Exciting Changes are Happening at HEAL Utah
We have some staff moving on, some moving up, and some new team members just now moving in! You might have seen from our social media or recent emails that two of our HEAL staff members will be leaving this fall.
Our Executive Director for the past three years, Scott Williams, has announced his plans on retiring from his position at HEAL ( this will be his second attempt at retiring). We are excited for Scott and thank him for his amazing leadership these past years. Our Policy associate and previous Communications Associate of three years, Grace Olscamp, has recently moved to Eugene, Oregon, and has accepted an exciting position as a National Campaign Director for The Trout Unlimited. We thank Grace for her work at HEAL but are excited to see the new adventures she will be taking on!
THANK YOU!
With Grace leaving and the success of our Capacity Campaign, we were on the search for not one but two new policy associates! We are excited for
Alex Veilleux
Alex Veilleux (He/him/his) is a graduate of the University of Utah, where he earned a double major in Environmental Studies and Political science. His professional background includes working on several political campaigns, as a grassroots organizer for the Utah Rivers Council, and outreach and development for Seven Canyons Trust. Alex grew up on the east coast but moved to Utah when he was 18; he has done environmental work in Utah and internationally, in places like Germany and Cuba. This work includes Creating low-cost air quality sensors with the Atmospheric Trace Gas and Air Quality lab at the University of Utah.
Carmen Valdez
If you’ve volunteered with us, come to any of our virtual events, or bumped into us this summer at events like West Fest, you already know Carmen! She started at HEAL as our Grassroots Organizer and has held that position for over a year! She will now move into Grace's old position as one of our Policy Associates! She’ll be the lead for our nuclear and radioactive waste work. Congrats Carmen!
Kenna Patiño
With Carmen moving up to a Policy Associate, we went looking for someone to take her place. And we are delighted to have found Kenna Patiño, who will be joining us as our new Grassroots Organizer! Kenna Patiño is a graduate of Weber State University, earning a degree in botany with a minor in environmental studies. Her professional background includes spending time in Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, surveying rare plants, and working on various ecological monitoring projects. Kenna is a Utah native, where she has volunteered at multiple organizations. She has participated in many rallies and marches for social and climate justice here in Utah and nationally at rallies like The Women’s March in Washington DC. Kenna is currently a member of the Botanical Society of America and the Utah Native Plant Society. She has interned at HEAL Utah, where she worked on the legislative session of 2020. In her free time, Kenna loves to spend time with her adorable pup Aurora and cat Kida. She also enjoys doing yoga, trying different coffee, and catching up on reading. Welcome, Kenna!
We are still on the look for our new Executive Director and will keep you all updated with any developments. In the mean time make sure to RSVP for our film premiere and panel of AWAiRE! Here you can meet some of our new staff!