Josh Kanter
Chair
Josh Kanter is the founder and current Board President of the Alliance for a Better Utah. Through Josh Kanter Wealth Advisory Services, Josh provides thoughtful, personalized multi‐generational family, business and legal wealth advisory services to his clients. Using his legal and family office backgrounds, Josh works with clients in various areas, including family meeting design and facilitation, family and business structuring, family governance, family office design, trust, estate and tax planning, risk mitigation, “blind spot” review, development of family “owner’s manuals,” philanthropy, and more. This work is an outgrowth of Josh’s formal education, decades‐long legal experience, and the personal experience of running a single-family office for his own multi‐generational family for more than 20 years.
Josh has been a board member, committee member, or otherwise involved with Roland Hall, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Temple Har Shalom, the University of Chicago Law School, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Governor Huntsman’s Utah Methamphetamine Joint Task Force Subcommittee on Public Awareness, the Corroon for Governor Campaign, various public art projects, and many others. In 2011, Josh received a Heart and Hands Award from the Utah Nonprofits Association, and was named to the Community Foundation of Utah’s E-5-0, an annual selection of 50 “enlightened entrepreneurs.” Josh has been a frequent speaker and panelist on family, family office, political, economic, and philanthropic topics.
Johnathan Ruga
Vice Chair
Jonathan M. Ruga, M.B.A., C.P.A., J.D., is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sentry Financial Corporation. After graduating from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, he worked with the law firm of Parr, Brown, Gee & Loveless, where he specialized in the areas of financing and leasing, federal taxation, and real estate and business law.
Jonathan is currently a member of the board of trustees of St. Mark’s Hospital, the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, the Utah Democratic Lawyers’ Council, and the Utah Clean Air Coalition. Jonathan recently completed a term on the Board of Trustees of High Road for Human Rights, a six year term as a member of the Board of Trustees of Rowland Hall St. Mark’s, a seven year term as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, and a term on the Board of Trustees of The Road Home.
Laurie Hofmann
Treasurer
Laurie Hofmann has worked in the Nonprofit arena for over 30 years. She has served as an Executive Director, Event Planner, Health Educator, Fundraiser, Board and Volunteer Development officer and Strategic Development strategist for Nonprofit organizations.
Laurie is a current board member of Law Related Education (LRE), Alliance for a Better Utah (ABU), Utah Presents at Kingsbury Hall, the Salt Lake Committee on Foreign Affairs and the State board of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She is the past President of the Salt Lake Branch of AAUW. Past Nonprofit Board involvement includes, The Road Home, Planned Parenthood of Utah (PPAU), The Junior League of Salt Lake City (JLSLC), Utah Cultural Alliance (UCA), The Salt Lake County Art Committee, Utah Issues, the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault (UCASA) and advisory boards at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Laurie is a member of the League of Woman Voters, the Educational Resource Development Council (ERDC) at the University of Utah, the Salt Lake Council on Foreign Affairs and the Utah Women’s Forum. She holds a BS from the University of Utah in Health Promotion and Education, an MA from Westminster College, in Community Leadership (MACL) and graduate certification from the University of Utah in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution.
Crystal Young
Secretary
Crystal Young is a composer and coloratura soprano. She received her BA in Music Theory from BYU in 2002 (with minors in marketing, economics, and humanities), and her MA in Musicology/Composition from Queens College (City University of New York) in 2004. She is the founder of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera’s Vivace, and the co-founder and Marketing Director of The Salty Cricket Composers Collective. Crystal is the Utah chair of LDS Democrats, vice-chair of LDS Democrats of America, and serves on the boards or steering committees of UTOPIA Early Music, Planned Parenthood’s Political Action Committee, LDS Composers Network, Studio D, and the North American Association of Young Professionals. Past Board service includes: the Human Rights Campaign, Young Benefactors at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the OPERA America Young Friends of Opera steering committee, the Messaging, Women’s, and Platform committees for the Utah Democratic Party, Cottonwood Forum, the Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus, Mormons for Equality and Social Justice (MESJ), Utah Cultural Alliance, and former Communications Director of Young Democrats of Utah.
