Speaker Biographies

Mallory Bateman

Mallory Bateman is the Director of Demographic Research at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Mallory uses her expertise in Census Bureau data and products to share insights with diverse public, private, and media audiences. Her Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Utah and Master's degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics further helps inform research on a range of topics, including community-based efforts in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, generational change, fertility, transportation, commuting, and civic engagement.

Natanael (Nata) Choi

Natanael (Nata) Choi, he/they pronouns, is originally from Bolivia and is half Peruvian and half Korean. Nata identifies as a biracial, bicultural, and bilingual queer person who maintains his identities with pride and strength. Nata currently works at Latino Behavioral Health Services as the Director of Peer Services. Nata has been working with the Latino community for 5 years and has developed several psychoeducational programs for children and their parents, as well as an academic peer support program for school districts throughout the state of Utah. Nata is also the co-founder of Unidxs (Ooo-knee-dex), an organization focused on empowering and providing a space and voice to queer and Latinx people. Nata's goal is to raise awareness about the importance of mental health in QTBIPOC communities and empower them through decolonized interventions including peer support and community healing.

Santiago Cortez

Santiago Cortez, ASUDC, CEO of Clinical Consultants, is a local expert in the area of substance use disorder treatment and the therapeutic community model. After relocating to Utah to assist in establishing the therapeutic community model in the state, he chose to stay in the area and has since become a local leader in the field. He served as a member of the International Quality Assurance Board for a therapeutic community for 26 years, and has acted as the chairperson of the Substance Use Disorder Counselors Board for DOPL. Mr. Cortez has been a part of the Governor's USAAV+ counsel for the last 15 years and is the chairperson for the Behavioral Health Workforce Committee Group.  He has been an advocate for clients seeking behavioral health services and the professionals providing those services on individual, corporate, and legislative levels and is passionate about his work in the field.

Jen Dailey-Provost

Jen Dailey-Provost lives in the Avenues with her husband Scott and three daughters. She received her bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business, and her MBA from Westminster College’s Gore School of Business. She began her career as the Director of Human Resources at Solitude Mountain Resort, but ultimately found professional fulfillment in the non-profit sector.

Currently, Jen works to serve HD22 in the Utah House of Representatives, but is also pursuing her PhD in Public Health at the University of Utah. Her first priority, though is raising her three daughters with her husband. She is the former executive director of the Utah Academy of Family Physicians in Salt Lake City where she managed the business of the 501(c)(6), as well as the UAFP Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that is focused on medical education in underserved areas. Additionally, she served primary care and public health functions as the director of governmental affairs and policy, prioritizing policies like patient access to health care, social determinants of health, air quality, education, and reproductive rights. It was her work in healthcare and public health advocacy that motivated her run to serve in elected office.

Jen and her family love the quality of life that Utah offers and take advantage of the incredible access to the outdoors whenever possible. She is most passionate about skiing and running, but Jen also loves to hike, bike, snowshoe, and knit cozy things.

Evan Done

Evan Done is a person in long-term recovery from both a substance use and co-occurring mood disorder. He currently serves as the Associate Director at the Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA) and is on the Board of Directors for the national advocacy organization Faces & Voices of Recovery. With extensive experience in the non-profit sector and over twenty years of experience in social justice advocacy, he is dedicated to creating a more equitable and sustainable world.

Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou

Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou is the CEO of Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources (PIK2AR) a 8 year old Community powered 5O1C3 non profit based in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Executive Director of the Pasifika PAC (Political Action Committee).

Susi was born in the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific, is a trans-racial adoptee, immigrated to the US when she was 13 years old with her adopted family and grew up in Vernal, Utah. She has lived and worked in Dallas, Texas, Honolulu, Hi, Tucson, AZ, San Francisco, CA areas and relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah area 13 years ago when she married her biggest supporter and advocate, Simi Poteki.

Susi’s life time work is centered in the margins because of her life experiences of being an ex felon, a survivor of Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, lives with a mentally ill has taken these experiences to champion and empowering the most vulnerable, the under-resourced communities through self-determination, turning challenges into strengths.

Susi is a serial social enterpriser and wears many hats, she is a proud community health worker and certified peer support specialist. Susi is a community builder, a mentor, a connector and a maximizHER through self discovery of self value and self confidence that foster self determination with the help from an amazing staff and partners providing culturally relevant education, resources, support and opportunities for self empowerment.

Susi has received many awards and accolades, received the 2022 National ACE (Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship) Advocate of the Year Award, Utah's “40 Over 40” awardee, 2021 Forbes Magazine “50 Over 50” Impact list, 2019 FBI Directors “Community Leadership Award” for the State of Utah and made the 50 Enlightened of Utah.

Sandra Hollins

Sandra Hollins, LCSW, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and she has been a resident of Salt Lake City for the past 30 years. Sandra and her husband David currently reside in Fair Park and have two daughters.

