distribution segment of Dominion Energy. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and has been fortunate to practice in many different areas of environmental engineering including environmental compliance in the chemical and natural gas industries, biological water treatment, and environmental remediation. She transferred to Utah from Indianapolis in 2000 and loves living in Utah. Tina is an avid runner and loves to mountain bike. She has two wonderful children that are growing up much too fast!

Jimmy Martello is the Vice President of Intermountain Foundation. In his role, he leads a team that is focused on developing relationships with community partners to drive philanthropy in support of Intermountain Healthcare's mission to help people live the healthiest life possible. Jimmy has a Bachelor of Science degree in behavioral sciences from the United States Air Force Academy.  In his free time, Jimmy enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf and exploring the outdoors.

Ruedigar Matthes was born and raised in Salt Lake City, and, other than a brief stint in Thailand, has lived his entire life in a one-mile radius. But Ruedigar is hardly parochial. His cosmopolitan sensibilities have led him to travel whenever possible, dreaming of a life abroad, with time spent between Europe and Southeast Asia. While he awaits the materialization of that dream, he lives contentedly with his wife, twin toddlers, and cat in a small house near downtown, spending his time baking, reading a smattering of genres, biking, kayaking, and camping. In his professional life, Ruedigar works as Salt Lake County's Economic Development Manager. He earned degrees, unrelated to his current field of work, in English, Biology, and Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah.

Ryan is Vice President, Project Development for Rocky Mountain Power, overseeing the development and construction of new electrical generation projects. Ryan graduated from Willamette University with a joint JD/MBA degree, where he was President of the Student Bar Association. He has led teams responsible for the development and construction of over 2,000 megawatts of utility-scale wind and solar projects throughout the United States.

In his free time, Ryan enjoys exploring the great outdoors with his wife and two children, playing recreational sports, singing, and playing guitar.

Abby McLennan is vice president and regional executive of the Salt Lake City branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. In this role, Abby engages with members of the business and banking sectors as well as with community and government leaders across Utah and Idaho as part of the Bank’s commitment to understanding and reflecting the people it serves. She is a senior leader who represents the San Francisco Fed in the region and oversees the Salt Lake City Board of Directors and Advisory Councils, including their contribution to monetary policy decisions.

Abby has been with the San Francisco Fed since 2001, holding positions in Cash Compliance, Internal Audit, and Cash Operations. In her most recent role as Assistant Vice President, Workplace Experience + Law Enforcement, she focused on building and championing relationships with her team, business partners, and community members. Abby received a finance degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

As Executive Director of the Foundation, Nancy leads a team of fundraisers to support the students and activities of Salt Lake Community College. She is on the senior leadership team at the College and they are undertaking the first-ever comprehensive campaign. She has a BA in Public Relations from Wheeling University. Nancy loves to ski, hike, and enjoy natural resources. She is married to a mechanical engineer and they are parents to two grown children both currently in graduate schools. Nancy has been active in the Park City community for many years and enjoys all things Utah.

Lisa "Leez" Osterstock began MarketShare in 1987, since then, she has artfully provided branded or promotional products to an array of clients within Utah, the US, and abroad.  She takes pride in coming up with the just right products to bring awareness to the client's brand, to thank customers, and to help recognized the exemplary service of employees. With her background in art and management, it is the perfect job for her!  In her spare time, Leez loves to ski, hike, volunteer, play with her dogs, and to travel.  

Cristine Salazar was born in California and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Utah. Besides owning 2 businesses of her own, she also has 13 years of experience in the financial industry. Cristine is currently a Market Branch Manager for America First Credit Union. She is highly involved in the community and volunteers for her church. She continually strives to leave a positive influence on those around her whether it is in her professional or personal surroundings. She enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter especially going outdoors, trying new foods, and traveling.

David Simpson is currently the Directory of Technical Services for Deseret Management Corporation and Beneficial Life Insurance Company. David Simpson attended Boise State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree. Over the years he has acquired several technical certifications, including a Cisco CCIE certification.David enjoys spending time outdoors with his family. He tries to stay active through biking, running, and doing triathlons on occasion. He and his wife love to travel and see new places when time permits.

