WLI Mission
Our mission is to elevate the stature of women’s leadership in Utah by improving society’s understanding of the value of diversity in leadership roles, training women in leadership skills, and conveying the positive impact female leaders have on economic development, vitality, and the overall health of the state.
Patricia Jones
CEO, Women's Leadership Institute
Patricia Jones is the CEO of the Women’s Leadership Institute. The mission of the institute is to elevate the stature of female leadership in the state of Utah. The organization was formed in January, 2015 through the visionary efforts of key business leaders to address Utah’s deficiencies in the presence of women at top levels of corporate and political leadership...
Ally Isom
Director of Institutional Messaging, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
A professional passionate about making a difference, Ally Isom is the Director of Institutional Messaging for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a global faith with more than 16 million members. Her portfolio includes enterprise identity strategy and messaging for diverse administrative, humanitarian…
Lori Chillingworth
Executive Vice President, Zions Bank
Lori Chillingworth has served as executive vice president of Zions Bank’s Small Business Division since June 2010. She overseas loan approval and management of the bank’s billion dollar portfolio of commercial loans under $750,000, including the US Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loan program…
Daniel Gomez
President, Gomez Corp
Daniel Gomez is a Financial Advisor with nearly 26 years of experience in the financial services industry. His preceding 18 years were spent in the telecommunications industry, while also attending the University of Utah during a portion of that time. Daniel is a Life Underwriters Training Council Fellow…
Katherina Holzhauser
Chief of Staff, Intermountain Healthcare
Katherina Holzhauser is Chief of Staff, Office of the President and CEO, where she helps accelerate the execution of Intermountain’s strategy and operations working closely with Intermountain’s Executive Leadership Team. She joined Intermountain Healthcare in 2013 to lead Information Systems Strategy…
Victor Ingalls
Senior Vice President of Operations, LendingClub
Victor Ingalls is the Senior Vice President of Operations, and head of the Lehi office at LendingClub. Headquartered in San Francisco, LendingClub was founded to transform the banking system to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding. Today, LendingClub’s online credit marketplace connects…
Alex Shootman
President and CEO, Workfront
As President and CEO of Workfront, Alex drives the overall strategy, vision, and execution for the company, ensuring that Workfront is a dedicated partner in helping its customers transform the work experience. Shootman brings more than 25 years of experience in all areas of revenue and profit generation for technology organizations, with…
Davis Smith
Founder and CEO, Cotopaxi
Davis Smith is the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand with a humanitarian mission. Smith is a serial entrepreneur who previously started Baby.com.br, Brazil’s Startup of the Year in 2012, and PoolTables.com, the largest retailer of pool tables in the US. Davis was Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s CEO of the Year…
Leslie Snavely
Chief Strategy Officer, CHG Healthcare
Leslie Snavely is CHG Healthcare’s Chief Strategy Officer. In her role, Leslie guides the company’s digital and growth strategy and drives business innovation to help its growing customer base, which includes medical providers in more than 100 specialties and healthcare facilities around the world.
Heidi Walker
COO, Salt Lake Chamber
Heidi Walker is a visionary team leader who brings more than 20 years of professional management experience to her role as COO of the Salt Lake Chamber. She is oversees a multi-million dollar operations budget and is responsible for the day-to-day administration and strategic planning for Utah’s largest and oldest business association…
Linda Wardell
General Manager, City Creek Center
Linda Wardell serves as chair of the Women’s Leadership Institute’s Executive Board. She is also the general manager of City Creek Center, the retail portion of City Creek, one of the largest mixed-use downtown redevelopment projects in the nation. With more than 25 years of experience managing and marketing shopping centers, Wardell oversees retail…
Jeff Weber
SVP People and Places, Instructure
Jeff Weber is currently the SVP People and Places at Instructure, a rapidly growing provider of the Canvas and Bridge learning management platforms focused on transforming online learning. Instucture has over 850 employees in multiple locations around the globe. Prior to Instructure, Jeff led the growth of the people function for …
Angela Atkin
Attorney, Ray Quinney and Nebeker
Angela E. Atkin is a Shareholder and Chair of the Women Lawyers Group at Ray Quinney & Nebeker in Salt Lake City. She specializes in all aspects of estate, probate, and trust matters, and practiced as a certified public accountant prior to attending law school.
