Mallory is the director of demographic research at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Bateman 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.

Nata is originally from Bolivia and is half Peruvian and half Korean. Nata currently works at Latino Behavioral Health Services as the Director of Peer Services and is a graduate from the University of Utah with a master’s in social work. Nata has been working with the Latinx community for over five years and has developed several psychoeducational programs for children and their parents as well as a school peer support program for school districts around the state of Utah.

Santiago is CEO of Clinical Consultants and a local expert in the area of substance use disorder treatment and the therapeutic community model. 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. 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.

Nate is the Public Affairs Supervising Attorney at the Disability Law Center (DLC). In his current role, he oversees the DLC’s outreach, intake, public policy and communications teams. As the Public Affairs Supervising Attorney, he has greatly expanded the DLC’s public policy advocacy, built many relationships with members of the media to bring awareness to disability rights issues in Utah and increased the agency’s outreach/intake efforts to better serve underrepresented communities. In his previous role with the DLC, he was a staff attorney using both public policy advocacy and traditional legal methods to address Medicaid/healthcare issues, discrimination in the education and employment context, and ADA accessibility issues. He also worked on the DLC’s legal team that filed and settled a systemic class action lawsuit under Title II of the ADA/Olmstead to ensure the full integration of individuals residing in institutional settings. Prior to joining the DLC in 2015, Nate worked on numerous state and local political campaigns in Utah. He has a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Utah and a J.D. from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.

Dr. Diamond is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on sexuality, gender, and intimate relationships, and their implications for health and well-being over the life course. Lisa’s primary research areas include (1) fluidity in sexual and gender expression among women and men, (2) biological underpinnings of sexual desire and experience, (3) the impact of early-life adversity on social and sexual development, and (4) the implications of sexual well-being for physical and mental health. As a prolific writer, she is best known for her 2008 book, “Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire.”

Kristina is the daughter of H Jay Groves from the Ute Indian Tribe and Eugenia Joy Groves from the Hopi Tribe. Both her parents went to college for social work and taught her to give back to her community. Kristina has BS and MSW degrees from the University of Utah. She spent 17 years at her dream job working with Native Americans at the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake. Kristina began working at Amethyst Center for Healing providing mental health and domestic violence treatment in 2024. She is very proud of being part of Utah’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Task Force from 2020-2024 and helping to plan and hold the first Two Spirit/ LGBTQIA+ Powwow in Salt Lake from 2019-2023.

Joanne is professor emerita of social work at the University of Utah. She served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social Work Education and continues to serve as a member of the editorial advisory board, as well as on the Committee on Publications of the Society for Social Work and Research. She was also an active contributor to the Campbell and Cochrane Collaborations. She is a proponent of evidence-based practice, reproducible research, and multidisciplinary collaboration. She continues her work in evidence synthesis, serves on editorial advisory boards, and serves as a peer reviewer for multiple academic journals. She also serves occasionally as an expert witness in criminal cases regarding eyewitness testimony, recovered memory issues, and problems in forensic interviewing.

Andrew has been the Disability Law Center’s public policy advocate for 18 years. He works closely with elected officials, policymakers and community partners to enable individuals with disabilities to live self-determined, independent and integrated lives in their community. Prior to joining the DLC, he served as Medicaid policy director for the Utah Health Policy Project, where he focused on strategies to increase access to medically necessary care, improve the quality of care and manage costs within the program. Before joining UHPP, he helped low-income students and their families access community resources as West High School’s family involvement coordinator. He has a master’s in educational counseling and a bachelor’s in sociology.

Martell is the associate provost for strategic academic initiatives of the University of Utah and former dean of the University of Utah College of Social Work. 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 served in the U.S. Army for 10 years and participated in the First Persian Gulf War as a Licensed Practical Nurse. He earned hia Master of Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University, and his doctorate in Social Work from Howard University.

Kimberly is originally from Salt Lake City, and her parents are from Guatemala. Kimberly is proud to be a Guatemalan American because of her culture, food, and being able to be bilingual. Kimberly currently works at Latino Behavioral Health Services as a therapist and coordinator of substance use programs. Kimberly has been working with the Latino community for approximately three years and has developed the youth program, Fuerza, and groups for people seeking support with their addictions in SMART Recovery, and for their families, CRAFT. Kimberly’s goal is to provide mental health and substance use education in the Latino community to reduce stigma and to empower our community.

Dr. Vilsaint serves as on faculty at Harvard Medical School and as the Associate Director of Recovery Health Equity at the Recovery Research Institute. As a community psychologist and an international speaker, her research focuses on racial health equity in substance use disorders, reducing recovery-related discrimination, building recovery capital, and the effectiveness of recovery support services.