The foundation is led by energetic problem-solvers who are committed to creating positive social change. Our team reflects the character, history, and future of our state.
Board of Trustees
Greg Warnock, Ph.D. Chairman, is a founding Managing Director of Mercato Partners, a growth equity investment fund that blends financial capital with world class sales execution. Dr. Warnock was a co-founder of vSpring Capital, a regional venture capital firm now managing over $300 for early-stage investment where he served as Coordinating Managing Director during critical formative years. He is recognized as one of the most prolific regional angel investors, and is the creator of Junto Partners, which provides younger entrepreneurs with relevant training, experience and ongoing assistance for new business launches. He holds a degree in Computer Science, a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a PhD in Entrepreneurship and Venture Finance from the University of Utah.
Mary Hall, Vice Chair, is a civic leader in Ogden. Mary has created, built and served in positions of leadership in many of Weber County’s most important institutions, including Weber Pathways, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, Golden Spike Empire Travel, Junior League of Ogden and Ogden City School District Capital Facilities. She currently serves on the boards of Weber State University and the American Red Cross. She is an avid hiker, fly fisher and political volunteer. She holds a BS from Weber State University.
Jeramy Lund, Treasurer, is the CEO of Cairn, Inc., a private wealth management firm and serves as the President of the Board of Trustees for Recycle Utah, on the Young Ambassadors board for The Nature Conservancy of Utah and on the University of Utah Business Alumni Association. Mr. Lund is a trustee of the Lund Foundation. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BS Magna Cum Laude from the University of Utah.
Brent Andrewsen, Chair of the Professional Advisors Committee, a shareholder with Kirton & McConkie's Corporate and Tax Section. His practice includes estate planning, probate and trust administration, gift taxation, tax-exempt organizations, charitable trusts and foundations. He is a member of the Utah Bar association and is a frequent speaker on issues regarding tax-exempt organizations, planned giving, and estate planning. Brent has sat on the boards of various charitable organizations including the Utah Planned Giving Roundtable, Hawkwatch International, Boy Scouts of America, and the National Planned Giving Council. Mr. Andrewsen Chairs the Professional Advisors Committee.
Sharon Cook is senior vice president of marketing and public relations at Mountain America Credit Union and previously served as director of marketing for the AlphaGraphics global franchise and as director of brand strategy for Beneficial Financial Group. Sharon has served on committees or in board positions for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Primary Children’s Medical Center, Coldwell Banker Community Foundation, Boys and Girls Club, United Way and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Utah Technology Council, the Executive Committee of the American Heart Association, the Women’s Advisory Committee for the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, and Women in Business at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Westminster College with a bachelor's degree in Communications and Public Relations and Chairs the Development Committee.
Patrick de Freitas is an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. He has served as chairman of the national Institute for Conservation Leadership and Seattle's Laird Norton Family Foundation. Patrick gives cogent advice on organizational and nonprofit management. He has been intimately involved in the initiation and startup of several organizations including a bookstore, two philanthropic foundations, a summer-stock theater company, an archival and record keeping service, a citywide volunteer tree care program, and a biotechnology company. In most of these ventures, he was principal, founder, or co-founder. Patrick received his masters in Public Administration from the University of Utah.
Stephanie Harpst is a civic leader in Salt Lake City. She retired in 2010 from Wells Fargo where her responsibilities included corporate giving and government relations. A native of Minneapolis, she has a B.A. in Psychology from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN and a Masters Degree in Social Work with an emphasis in community planning from the University of Utah. Before joining Wells Fargo, Stephanie worked for Salt Lake City managing its Community Development Block Grant, HOME and other federal programs. She has over 25 years in experience working in the community arena including urban planning, affordable housing, technical assistance for nonprofits, corporate responsibility and meeting facilitation.
Lewis Hower is the Director of the University of Utah Impact Fund. Lewis served as the Marketing Manager for the Sorenson Housing Opportunity Fund, an affiliate of Huntsman Gay Capital Impact Partners, where he focused on fundraising and finance operations and has managed finance and operations for Unitus Investment Group where he worked with the founding team of Unitus Capital in their spin out from the international microfinance accelerator Unitus, Inc. Lewis holds a B.S.E. in Bioengineering from Arizona State University where he spent time working in biotechnology research and small business operations.
Hunter Jackson, Ph.D., is Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Navigen, Inc., Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Technology Venture Development at the University of Utah, and serves as Executive Chairman of NeuroAdjuvants, Inc. He is a member of the Governing Authority of the Utah Science, Technology, and Research Economic Development Initiative (USTAR). Dr. Jackson was a co-founder and served as Chairman and CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: NPSP) from 1986 to 2006. He received the 1998 Utah Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the 2002 Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology. Dr. Jackson has a B.A. from the University of Illinois, a Ph.D. in Psychobiology from Yale University, and did his postdoctoral work in the Neurosurgery Department at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
Kimberley Jones founded Vérité based upon a vision for taking media to a digital communications platform. As CEO of Vérité she is focused on digital production for sales, marketing and training communications as well as web-based business applications. For over twelve years she has been the driving force behind the company's growth and project accomplishments. She is also the Chairman of the Board for the Utah Women Technology Council and a Trustee on Westminster College's MBA Advisory Board.
