Nubia Peña, Senior Advisor on Equity and Opportunity, Director of the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs
on behalf of Governor Spencer Cox
Ms. Nubia Peña is the Senior Advisor on Equity and Opportunity to Governor Cox and
the Director for the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs where their mission is to promote an
inclusive climate for Utah’s growing diverse community through training, outreach and youth
leadership development. Ms. Peña is immensely grateful for the extensive experience acquired
during the past 15 years working as a community organizer, advocate, and ally for
systematically marginalized populations. She has the great opportunity to facilitate dialogues
amongst local and national leaders on complex topics of inclusion and racial justice working to
create equitable access in services and resources for historically disenfranchised communities.
Ms. Peña also designs and implements various workshops on creating culturally relevant, and
gender-specifific programming, specififically when working with youth and adolescents.
Ms. Peña is a proud former member of the zealous team at the Utah Juvenile Defender Attorneys where she advocated for youth rights during detention and delinquency proceedings. She is certifified by the National Juvenile Defender Center as a Juvenile Training Immersion Program facilitator. In addition, Ms. Peña is a national consultant dedicated to bringing awareness to intersections of trauma and the School-to-Prison Pipeline, an epidemic that targets
our most vulnerable youth by streamlining them into the juvenile justice system. She also serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. Ms. Peña has actively sought to bring awareness to issues of violence and systemic oppression through her professional endeavors and personal faith-based initiatives. She has a decade of experience assisting survivors of domestic abuse, sexual assault, human traffificking, and violent crimes as a Law Enforcement Victim Advocate. Since 2007, Ms. Peña has served as the Training and Prevention Education Specialist at the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault (UCASA) where she developed trainings on Youth Advocacy for Traffificked Survivors, Social Justice in Prevention Efforts, and Sexual Harassment in the #MeToo Era. Ms. Peña received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in May 2016. During that year, she was selected as one of 25 law students in the nation to be recognized and highlighted for her social justice activism in the National Jurist, a leading news source in legal education. She was also selected as the recipient of the National Juvenile Justice Network 2019 Emerging Leader Award due to her longstandin commitment to youth rights, empowerment, and leadership development. Ms. Peña was named in Utah Business Magazine’s 2020 40 Under 40 award recipients, recognized among the 2020
Heroes for Utah Philanthropy Day, selected as Sundance Film Festival 2021 Women’s
Leadership Celebration honorees and recently awarded the Utah Business Magazine’s Living Color recognition for service in driving equity and inclusion in the state.
Preferred Pronouns: She, her, hers
Natalie El-Deiry is the Director of Immigration and New American integration for the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah). In her current role, she works to provide assistance to businesses seeking to recruit a global workforce, while advancing the economic mobility and social inclusion of New Americans in Utah through strategies and policies that meaningfully improve the quality of life for immigrants, help energize our economy, and strengthen Utah communities. Prior to her role at Go Utah, Natalie served as the Executive Director for the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake which served over 2,500 refugees and immigrants annually. She brings with her over 18 years of nonprofit and public administration experience, largely serving immigrant communities.
Phil Dean is the chief economist and public finance senior research fellow at the Gardner Institute.
Dean most recently served as former Governor Herbert’s Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) after having previously served in the Herbert administration as the State Budget Director and Chief Economist. In this capacity, he directed the work of GOMB in preparing the Governor’s budget recommendations and oversaw GOMB’s state revenue estimates and economic analysis. He served the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) on the Executive Committee and as Western Regional Director. He also teaches economics, public policy, and public finance as an adjunct instructor and serves as Co-Chair of the Utah Economic Council.
Prior to joining GOMB in 2013, Dean worked for the Utah Legislature for nearly a decade, specializing in the areas of tax and education. He began his professional career in Sacramento, working on the state budget at the California Department of Finance, where he specialized in education.
Dean holds master’s degrees in public administration from BYU and economics from the University of Utah, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from BYU.
Liz Armour-Roth, RN, BSN, MHL
Liz Armour-Roth is a registered nurse with an extensive clinical background. She is the Director of Clinical Operations at University of Utah Health Plans and specializes in population health. Her focus is developing programs that help individuals and groups achieve and maintain optimal health. This includes promotion of wellness, closing gaps in care and managing chronic and complex conditions. Liz’s approach includes partnering with the community, industry, local government and healthcare systems to improve health outcomes. Liz lives in Salt Lake City Utah. She enjoys reading and long walks with her dog Odie.
