U of U Center for Public Policy and Administration

Tricia Jack is the Program Manager for Education and Training at the Center for Public Policy & Administration (CPPA) and the co-director of the Utah Municipal Clerks Institute and Academy. Her areas of work include facilitation, training and development, and program evaluation. She also carries out policy research in areas such as health policy, higher education and social services and writes a leadership and management development column for Policy Perspectives. Tricia has a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the University of Utah and a bachelor's degree in History and Sociology (M.A Hons.) from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Anne O'Brien is the Manager of Academic Programs at Continuing Education at the University of Utah and the co-director of the Utah Municipal Clerks Institute and Academy. Anne's professional experience centers on managing complex partner relationships for both branded and OEM product lines. She has a proven track record in innovative business development, revenue generation programs and launch campaigns. The most recent of her significant roles in the high technology industry was as director of channel alliance sales for Volera, Inc., a Novell, Nortel and Accenture start-up venture. Anne played a significant role in defining and expanding Volera's distribution channel to include OEM, resellers and direct sales. Prior to that, Anne held numerous management positions within the sales and marketing divisions of Novell, Inc., the last of which was director of OEM Sales for the Net Content Division where Anne was responsible for contributing more than 60% of the division's revenue. Earlier in her career, Anne held a variety of product marketing and strategic partner management roles and worked for such well-known companies as Oracle Corporation, IBM Corporation, General Foods, Inc. and a start-up called VMARK, which was later acquired by Informix, Inc. She currently holds the position of director of Professional Education for the University of Utah. Anne holds her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Northeastern University, Boston.

Sandi Parkes, Ph.D., is the Associate Dean of Continuing Education at the University of Utah and has a wealth of experience in training and professional development. She is also Professor in the Master of Public Administration Program at the University of Utah, and past Institute Director for the Utah Municipal Clerks Institute and Academy. Her fields of interests are Leadership, Creativity, Team Building, Personnel Management, Organizational Development, and Organizational Change. A member of Pi Alpha Alpha National Honorary Society for Public Affairs and Administration, she holds a doctorate of Public Administration from Arizona State University, a master's degree in Public Administration, and a bachelor's in Theatre and Dance, both from the University of Wyoming. Dr. Parkes was a Faculty Associate in the School of Public Affairs at ASU, and worked as a training coordinator and facilitator for the Advanced Public Executive Program. As an independent consultant and trainer, she has worked in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The subject of her dissertation was "Knowledge Transfer Action Planning: A Model for Training Transfer."
W. David Patton, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) at the University of Utah. Prior to his position at the University of Utah, David was Director of the Center for Public Policy at Boise State University where he also was a Policital Science faculty member. While at Boise State, David managed several training programs including the Idaho Certified Public Manager Program, Mountain-West Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Institute, and the Idaho County Treasurers Certification. Dave has taught courses in public administration including public human resources, labor relations, organizational leadership, community development, urban politics, and policital leadership. David was the lead author of publication entitled Human Resource Management: the Public Service Perspective and he has published several articles in academic journals. David is currently teaching courses for the Master of Public Administration program, and teaching Certified Public Managers courses for the state. Dr. Patton received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Utah as well as his Bachelor Degrees in both Political Science and Economics. He also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Brigham Young University.
Ken Embley is an Associate Instructor and Consultant for the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) at the University of Utah. His primary responsibility at CPPA is to provide outreach programs tailored to meet the specific need of public and nonprofit organizations. His areas of expertise include the facilitation, consultation, instruction and administration of leadership, management and organizational development programs and services. Mr. Embley is an accredited Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Human Resources Certification Institute; Alexandria, Virginia. He has a Master in Human Resource Economics and baccalaureate degrees in Political Science and Management, all from the University of Utah.

Additional information is available on Mr. Embley's web site: www.kenembley.com
Rick Green oversees the operation and governance of the MPA program, and maintains relationships with alums, practitioners, and other stakeholders in the state and region. He teaches courses on administrative theory and public ethics. His research interests focus on public administration history and theory, public personnel policy, public ethics, and administrative law. He has published articles in most of the leading PA journals. His most recent articles address at-will employment in public agencies, and are co-authored with graduate students.  Rick completed his BA in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin (1977), his MPA(1980) at the University of Colorado, and his PhD at Virginia Tech (1987). He formerly directed the MPA Program at the University of Wyoming, and came to the University of Utah as MPA Director in 2001.
Kimberly Kniveton, is owner and founder of Ascent Coaching & Consulting.  She brings over 14 years of human resource, organizational development, training and coaching experience to her clients.  Kim's passion is supporting people and organizations in working together to achieve results and believes that building and maintaining trusting relationships provides the ultimate competitive advantage.  Kim's clients include small businesses to large Fortune 500 organizations where she was a key member in fostering organizational change.  While Kim currently lives in the United States, she has also lived and worked in the United Kingdom and Europe.  Kim has a BA in psychology and communications, obtained Her MBA in 2000 and received her coach specific training from CoachU.  She is a certified member of the 6 Seconds Emotional Intelligence Network, qualified to perform the Life Styles Inventory both with individuals and within organizations and qualified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).  Kim is also licensed to run both team and professional Producing Results programs with Best Year Yet.  Kim sits in various board positions within the community including the Vice President of Strategic Planning for the local chapter of the American Society for Training and Development and Secretary of the Utah chapter of the International Coach Federation.
Randee Levine is a Certified Process Worker who received her Diplomate in Process Work from the Process Work Center of Portland where she studied with Dr. Arnold Mindell and colleagues. She has a private practice in Salt Lake City, Utah, working with individuals, couples, families, groups and organizations to increase awareness, compassion, communication skills and creativity. Randee also teaches classes, provides trainings and supervision, and facilitates workshops, applying Process Work to a wide range of topics, including: conflict resolution, diversity and unity, communication, mind-body connection, art and creativity, addictions, inner work, relationships, social consciousness and organizational change. With a background in visual arts and music, Randee brings to her work with people her interest in the creativity that is inherent in the unpredictable and unique ways in which processes express themselves.