Scott McQuarrie is the president and majority shareholder of BTS Investments, Inc. Scott has over 25 years of experience in real estate development, project management and business management and is respected in the development community for project quality and advanced building techniques. He is involved with several private foundations and has a particular focus on education. Scott received his BS degree in Finance from Brigham Young University.
Elizabeth Tashjian, Ph.D. investment Committee Chair is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Utah. She is Director of the Garn Institute of Finance and a David Eccles Fellow. Dr Tashjian received her Ph.D. in Finance from Purdue University and her B.A. in Mathematics from Boston College. Her primary research interests are in corporate financial distress and futures contract design. She won the Marvin J. Ashton Teaching Excellence award in 1999 for her work in developing the University of Utah Student Investment Fund. She serves on the Academic Advisory Council of the Turnaround Management Association. Dr. Tashjian is Vice President for Education and Youth at Congregation Kol Ami and serves on the board of the United Jewish Endowed Trust of Utah. Dr. Tashjian is a member of the Investment Committee.
Brent Thomson is the co-founder and former CEO of Jive Communications, a voice over IP telephone providers. He is a gifted problem solver with the technical and operational skills to take an idea from inception to roll-out to long-term execution. Brent has a BS in computer science from Brigham Young University.
Investment Committee
Sterling Jenson is the Regional Managing Director of Wells Capital Management, a unit of Wells Fargo & Company. Mr. Jenson is responsible for separate account portfolio management in the mountain region states from Idaho to Texas with combined assets of over $4 billion. Mr. Jenson has extensive experience in both investment management and financial services. Mr. Jenson is a member of the Board of the Hale Theater and an actor. He is the chairman of the National Advisory Council of the Marriott School of Management at BYU and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Utah Permanent School and Institutional Funds. Mr. Jenson received a Bachelor's degree in Economics and an MBA from Brigham Young University.
Kent Misener is the Chief Investment Officer and treasurer of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators and president and director of research for Crossroads Investment Advisors. Deseret Mutual Benefits Administrators is the employee benefits arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its affiliated organizations and manages its assets. Mr. Misener received his bachelor’s degree in finance and economics and his MBA from Utah State University and serves on the Investment Committees of many organizations including the Foundation for Education and Self Reliance and Intermountain Healthcare.
Professional Advisors Committee
L. S. (Lee) McCullough, former Chair, is a member of the Board of Trustees is Chairman of the law firm Callister Nebeker & McCullough, which law firm specializes in banking, corporate, tax and commercial law. Lee's areas of practice include tax, estate and asset protection planning. Lee is a Fellow and State Chair in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a member of the Utah State Bar and the American Bar Association and past President of the Estate Planning Section of the Utah Bar Association.
Bruce Olsen is a shareholder with Ray, Quinney and Nebeker. Bruce is a leader in Utah in organizing and advising nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations, including some of the largest private foundations, universities, health care institutions, and charities in the State, as well as small exempt organizations.
Barbara Ray is CEO of Vantage Point, a boutique wealth management firm that serves as a Private CFO to high-net-worth executives and business owners in Salt Lake City and surrounding communities
Stephen D. Swindle is a shareholder and Managing Partner of VanCott whose practice is focused on estate planning, probate, real estate development, professional corporations, non-profit corporations, acquisitions, tax planning and general corporate matters. Mr. Swindle is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the areas of Corporate Law, Tax Law, and Trust and Estates and he was selected by his peers and recognized in Utah Business Magazine as one of the 2007 and 2008 Utah Legal Elite in the areas of Wills, Trusts and Estates Law.
Staff
Fraser Nelson, Executive Director, has held positions of leadership in nonprofit organizations for 25 years, from grassroots organizations to large nonprofits and state government, and has a deep understanding of the role they play in improving civic welfare. She is best known in Utah for her ten-year leadership of the Disability Law Center, and for her work with nonprofit organizations and their leaders in the areas of leadership and strategy. She is adjunct faculty at the University of Utah, a published author accomplished speaker. She has served as the President of the Board of the Utah Nonprofits Association and as the first Practitioner in Residence at the University of Utah Center for Public Policy and Administration. Ms. Nelson holds degrees in History and Political Science from Duke University; a Masters in Human Development from St. Mary’s University and was a Social Innovation Fellow at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Fraser's direct line is (801) 559-3005.
Hilary Wilson, our Donor Relations Manager, has been in the field of non-profit management for nearly fifteen years. A Pacific Northwesterner, she comes to the Community Foundation having maintained both donor and grantee relationships with diverse organizations from Seattle’s arts, cultural and social justice communities and has extensive experience managing large-scale events, projects and programs. Additionally, Hilary has been a political campaign fundraiser in New York, a cultural festival producer in Los Angeles, a violinist in a Mariachi band, and a lifelong community volunteer. Currently, she is an MBA candidate (June 2012) at Bainbridge Graduate Institute, the nation’s first business school to offer an MBA in Sustainable Business.
Hilary’s direct line: 801-559-2046.