David is currently serving as a Senior Vice President, Managing Director of Utah for Hillcrest Bank, member, NBH Holding. In this role, David is the Market Leader for the bank's expansion efforts throughout Utah.  Our focus is on Middle Market companies throughout Utah and surrounding markets, with a general emphasis on companies between $1MM and $250MM in annual revenues.  This includes working with all industry types, including not for profits and helping advise them on operational efficiencies through our comprehensive treasury
management platform, senior debt structures, participations and international banking.
Prior to joining Hillcrest Bank, David spent 13 years with SunTrust and led the
Commercial Banking efforts in Central Florida. At SunTrust, David and his team worked with
privately held companies on transition planning and growth strategies, leveraging the
banks universal banking platform.
 

Alex Tanner is a Commercial Banker for Wells Fargo Bank. He is focused on helping companies in the Middle Market space succeed financially.Alex earned his bachelor’s in Finance and Business Management from the University of Utah and his MBA degree from Weber State University. Since that time he has been a Commercial Banker in the Salt Lake City market.In his free time he enjoys skiing, golf, restaurants and coaching youth sports. Alex and his wife have six children.

Brent founded BW Productions a photo and video company in 2013. For the last eight years, Brent has been sculpting stories through a lens and developing longstanding relationships with clients in the nonprofit, education, and business sectors. When he’s not behind the camera Brent enjoys cooking spending time with his family and traveling the world.

Juli Ulvestad is the Shelter Operations Director for the Humane Society of Utah. She came to the organization as a foster volunteer in 2003 after leaving her position as Utah Regional Operations Manager with Kinko’s to raise her family. She has grown with Utah Humane Society into her current role and enjoys using her business management experience to make a difference in the lives of people and animals every day.  Juli’s areas of focus include pet retention programs and networking with the community to keep people and pets together.  She has a particular affinity for elderly Labradors, cranky cats, and eccentric personalities.

Lee has been part of the Executech team for over 7 years being elevated to Vice President of Sales December 2023.  With over 110 clients over 5 years helping them find solutions for Managed IT, Security and Cloud-based solutions to improve their efficiencies.    Lee is originally from San Diego moving to Utah is 2005.   Along with his two kids, Jackson 18 and Kara 16, they enjoy a very active life together including ATV riding, skiing, golf, watersports, hiking, paddle boarding, traveling and is proud to carry the National Park annual pass.  Lee enjoys giving back to the community while being the former chair of the Salt Lake City President Ambassadors and volunteers within the Daybreak community in South Jordan.

Phillip White is the Wasatch Front Millwork Area Manager for Sunpro. He is focused on process improvement at each production facility and overall sales growth. He oversees the operational and financial performance of multiple locations. During his time with Sunpro his department has seen drastic improvements. Phillip earned his bachelor’s in Business Management from Utah Valley University. He later moved to Texas where he received an MBA in Entrepreneurship. After moving back, he has spent years at Sunpro in multiple different positions. Outside of work he enjoys the rugged outdoors offered in Utah such as hunting, camping, hiking, and visiting National and State Parks with his family. Phillip and his wife have enjoyed coaching soccer and softball for the last 8 years. He also enjoys following college sports, particularly football.

Meadow Wilde is the Vice President of Underwriting Operations for WCF Insurance. She has worked for WCF for 21 years, moving through various roles and departments. Meadow enjoys the challenge and excitement of the insurance industry, and every year tries to convince children at Career Day that insurance is cool.

Meadow loves to read, hike and spend time with her family. She is always looking for a good book recommendation.

As General Counsel for Ivory Homes, Annie performs and manages the legal work for the Ivory Homes related entities, Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation, and Ivory Innovations. Before joining Ivory in 2018, Annie was a shareholder at Kirton McConkie specializing in commercial litigation. Annie graduated from Colorado State University with a BA in Speech Communication in 2008. She received her JD from BYU in 2011. Annie's favorite (and most exhausting) job is being mama to three young kids.

Tara serves as the Programs and Events Manager for the Salt Lake Chamber. She plans and organizes 150 events with her team each year. She works with venues, sponsors, donors, and event attendees to make sure each event runs smoothly. In May of 2016, she graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communication and a minor in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. Her emphasis was in hospitality management. When Tara isn't putting on an event for the Chamber, you can find her running her black lab, Monster, on the Wasatch trails or running with a volunteer group called The Launch Team, which is a program that helps kids ages 10-18 run a half marathon. Tara also loves traveling, camping, and scuba diving with her partner Bryan.