On Saturday, April 25th the top 10 Youthlinc Utah Young Humanitarian Award finalists will be interviewed at the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building at the University of Utah. We are thrilled to have these incredible community service leaders on our interview panel. They represent in the best in Utah education, business, non-profits, and civic engagement.
Amy Wylie, Executive Director, The Refugee Education Initiative
For the past 15 years, Amy Wylie has been an active community volunteer. She works with refugees and other underserved populations with an emphasis on the housing/living wage and access to education. Amy participated in former governor Jon Huntsman’s Refugee Working Group which resulted in major changes to refugee resettlement in Utah. Amy spent six years working for the State Refugee Services Office. Amy is a founding board member of the Utah International Charter School. Amy is also a founding board member and the executive director of The Refugee Education Initiative.
Chris Bray, Chief Executive Officer, Utah Nonprofits Association
Chris Bray has been the CEO of Utah Nonprofits Association (UNA) since January 2012 where she works to unify, strengthen and elevate Utah’s nonprofits. She has served for over 30 years in the nonprofit sector in a variety of nonprofit organizations. She teaches as an adjunct faculty member for local universities and sits on many local and national boards and committees. She received a Master’s Degree in Management and Leadership from Webster University, a Bachelor’s Degree from Utah State University, a personal coaching certification from Franklin Covey and a Certified Public Manager certification from The State of Utah.
James McDonald, Southern Utah University, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences
James H. McDonald serves as Dean of College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Southern Utah University. He is an applied cultural anthropologist who has 25+ years of fieldwork experience in rural west and central Mexico and the Maya Western Highlands of Guatemala. Much of his research centers on problems concerning rural development, inequality, globalization, power, and governance dynamics. His work includes Crisis of Governance in Maya Guatemala: Indigenous Responses to a Failing State (University of Oklahoma Press, 2013), which won the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Knudson Latin American Prize. Additionally he authored The Applied Anthropology Reader (Allyn & Bacon, 2002), along with a number of articles, book chapters, and reviews. He was also honored with a Fulbright Specialist Program posting at the Ecole de Gouvernance et’d Economie in Rabat, Morocco in 2013.
Juan Carlos Negrette, Director of Global Health, University of Utah Health Sciences
Mr. Negrette has more than 25 years of extensive international experience in health programs design, implementation and management. He has successfully directed health service delivery programs and commercial healthcare activities, and has structured and developed productive partnerships of strategic importance with relevant private sector companies and government entities, resulting in tangible improvement of the health and social conditions of communities and populations served. Mr. Negrette has effectively adopted and adapted commercial tools, techniques and approaches to child and maternal health interventions, and to family planning programs in different parts of the world. He has also designed and implemented effective strategic health marketing and communication interventions in challenging environments in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Fluent in Spanish and English; conversational in French and has basic knowledge of Portuguese.
Mr. Negrette was formerly the Managing Director for Africa and International Organizations at Johns Hopkins Medicine international which is the business unit within the Johns Hopkins Medicine (Hopkins) enterprise that channels and shares globally the knowledge and experience developed and accumulated by the Johns Hopkins University; its different schools including medicine, nursing and public health; and the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) with its renowned Hospitals and integrated delivery system.
Lori Bays, Human Services Department Director, Salt Lake County
Lori is passionate about helping others and has spent her entire professional journey serving individuals, families and communities, specifically focusing on vulnerable populations such as seniors, persons with disabilities, children and at-risk youth. Lori has more than 17 years of experience in Health and Human Services. Over the years, her career path has led her from direct service to the administrative and executive level.
Lori is currently serving as the Human Services Department Director for Salt Lake County overseeing health and social services divisions within the County as well as Library services and the County’s partnership with Utah State University Extension Services. She was previously a Health and Human Services Agency Executive for the County of San Diego. Prior to that, Lori was the Director of the Office of Public Guardian for the State of Utah.
Earlier in her career, Lori worked in the behavioral health field with at-risk youth in residential, inpatient and outpatient settings. She holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology, a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist. Lori and her husband Charles have two children, Andrew and Stella.
Peter Ingle, Westminster College, Dean of the School of Education
Peter Ingle is the interim Dean of the School of Education at Westminster College. Peter has worked in special education and community service for over 25 years. After receiving his PhD in special education he began working as a professor at Westminster in 1997. His work in special education enabled him to lead the Mexico Youthlinc trip from 2006-2008 where much of their work was with a school for children with disabilities. At Westminster, Peter has continued to be engaged in service projects, mainly in the Hser Ner Moo community center in the city of South Salt Lake. In addition, Peter has co-lead a service based trip to Northern Thailand for the past 6 years. His work with community partners focuses on developing sustainable relationships that emphasize the strengths of the community partner over the work of the volunteers.
Rochelle Runge, Outreach Coordinator, Utah Commission on Service & Volunteerism
Rochelle joins us from the Maine Commission for Community Service where she served as Public Relations Specialist for several years. She brings with her more than 10 years experience in event planning, marketing, public relations and communications. Rochelle holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology, with a minor in Business focused in Marketing, from the University of Southern Maine. She and her husband Lee have been married nine years. They have two Australian Shepherds and enjoy taking them hiking and exploring new places. In her spare time Rochelle also enjoys cooking, volunteering for Australian Shepherd rescue, and spending time with family and friends.
Uwe Shaun Michel, Michel Foundation, Utah Rotary District Governor Elect
Born in Germany, in 1959 he immigrated as a child with his parents to America. Uwe married an amazing woman in 1973 and has 5 children and 5 grand children. He started a real estate business in 1978 with his brother Ollie. In 2007, Uwe and Ollie started the Michel Foundation. Uwe served on the board of trustees for the Utah Boys Ranch (now Westridge Academy) for 21 years and now serves as a trustee for Neuroworx. He has traveled to many parts of the world to serve the less fortunate. He has been asked to be Utah Rotary District Governor 2016-17. His success has come from the incredible friends who help direct his life, among them being his wife.