Ms. Atkin has been included on the list of…
Ben Capell
Managing Director, Peterson Ventures
Ben Capell is the Managing Director at Peterson Ventures. He has been with Peterson Ventures since inception, raising over $90 million in capital, and investing in over 70 deals in his nearly 10 years of experience. Prior to joining Peterson Ventures, Ben was the first employee hired at an enterprise tech startup based in…
Amanda Covington
Executive Vice President, Communications & Government Affairs, Larry H. Miller Management Corporation
Amanda Covington has more than 20 years of experience leading corporate communications and government relations strategies impacting financial communications, crisis communications, domestic and international media/public relations…
Sophia DiCaro
CCO, The Cynosure Group
Cathy Donahoe
Chief of Team, Talent and Culture, Venafi
Cathy Donahoe has been a leader in the human resources field for more than 25 years with a passion for all things people and places. Her experience extends to recruiting, retaining and rewarding some of the top talent in the tech industry through building teams, creative programs and strong cultures…
Erika George
Professor of Law, University of Utah
Erika R. George is the Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law and directs the Orbert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah. She teaches constitutional law, international human rights law, international environmental law, international…
Jonathan Hafen
Attorney, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless
Jonathan O. Hafen is an attorney at Parr Brown Gee & Loveless. He typically represents businesses either bringing or defending lawsuits. Lately, he has spent a significant part of his professional time seeking to recover tens of millions of dollars on behalf of victims of one of the country’s largest ponzi schemes.
In addition…
Deneece Huftalin, PhD
President, Salt Lake Community College
Dr. Deneece G. Huftalin was named the eighth President of Salt Lake Community College in September 2014 and feels privileged to have served SLCC students, faculty, and staff for more than two decades. In her tenure as President, Dr. Huftalin has launched a Collegewide strategic planning cycle which has produced a new vision, mission…
Peggy Larsen
Sr. VP, Workers Compensation Fund Insurance
Peggy is the Senior Vice President in charge of sales and marketing for the Workers Compensation Fund. Peggy is responsible for business retention, sales and development as well as the advertising and PR of WCF. Peggy has been with WCF for the past 20 years where she has been with WCF for the past 20 years where she has…
Becky Marquette
Director University Development, Western Governors University
Becky is currently leading university development initiatives at WGU with the belief that education provides individuals and families with one of the surest pathways to a better life because every individual has the capacity for learning and attainment. Most recently Becky was Director of Operations for L3 Technologies where…
Jeffery R. Nelson
President, Nelson Laboratories
Jeffery R. Nelson is a passionate leader who has dedicated his career to improving the quality of life for people around the world by helping ensure medical products are safe, and sterile and effective, and adhere to the highest quality standards. Jeffery has worked in the contract testing space for more than 25 years, most recently as President of Nelson Laboratories, a leading…
Kirsten Rappleye
Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Spencer J. Cox
Kirsten Rappleye was appointed Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Spencer J. Cox in November of 2017. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing the Lt. Governor’s robust policy portfolio, including initiatives related to suicide prevention and mental health, homelessness, women’s leadership, opioid abuse prevention, rural economic development…
Josh Romney
Chairman, Intercap Lending, Inc.
Bio coming soon…
Aubrey Robison
VP, People, Young Living
Aubrey (Robison) Bates,VP, People at Young Living, is recognized, not only as a champion of workplace diversity but also as a pragmatic strategist that coaches others on how to hire and retain talent. Her passion, drive, and a keen awareness of cultural and societal undercurrents are a unique blend which keeps her fresh in her field and in tune with the larger…
Bryan Scott
CEO, Loyal Perch Media
Bryan Scott currently serves as the CEO of Loyal Perch Media, a local newspaper publishing company that currently operates 13 newspapers in the Salt Lake Valley. The City Journals have been published in the area for over 26 years. Since Bryan was named CEO in 2014, he and his team have grown the number of community…
Aaron Skonnard
CEO, Pluralsight
Aaron Skonnard is the CEO of Pluralsight, a fast-growing enterprise technology skills platform. Aaron cofounded Pluralsight in 2004 and has since grown the company to more than 1,000+ employees and 1,500 expert authors. Aaron’s passion for technology began when his father bought him an Apple Macintosh and one of the first Compaq PCs…
Craig Wagstaff
President and CEO, Dominion Energy
Craig C. Wagstaff is president of Dominion Questar. Wagstaff joined Questar in 1984 and has held various leadership positions throughout his career. Prior to his current position, he was president of Questar Gas and executive vice president of Questar Corp. He serves on various industry and community boards, including…