Sandra is a licensed clinical social worker, and the primary focus of her career has been on substance abuse treatment and advocacy services for Salt Lake City’s homeless population. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Phoenix and her master’s degree in social work from the University of Utah. Sandra is a member of the graduate chapter of the Greater Salt Lake Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and has served on numerous boards and councils.

Sandra is the first Black American woman elected to the Utah State Legislature. She is a member of the Utah House of Representatives where she has proudly served District 21 since 2015. She successfully passed legislation banning knee on the neck restraint by law enforcement, requiring cultural training for school resource officers, increasing job opportunities for the formerly incarcerated, removing the provision that allow for slavery in the Utah state constitution, and declaring Juneteenth a state holiday.   Sandra serves as the assistant minority whip of the Utah House minority caucus and is vice chair of the Executive Office and Criminal Justice appropriation committee. She is a member of the Health and Human Services, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Executive Appropriation committee, Fairpark oversight panel, and the Child Welfare oversight panel.

David Litvack

David Litvack, MA, brings policy and programming experience from serving in various levels of government. He was director of the Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC) in the Salt Lake County Mayor’s Office, and both deputy chief of staff and, most recently, senior policy advisor in the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office. Litvack also served in the Utah State House of Representatives from 2000 to 2012. He is a graduate of Westminster College and earned a Master of Arts in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.

Anthony Loubet

Anthony's father was an immigrant from Mazatlán, Mexico, who helped build Anthony's childhood home in Moorpark, California, through sweat equity in its construction as part of a Habitat for Humanity-type program. Anthony learned the value of hard work and helping others from his father's example.

When starting his family, Anthony worked several odd jobs, including pest control, sales, providing financial planning, tax preparation, insurance, and investment services - while also taking college courses at night. After much hard work, he earned an associate degree and later a bachelor's degree in business management. Anthony went on to earn a law degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. While in law school, he served as president of the Student Bar Association, class president, and the managing editor of a public law journal and lead editor of an education law journal.

Anthony is currently the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for a company based in Utah that supports the needs of intellectually disabled adults. Prior to that, Anthony served as the senior policy advisor for a Salt Lake County Councilmember. Anthony also served as a Deputy County Attorney in the civil division for Utah County, assisting the Board of County Commissioners in drafting and amending county ordinances, negotiating sensible contracts among various cities, governmental entities, and businesses, and advocating for the needs of the people.

Anthony is a lifelong Republican committed to protecting the unalienable, God-given rights of life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. He has always had a goal to serve those around him and believes that being your representative will allow him to use his skills to help strengthen the people of the west side.

Anthony and his wife Kira live in Kearns, where they are raising their six children.

Jules Martinez

Jules Martinez, LCSW, CPSS (they/them) is the Clinical Director at Latino Behavioral Health Services (LBHS) where they work as a therapist with Latinx youth and young adults and as a supervisor to a team of therapists and peer mentors. Jules is a person in long term recovery, who, after a decade of learning through music, art, farming, travel and other experiences, returned to school to pursue a career in the mental health field. They received an Honors Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and a minor in Integrative Human Biology from the University of Utah and a Masters of Social Work from Portland State University. They have been deeply involved in the peer movement as well as diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the behavioral health care system in Utah for a decade.

In 2013 Jules helped to co-found Latino Behavioral Health Services (LBHS). In 2019, they helped to start Communities United for Racial and Ethnic Inclusion and Equity (CUREIE), a subcommittee working with the Office of Substance Use and Mental Health (OSUMH) to create a more culturally and linguistically responsive behavioral health care system in Utah. They served on the West Side Community Review Board through University of Utah University Neighborhood Partners in 2022 and 2023 and on the Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Leadership Team for South Salt Lake in 2022.

They are currently the co-chair for the Utah Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council, sit on the Primary Children's Healthy Kids Scorecard Mental Health Leadership Team, and on the board of directors for the Utah Peer Network. It is both the overcoming of their personal barriers as well as their hopes for the future that drive Jules’ work. They are full of a fire to spread the sense of empowerment that they have received through the peer movement out into the community in a way that is accessible for all.

Jesler Molina

Jesler Molina is currently the program specialist for the Office of Professional Licensing focused on helping internationally trained applicants to become licensed in Utah. Mr. Molina is also the Political Director for the Venezuelan Alliance of Utah. He, as the President of the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF) during 2013-2015, contributed to the advocacy of the UN Sustainable Mountain Development (SMD) agenda through research for the 2012 Report on SMD in North America for the UN RIO+20 conference, and by making a statement at the UN Open Working Group on SDG in December 2013.

Philip Osteen

Philip Osteen, PhD, MSW, is a professor and dean of the College of Social Work at the University of Utah. Dr. Osteen has been working in a variety of positions in the mental health field since 1990, including case management, community-based residential treatment, and clinical research. His work in suicide intervention and prevention began after the loss of a client to suicide early in his career. Following that, he began studying the training of mental health professionals and non-professional gatekeepers. His recent work has shifted to evaluating interventions for high-risk groups such as middle-aged men, men of color, and queer men. Additionally, he is actively engaged in initiatives to expand access to higher education to minority and marginalized communities, such as the Indigenous Social Work Scholars program in the BSW Program, and the development of an online, bilingual Spanish language online MSW Program.