Anna Bloom
Board Member
Nathan Florence
Board Member
Nathan Florence earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, and taught art in Calcutta, India for a charity affiliated with Mother Teresa’s organization before returning to his native Salt Lake City in 2001. In 2010, Nathan helped found the Weilenmann School of Discovery, a K-8 Public Charter School located in Park City that teaches an innovative curriculum and inspires students to change the world. Nathan teaches art at the Weilenmann School in addition to selling his paintings, and is currently in the process of producing the documentary film Reconciliation: Art and Belief. The film is about the intersection of religion, art, and gay rights. He lives in Park City with his wife and two sons.
Jonathan Klein
Board Member
Jonathan Klein, a native of New York, currently resides in Park City. A former broadcasting executive, he served Group W Television and CBS for many years, first as President of Group W Television and CBS Joint Venture, and then as President of CBS Television Stations. Since retiring from CBS, Jonathan has been an independent consultant for various companies, including working as Acting Managing Director of Wilma Theater in Philadelphia and the General Manager of KCPW Radio in Park City, Utah. He is currently on the Board of the Clean Air Coalition of Utah, Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy, and the International Board New Israel Fund.
Katie Lieberman
Board Member
Monnica Manuel
Board Member
Monnica Manuel is co-founder and partner at RSG Performance, LLC and in addition to serving on the Alliance for a Better Utah Board, serves on the Board of Directors for The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake City, and the Board of Governors for the Salt Lake Chamber. Her career in sales, operations, and human resources across several industries have helped shape her approach to leadership and forge her passion for developing the next generation of corporate and nonprofit leaders. She has served as Head of Sales for The Professional Education Institute, SVP of Operations for GoHealth, Inc., and SVP of Human Resources for Advantmed, LLC. Monnica is a trained mPEAK Coach through UCSD’s School of Medicine and Center for Mindfulness and has more than 20 years of corporate leadership and coaching experience.
John Netto
Board Member
John Netto currently serves as President of Fossil Water. Previously, John co-founded and served as President of Water & Power Technologies, Inc. In his early career, John was employed by Olin Corporation in Idaho and Mount Olympus Waters, Inc. here in Salt Lake City. In 2011, John co-founded K’Nowbe, a company that combines 3D imagery, engineering, and architecture. In 2011, John was appointed to the Utah Pride Center’s Board of Directors and recently completed his term as President of the Board. John’s primary passions include civil rights, poverty, and homelessness.
Marc Rasich
Board Member
Marc Rasich serves as an invaluable legal resource for businesses in a broad variety of industries such as technology, manufacturing, and consumer goods providing practical, actionable guidance to C-suite executives, assessing and mitigating legal risk across a number of areas of law including corporate governance and control, employment, in-bound and outbound contracts and intellectual property among others, and resolving disputes when they arise. His capabilities are built on a foundation of 20+years spent litigating on behalf businesses as both plaintiffs and defendants in trial and appellate courts across the country.
Karen Shepherd
Board Member
Karen Shepherd’s career has been broad and varied. Most recently, she served as a Presidential appointment to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), representing the United States on its Board of Directors in London, England. Karen began her career as a college English teacher in Cairo, Egypt and at BYU, and in 1975, became the first woman to be Director of Salt Lake County Social Services. She continued work at Westminster College as the Director of Continuing Education until 1978 when she became the editor and publisher of Network Magazine, a Utah based magazine for women who work outside the home. Network soon expanded into Webster Publishing, a company which specialized in women’s health publications and originated the original publications of KUED’s Seven and the Salt Lake Visitor’s Guide.
In 1990, Karen was elected to the Utah State Senate where she served two years before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992. Following her time in Congress, Karen was a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard, a Lecturer in the honor’s program at the University of Utah, and a participant in international democracy-building efforts in Slovakia, Israel’s West Bank, Ukraine, and Russia. She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of the David Eccles School of Business and its Community Health Advisory Board, the College of Humanities Partnership Advisory Board, and the Fourth Street Clinic. She is a board member for UBS Bank USA and the O.C. Tanner Company. She has served on numerous Boards and Commissions, including the National Planned Parenthood Action Fund and PAC.
Diane Stewart
Board Member
Diane Stewart is a fine art collector, patron, and civic activist. She has a degree from Brigham Young University, and in 2014, opened Modern West Fine Art Gallery in Salt Lake City. Diane previously served as Vice-Chair of the Utah Arts Council and is currently a board member of the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera, Silver Screen Commission, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Center for the Arts Advisory Board, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and Intermountain Healthcare Foundation. In 2010, she served with Josh Kanter as Co-Chair of the Corroon for Governor campaign.