Commissioner John L. Valentine
John Valentine was appointed by Governor Gary R. Herbert to serve as chair of the Utah
State Tax Commission in 2014. The Tax Commission is comprised of four commissioners who
have the constitutional duty to administer and supervise all of the tax laws of the state, including
property tax, income tax, franchise tax, sales tax, gasoline and all miscellaneous taxes. The
Commissioners promulgate rules, advise the legislature and governor on tax issues, and
adjudicates tax disputes.
Prior to his appointment, John served in the Utah Legislature from 1988 to 2014, first in
the House of Representatives from 1988 to 1998 and then in the Senate from 1998 to 2014. He
served two terms as Senate President from 2005 to 2008.
Commissioner Valentine was born in Fullerton, California and obtained a bachelor’s of
science degree in accounting and economics from Brigham Young University in 1973 and a juris
doctorate from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark School of Law in 1976. He was a managing partner in
the law firm of Howard, Lewis and Petersen based in Provo, where he specialized in federal and
state taxation, estate planning, contracts and business law. A Fellow in the American College of
Trusts and Estate Counsel and a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel, he was
awarded the Tax Practitioner of the Year by the Utah State Bar in 2008.
He has been an adjunct professor of law at BYU, a certified mediator with Utah Dispute
Resolution, a Utah State Bar Examiner and a member of the Tax Section and Tax Specialization
Committee of the American Bar Association. He is the second vice president of the Federation of
Tax Administrators and the immediate past chairman of the Multistate Tax Commission.
An avid emergency responder, Commissioner Valentine is a lieutenant with the Utah
County Search and Rescue Team, an advanced emergency medical technician (EMT-A) and
National Association of Search and Rescue instructor.
Commissioner Valentine is married to his wife, Karen, and they have six children and 16
grandchildren.
Theresa Foxley
A Utah native, Ms. Foxley is passionate about promoting the Beehive State. She has served as EDCUtah’s President and CEO since 2017 and has helped usher in a new era that is highly focused on internal team culture, driving stakeholder value, and economic development preparedness. A recovering attorney and self-described “deal junkie,” Theresa has enjoyed being part of Team Utah’s efforts to attract dozens of companies on expansion and relocation projects representing various industries throughout the state, including Goldman Sachs, Stadler Rail, and Facebook. Prior to joining EDCUtah Theresa was a senior leader at the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Earlier in her career, Theresa represented a diverse set of clients in private legal practice on a multitude of general corporate and financial matters. Theresa lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and son. They love spending time outdoors together with their Bernese mountain dog.
Hometown
Salt Lake City, Utah
Education
JD, University of Utah / BA Political Economy, Utah State University
Wing Hoe Yee, 茹咏浩 is the Manager of WTC Utah’s Satellite office at Utah Valley University(UVU). Wing’s expertise is client outreach, business development and global supply chain.Wing helps Utah companies to grow internationally through grants, resources and consulting services that are offered by WTC Utah. Wing is originally from Ipoh, Malaysia. After finishing his undergraduate in Malaysia, he went abroad for his internship in Taiwan. He then came to Houston, TX in 2016 before he came to Utah for his MBA degree in 2019. He’s fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, Malay and English. Prior to joining WTC Utah, Wing worked for Pacific Precise International in Taiwan, who also owns factories in China and Malaysia to import heavy duty tie down equipment for the trucking industry across the United States, which allowed Wing to travel to 40 different states in the country.
Gerritt Vander Linden
Gerritt has been with the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) since April of 2022. He currently works as a Business Development Analyst, helping companies to relocate or expand into Utah. He is studying economics and political science at the University of Utah. Gerritt also served his church mission in Taiwan, learning Mandarin and serving the people th
Laurie Stringham, Chair
At-Large A
Salt Lake County
Elizabeth Weight
Utah House of Representatives
Personal and Career Information
Profession – High School Teacher
Professional Affiliations – American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Utah; Central Utah Federation of Labor; Utah League of Women Voters; Board Secretary, Snake Creek Mutual Water Company
Education – B.S. Secondary Education – Utah State University; M.A. Linguistics – University of Utah
Laura Holtrop Kohl MS, RDN
Laura Holtrop Kohl is a Public Health Dietitian in the Utah Department of Health & Human Services, Active Living (HEAL) program at the Utah Department of Health. She works to improve food environments and increase healthy food access with initiatives across the state. Laura completed her Master’s degree in Human Nutrition at the University of Utah and has experience as a retail dietitian at Harmon’s grocery store and as a nutrition coordinator at Utahns Against Hunger.
Dr. Man Hung is a professor at Roseman University of Health Sciences and University of Utah. She is also the owner of Analytic Galaxy, an information technology company focusing on data analytics and artificial intelligence. Dr. Hung has multiple graduate degrees and in-depth background in scientific research, statistics, information systems, education and business administration, and is a well-known international scholar. She enjoys music, arts and sports.