Our Board of Trustees
The Disability Law Center wishes to thank members of the Board for their many contributions. Their dedication to the staff and persons with disabilities in Utah has helped keep the DLC on the cutting edge of client-centered disability advocacy.
Darin Atkinson
Northwestern Mutual Financial
Darin is a Financial Advisor for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. He received his B.S. of Finance from the University of Utah and he is also a Certified Financial Planner®. Darin has chosen to participate on the DLC Board because he would like to be an advocate and a financial planning resource to parents of children that have special needs. Darin also would like to help formulate effective government policy for the disabled community.
Tom Brownlee
Citizen Member/Self-Advocacy Consultant
Tom is an author, lecturer, and self advocate. Tom began his own advocacy consulting agency, Brownlee Consulting, in 2001, and works as a trainer and guest-lecturer on self-advocacy and disability issues. Tom is also the Vice-Chair for People First, an advocacy group for persons with developmental disabilities. In addition to volunteering on the DLC Board, Tom works with the Governor's Council for People with Disabilities, the UTA CAT Committee, and the State Interview Panel Committee. He credits his success to the Arc of Utah saying, "The Arc of Utah taught me great advocacy skills!"
Barbara M. Campbell
Smith Barney
Barbara Campbell is currently the Second Vice President of Wealth Management and is a Wealth Advisory Specialist for Smith Barney. She received her B.A from San Jose State University and her MBA from University of Utah. Jane has experience helping a family member recover from a traumatic brain injury and hopes she can share her knowledge of being a caregiver to the Board. She believes the DLC to be an invaluable source of information for people with disabilities and that it can "…give hope to people who are feeling hopeless; a sounding board to people who feel unheard; a plan to people who feel their lives are out of control; and direction to those who don’t’ know which way to turn for help."
Jane Reister Conard, J.D.
Attorney
Jane has practiced health law for over 30 years, including 26 years as in-house counsel with Intermountain Healthcare. She received her B.A. from Macalester College, her M.A. from the University of Iowa, and her J.D. from the University of California, Davis. Jane is a member of the state bars of California and Utah. She has served as a member and past president of Women Lawyers of Utah and the Salt Lake County Bar. She was also a member and past chair of the board of the Salt Lake Valley Department of Health and the Central Region Council of the State Department of Workforce Services. Jane is a member and past board member of the American Health Lawyers Association and continues to write and speak at national conferences for the AHLA as part of her health law consulting practice. In 2006 Women Lawyers of Utah honored her as the "Utah Woman Lawyer of the Year". She believes the DLC "...can expand its role of education, referral, and advocacy to increase public awareness of access and service needs."
Bryce Fifield Ph.D
Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University
Bryce Fifield is the Director of the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University. He holds degrees from Utah State University and the University of Oregon. He has worked as a researcher, program manager, administrator, and professor at the University of Idaho and Minot State University. Bryce has spent his entire career working with people with disabilities and their families in both large in small communities. He recognizes that the DLC can help our communities recognize that people with disabilities are citizens just like everyone else and they deserve the same rights, assurances and opportunities.
Leslie Francis - President
University of Utah, Department of Philosophy
Leslie Pickering Francis is Alfred C. Emery Professor of Law and Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy at the University of Utah. She is the coeditor (with Anita Silvers) of Americans With Disabilities: Implications of the Law for Individuals and Institutions and author of Sexual Harassment as an Ethical Issue in Academic Life. She is a former member of the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging, and has longstanding personal and professional interests in issues of discrimination based on race, sex, age, and disability.
Bill Gibson
Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Bill Gibson joins the board with 13 years of service as the director of the Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He became involved with the DLC because he has "always admired and respected the work of the agency a great deal - particularly that of the Client Assistance Program and its Coordinator, Nancy Friel." He has been involved in advocacy since the 1970s when he worked on several grants for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. His vast disability rights experience includes having worked as a Field Services Coordinator for Vocational Rehabilitation and as a Rehabilitation Counselor for the Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Ken J. Martinez
Valley Mental Health
Ken Martinez is currently employed by Valley Mental Health as a Team Leader and clinician. He graduated from the University of Utah School of Social Work with an MSW and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He served for 10 years on the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing Board for Social Work. He has worked with severely and persistently mentally ill adults for more than 14 years. He brings to the Disability Law Center his belief in people's ability to recover and lead productive lives. His experience has always been based on instilling hope and treating everyone with respect.