Process work is based on the work of Dr. Arnold Mindell. It is a cross-disciplinary approach to individuals, relationships and groups that supports personal and collective growth through increasing awareness and compassion. It is based on the attitude that disturbing or confusing experiences, when approached with curiosity and respect, lead to meaningful information that is vital for well-being. Process Work has found that the solution to problems is contained within the disturbance itself and provides a practical framework with methods for discovering the meaning in our experiences.
Michael E. Christensen, Ph.D., is the director of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel. Prior to this appointment in December of 2000, he served for nine years as the executive director of Utah Foundation, a private, nonprofit public policy research agency. At Utah Foundation he helped write two books on Utah; State and Local Government in Utah and Financing Government in Utah. While at Utah Foundation, he also received three national awards from the Governmental Research Association. In 1993, he received the "Special Achievement" award for a report entitled Utah's School Equalization and House Bill 65. In 1998, he received a "Certificate of Merit" award for the report, A Look at Federal and State Campaign Finance Laws. In 2001, he received the "Most Effective Citizen Education" award for the book Financing Government in Utah. He has also written articles in professional journals, newspapers and the Utah History Encyclopedia.

Prior to his employment at Utah Foundation, he was the deputy director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget and the State Planning Coordinator. As the State Planning Coordinator, he was responsible for the first edition of the Economic Report to the Governor, an annual publication now in its 20th year and recognized as one of the best state economic reports in the nation. Until his appointment to his current position with the Legislature, he served for 19 years as a member of the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. He is a member and past president of the Wasatch Front Economic Forum.

 In the seven years Michael has served as director of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, the office has received six national awards from the National Conference of State Legislatures for the following research reports he initiated and directed: "Demographic Profiles of Legislative Districts," "Medicaid Spending: Controlling Costs," "Senate Confirmation and Judicial Appointments," "The Future of Highway Funding," "Energy Policy Issues and Legislative Options," and "Utah Tax Primer". Under Michael's direction the office recently published Utah State Government: A Citizen's Guide. This book is designed to answer fundamental questions about state government for both the state's legislators and the general public. Michael holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Utah State University and a Ph. D. in history from the University of Utah. Michael has been an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Utah for more than two decades.
Jennifer M. Seelig has served as a legislator in the Utah House of Representatives since 2006. Professionally, she is a legislative policy and research analyst for 1-800-CONTACTS, where she, among other responsibilities, researches and develops position statements on issues. She has worked as a communication and legislative policy analyst in constituent concerns for the Utah League of Cities and Towns, the Salt Lake City Office of the Mayor and for the Salt Lake City Council. She served as the chair of Project CARE (Community Action to Reach the Elderly), a board member for the Literacy Action Center and on the Salt Lake City Planning Commission.  Ms. Seelig received a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Louisville, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Utah. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate within the University of Utah political science program.
Karen Okabe is the current Deputy Mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah. She has previously held positions as the Executive Director of the Utah Department of Human Resource Management; the Director of the Division of Labor and Anti-Discrimination within the State Labor Commission; the Executive Director of the Department of Human Resource Management in Salt Lake City Corporation, as well as other management positions. She has a B.A. from Northeastern Illinois University and an Master of Public Administration degree from Brigham Young University (BYU) as well as a certificate in Conflict Resolution from the University of Utah. Ms. Okabe taught in the BYU Master of Public Administration Program for ten years and currently works as adjunct faculty (Assistant Professor) in the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Utah.
D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli is currently serving as a Utah State Tax Commissioner having been nominated by Governor Huntsman and confirmed by the Utah State Senate in May 2006. At the time of her nomination to the State Tax Commission, Ms. Dixon Pignanelli was serving as Executive Director of the State Department of Administrative Services where she had served since her appointment in January 2005. Prior to the invitation to join Governor Huntsman's cabinet, Ms. Dixon Pignanelli served as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Murray City for seven years beginning in 1998. Ms. Dixon Pignanelli came to Utah state government with over 20 years experience in the public, private, and non-profit sector including at the federal, state, and county and city levels. Ms. Dixon Pignanelli has a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English from the University of Utah.
Constance B. White is the current Director of Western Region Electricity Generation Information System, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Previously she has worked as Director of the Utah Division of Public Utilities Commissioner of the Utah Public Service Commission, and Executive Director of the Utah Department of Commerce. Ms. White is also adjunct faculty (Associate Instructor) in the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Utah, where she has taught for several years.
Natalie Gochnour serves as the Vice President for Policy and Communications at the Salt Lake Chamber, Utah's largest and longest-serving business association. Natalie also serves as the point person for Utah's business community on health system reform. In previous roles, Natalie has served as a Counselor to Secretary Mike Leavitt at the U.S. Department Health and Human Services and Associate Administrator of Public Affairs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (both in Washington, D.C.); Governor Mike Leavitt's Deputy for Policy and Communications (where she served as his spokesperson); Deputy Director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget; State Planning Coordinator; and the Director of the Demographic and Economic Analysis section for the Governor's Office.  Natalie has both an undergraduate and graduate degree in economics from the University of Utah.
CPPA CPPA