Dr. Osteen earned master’s degrees in social work and quantitative research methods, as well as doctoral degrees in social work and quantitative research methods from the University of Denver.  Before joining the University of Utah, he held faculty positions at Florida State University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University of Denver.

Jessica Pryce

For the past 15 years, Dr. Pryce has been involved in child welfare, at multiple angles (direct practice, teaching + training & policy and research). She has published on child welfare related topics, such as, training and education, racial disparity and anti-poverty practices. She has presented at over 200 virtual and in-person conferences both nationally and internationally. She is the author of several op -eds focused on racial disparity and effective strategies to impact racial disproportionality within child welfare. Her TED Talk on Implicit Racial Bias in Decision Making has since been viewed over 1.3 million times. Dr. Pryce has worked on the frontlines of child welfare, conducted primary research, worked on policy with Florida’s legislature and taught graduate level courses in child welfare. Previously holding the positions of Child Protective Caseworker with the Department of Children and Families, the Deputy Director of the New York State Education Consortium and the Director of the Florida Ins titute for Child Welfare. She has maintained and cultivated a commitment to the wellbeing of vulnerable children and families, the sustainability of the child welfare workforce, and effectively addressing inequity.

Jeff Shumway

Jeff Shumway helped launch the Office of Professional Licensure Review in July 2022. Prior to accepting that role, Jeff worked with The Bridgespan Group and Social Finance where he advised major nonprofits, philanthropies, and government agencies. As director of the Office of Professional Licensure Review, Jeff leads a team of employees who take a critical look at all state licensure requirements to inform the state legislature on necessary changes and updates to those requirements. Jeff holds a degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a degree in Economics from Brigham Young University.

Laura Summers

Laura Summers serves as the director of industry research at the University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, conducting research on health care data, policies, and impacts to the Utah health care sector.

Summers has expertise in health care, economics, and public policy. Her professional experience includes research for the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In health care, Summers’ research focus is state-level health reform, with a particular focus in Medicaid, public health, and health insurance markets.

Prior to joining the Institute, Summers was the senior director of state intelligence at Leavitt Partners, where she prepared detailed studies of state-by-state comparative data and analyzed national and state health care programs, policies, and trends. In addition to providing research and consulting services to payers, providers, and other health care companies, Summers led health care reform initiatives in states such as Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington State. Summers also oversaw the Leavitt Partners teams in designing, managing, and facilitating stakeholder engagement processes for state government projects.

Summers previously served as the research director of the Utah Foundation – a nonprofit research firm that publishes reports on issues affecting government policies. Summers received her master of public policy with an emphasis in public economics from Brigham Young University and her bachelor’s degree in economics from Westminster College.

Martell Teasley

Martell L. Teasley, PhD, MSW, is the associate provost for strategic academic initiatives of the University of Utah and former dean of the College of Social Work at the University of Utah. He served two terms as president of the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work. Dr. Teasley was professor and chair of the Department of Social Work in the College of Public Policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 2012 until 2017. As the lead investigator on the social work profession’s Grand Challenge to Eliminate Racism, his major areas of research interests are African American adolescent development, school social work practice, and diversity in social work education.

He is the former chair of the Social Work and Disaster Recovery Program at Florida State University College of Social Work. He served in the U.S. Army for 10 years and participated in the First Persian Gulf War as a Licensed Practical Nurse. His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Fayetteville State University in North Carolina in 1994. He earned a Master of Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 1996, and his doctorate in Social Work in 2002 from Howard University, located in Washington, DC.

Doug Thomas

Doug Thomas (he, him, él) is a Community Health Director at Intermountain Health focused on Children’s Health issues which include mental well-being and suicide prevention, as well as supporting efforts to address equity, social determinants of health, food scarcity, chronic disease, and injury prevention.

Previously, Doug worked as a psych tech, human service worker, case manager, crisis worker, social worker, County Director and State Director in Utah's public mental health system.

LaShawn Williams

Dr. LaShawn C. Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Relational Change Strategist focusing on the interactions between people and across differences where connection matters most. Her anti-oppression work centers on the effects of marginalization, isolation, and disconnection in personal and professional spaces. She specializes in interpersonal and organizational change from the margins to the center. Grounded in Relational Cultural Theory, Dr. Williams works with leaders at every organizational level to help them engage the taboo concepts of interpersonal shame and humiliation, their impacts on relationships and ways we can communicate to create pathways toward mutual empathy and empowerment. She is an accessible consultant to local, regional, and national organizations. She is passionate about Relational Transformation and eagerly supports individuals, couples, families & groups through her practice, Relational Spaces at The Utah Center for Connection in Orem.