Claire Mantonya, M.A.
D.D. Council Liasion
Claire Mantonya is the Executive Director of the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council. Claire has many years of experience working for the Division of Services for People with Disabilities supporting People First and building self-advocate leadership around the state. She worked for three years as the Family Support and Respite Manager for Easter Seals Utah and also had an aunt with disabilities who lived with her family as she was growing up in central Ohio. Claire has an undergraduate degree in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan and a masters degree in Adult Education from the Ohio State University.
Angela Martellaro
Comcast
Angela Martellaro is currently the Director of Customer Care at Comcast Cable. She is passionate about the fair and ethical treatment of all people and has a particular interest in accessibility for people with disabilities. "I want people with disabilities to have the same opportunities that the rest of society has." Angela has worked with several people with disabilities and has witnessed how they can become productive members of society and in the workforce.
Kevin Murphy - Vice President
Kipp and Christian
Kevin Murphy is an associate with the law firm of Kipp and Christian in Salt Lake City. Prior to joining Kipp and Christian, he worked in the public sector, first as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Utah, and then as a Deputy District Attorney for Salt Lake County. Prior to attending law school, he was a registered nurse working primarily in mental health settings in Logan and Salt Lake City. Both as a prosecutor and as a mental health nurse, Mr. Murphy gained an understanding of the often-tragic consequences of untreated mental illness. Mr. Murphy is married and has a grown stepdaughter and two sons.
Paul Newman
Attorney
Paul holds a law degree from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University and a B.A. from the University of Utah. He has chosen to participate on the DLC Board because it advocates on behalf of and provides legal services for members of an under-represented group. As a person with a disability and the father of a son whose learning disability went undetected in the public school system for several years, Paul understands the value of the DLC. "I believe my personal experiences and my legal background will allow me to help formulate goals and strategies that will help the DLC increase its efforts on behalf of those with disabilities." Paul believes the DLC should "educate people concerning their rights, advocate and sponsor legislation that protects those rights and, when necessary, commence legal proceedings to prevent and protect people from unfair and unlawful practices".
Lopeti S. Penimaani
Citizen Member - Salt Lake City, Utah
Lopeti has training in communications, dance and the performing arts. He joined the DLC Board because "as someone who is physically challenged, I recognize the need for fair representation. I am also multi-ethnic with a great interest in other cultures and cultural values." Lopeti spends his 'up' time assisting others, and looks forward to increasing awareness of the DLC among people with disabilities.
Ron Roskos
Brain Injury Association of Utah
Ron Roskos is was elected to the Board of Trustees as part of the DLC's efforts to increase collaborations with the TBI community. He brings with him a wealth of expertise in the area of brain injury. In his role as Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Utah, he has substantially increased services to consumers and family members. He coordinated and designed the TBI Return to Work Program and Co-Chairs the Brain Injury Association's Statewide Conference Committee. The BIAU's Conference is recognized as one of the most successful Brain Injury conferences in the country. Ron currently sits on the BIAU Resolution Dispute Committee and the Affiliations Committee for the Brain Injury Association of America.
Maria Schwartz MD
Physician
Dr. Maria Schwartz is a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician. Maria recently served as a Mayo Fellow Co-representative. As a person with a physical disability, she would like to bring a perspective of an individual with challenges who cares for patients with challenges. While volunteering on the DLC Board she’d like to advocate for people with disabilities and educate the public and increase exposure and awareness.
Victor Scott
PAIMI Advisory Council Liason
Mona Tausinga
Utah State Office of Education
Mona Tausinga is a current member of the Utah Special Education Advisory Panel with the Utah State Office of Education. She is also a current Executive Committee member for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Her most important reason for volunteering on the DLC’s Board is to share her experience of raising a child with a disability. This has led her to advocate on a grassroots level for individuals with disabilities in the workplace, in school settings, in hospitals with health care professionals, and the criminal justice system.
Grace Zuckerman, Ph.D.
Westminster College
Dr. Zuckerman is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Westminster College. She has been a parent and professional advocate for more than 45 years and was a teacher and administrator in public education for 35 years. While a resident of New York State, Dr. Zuckerman participated in opening public schools to children with disabilities and in organizing the first Special Olympics.