The University of Utah has the opportunity to strengthen each of the communities it touches by shaping and extending the power of partnership. In our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion priority areas, we commit to “actively cultivate internal and external community connections where trust is built, the effects of injustice are uprooted, and long-term and sustainable outcomes and relationships are developed.” By drawing on all our resources—including research and innovation—we can boost community relationships and increase their capacity to do extraordinary things.
Speakers
Emma E. Houston
Assistant Vice President for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
Chief Diversity Officer
The University of Utah
Moderator
Emma E. Houston brings significant experience in working with teams to create inclusive spaces and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion to create a positive impact across the community. She is a longtime community advocate and volunteer who serves on several boards and commissions.
AVP/CDO Houston is the former diversity & inclusion director for Salt Lake County Government, the former chair of the Utah MLK Jr. Human Rights Commission, and a member of the Utah COVID-19 Task Force. She was honored with a 2022 Individual Human Rights Day Award by the Human Rights Commission and Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office in December 2022.
Rebecca Chavez-Houck, MPA
Managing Member
Aspira Public Affairs, LLC
Panelist
Rebecca Chavez-Houck (she/her) has worked for myriad local nonprofit organizations, as a public affairs staffer and governance volunteer. From 2008-18, she represented the constituents of District 24 (Downtown, Avenues, Capitol Hill, Federal Heights, and Guadalupe neighborhoods) in the Utah House of Representatives. She holds an Executive Master of Public Administration (2006) and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication (1982) from the University of Utah (where she serves as adjunct faculty in the MPA program), as well as a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from eCornell (2020).
Brione Lockett, Ph.D. MPH
Assistant Professor Health Equity & Wellness
Tennessee State University
Panelist
The Illinois native holds four degrees from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) in History and Africana Studies, a Master’s in Public Health, and Doctorate in Health Education.
Dr. Lockett (he/him) was recently an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences and served as the Coordinator for African American/ Black student Programs at Utah Tech University (Formerly known as Dixie State University). Over the last few years, he served as an instructor in the Africana Studies and the Education department, as well as an Administrative assistant within the College of Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He has also served as a two-term SIU Board of Trustees member. Dr. Lockett recently served on Utah’s Ethnic Studies Coalition, was a reviewer for the American Public Health Association (APHA), and has served as a member of various public health, professional, university committees, and academic organizations.
He has worked with both Illinois State and Congressional leaders. He also coordinated a statewide public health career fair, worked with the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Health board working with Native Americans, and served as a member of a Student Outbreak Response Team (SORT) that conducted wellness checks for elderly persons living in an assisted living facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Lockett is an Extension Assistant Professor in Cooperative Extension within the College of Agriculture at Tennessee State University (TSU), a Historically Black College and & University (HBCU) located in Nashville, Tennessee. In his current role, he has participated in the creation of a new Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) focused on whole health, food access/ food insecurity, and awareness and coordination of community resources. His current research, work, teaching, and facilitated workshops surrounding behavioral health, substance use, suicide, infant & maternal mortality, prostate cancer, and leadership development. His current work also includes implementing health equity, wellness, health disparities, social determinants of Health (SDOH), and structural inequity programs and workshops that serve various populations
Kevin Kahakula’akea John Fong
Founder and Principal, Kahakulei Institute
Panelist
Kevin Kahakula’akea John Fong is a nationally recognized cultural translator, facilitator, and speaker in transformative justice, leadership development, and organizational design. Kevin is the founder and principal of the Kahakulei Institute, whose mission is to weave people and possibilities to cultivate healthy, equitable, and beloved communities.
Prior to developing his practice, Kevin worked in the private sector for five years. Kevin later moved to the non-profit sector as the Founder and Director of the Clinical HIV Program and Teen Clinic at Asian Health Services in Oakland, CA. In recent years, Kevin has been called to facilitate community healing circles around the country.
Kevin’s teachers include Grace Lee Boggs, Aunty Puanani Burgess, Mama Lila Cabbil, Kumu Hula Robert Cazimero, Ms. Jacqueline Martin, john a. powell, and Maestro Jerry Tello. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Kevin resides in San Francisco, the traditional land of the Ohlone people.
Jenny Mayer-Glenn
Special Assistant to the President for Campus Community Partnerships
The University of Utah
Panelist
Jenny Mayer-Glenn (she/her/ella) is Special Assistant to the President for Campus-Community Partnerships at the University of Utah as well as the Director of University Neighborhood Partners (UNP). University Neighborhood Partners brings together University and west side people and resources in reciprocal learning, action and benefit. Prior to UNP Jenny worked in the Salt Lake City School District as a teacher and administrator for 23 years. She has served on several boards, commissions and committees like the Advisory Committee on Equity of Educational Services for Students and Trust Land Advisory Committee at USBE, the SLC Human Rights Commission, and the Utah Coalition of La Raza to name a few. Jenny has deep raices in Utah. Her abuelo, Vicente Mayer, helped start Centro Civico Mexicano in 1939. Her father, Edward Heriberto Mayer, started the Chicano Scholarship and ethnic studies programs at the University of Utah in the 1970’s.