In this episode of Common Good Award Spotlights, we sit down with Zach, a dedicated "Friend" (mentor) from Friends of the Children–Utah, to explore the incredible impact of this groundbreaking mentoring program.

Friends of the Children is reshaping the future by pairing youth facing the greatest challenges with professional mentors who stick by their from the preschool years to high school. From nurturing diverse talents to empowering informed decisions, they’re changing lives and breaking cycles of systemic barriers—one relationship at a time.

Join us to hear Zach’s inspiring perspective and discover the love, support, and generational change happening within this circle. It's a heartwarming journey you won’t want to miss!

In this episode of Common Good Award Spotlights, we’re honored to feature the Stella H. Oaks Foundation, recipient of the 2024 Common Good Award! 

Discover how this incredible organization is empowering single mothers to overcome challenges, achieve their educational dreams, and create lasting change for their families and communities. Through scholarships and support, the Stella H. Oaks Foundation has transformed the lives of over 700 women, providing over $2.5 million in scholarship awards to mothers pursuing careers in nursing, business, computer programming, social work, and more.

Learn about the profound ripple effect of educating mothers and hear inspiring stories of resilience and impact. As the saying goes, “When you educate a mother, you educate generations”—and the Stella H. Oaks Foundation is proving just that.

🎧 Tune in to celebrate this remarkable legacy of hope, empowerment, and transformation.

📢 Don’t miss the chance to attend the Common Good Awards! Tickets are still available—grab yours here: https://envisionutahcga2024.planningpod.com/

Welcome to our newest podcast series, Common Good Award Spotlights, where we celebrate the remarkable individuals and organizations honored at our annual Common Good Award ceremony.

In this inaugural episode, host Amy Upchurch sits down with members of the Utah Shakespeare Festival to explore their impactful work. From innovative community engagement initiatives to making Shakespeare resonate in 2025, discover how this award-winning organization continues to leave its legacy and make a mark on the modern world.

The Common Good Awards take place annually in Salt Lake City, and tickets are open to the public. Tune in to learn more about the festival's contributions and what makes them a standout in this year’s ceremony!

Special thanks to Michael, Emily, and John for speaking to us on behalf of the Utah Shakespeare Festival! 

Tune in for Part 3 in our series on education in Utah, which is all about higher education! In today's episode, we're exploring the top challenges facing high school graduates who are contemplating whether or not to pursue higher education. We sit down with Utah’s higher ed leaders and others at the forefront of helping high schoolers pursue higher education. They share valuable insights on the current landscape, strategies to inspire students, and the barriers they face in shaping the next generation of learners.

We’ll clarify what falls under the umbrella of higher education and how much it actually costs to attend. Insights from our 2023 high school survey are included in this discussion and we explore what they reveal for both students and educators.

Special thanks to our guests: 
Geoffrey Landward — Utah’s Commissioner of Higher Education 
Deneece Huftalin — former President of Salt Lake Community College 
Rachel Everitt — Director of the Utah College Advising Corps 
Rick Folkerson — former President of the Success & Education Foundation. 

Thanks as well to Trisha Dugovic who helped us keep our facts straight on the Utah System of Higher Education, and of course, to Steph Ott, Envision Utah’s own Senior Education Project Manager.  

Tune in for Part 2 in our series on education in Utah, which is all about teachers! In today's episode, we're doing a deep dive into one of the top challenges facing the teaching profession today—Utah’s teacher shortage. We sit down with the experts to talk about what the teacher shortage actually looks like, its' impacts across the profession, and a few of the other top challenges teachers in Utah are facing today. 

Then we look at the Vision for Teacher Excellence: a detailed analysis of the top recommendations for improving students’ outcomes in Utah, including strategies to not only stabilize the teaching profession but optimize it as well—and the right compensation is the key.
 

Special thanks to our expert guests for joining us in this episode: Aaryn Birchell, English teacher at Uintah High School, Nain Christopherson, Language Arts and Reading teacher at West High School, Mary Burbank,  Director of the Urban Institute for Teacher Education in the College of Education at the University of Utah, and Keith McMullin, CEO of the Deseret Management Corporation.

Tune in for part one of our series on education in Utah! In this series we’re looking at the importance of education, the challenges our education system is facing, and what the future of education can look like in Utah. 

In our first episode, we sit down with the experts to lay the groundwork for everything a Utahn needs to know about our state’s education system and the impacts it has on our communities. 

Thank you to our expert guests for joining us in this episode including, Brittney Cummins,  Senior Advisor of Education to Governor Spencer Cox, Theresa Foxley, former President and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, Dr. Sydnee Dickson, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Dr. Richard Nye, Superintendent of Granite School District. 

Tune in for the final installment in our series on the future of housing in Utah! In this episode, we dive into some of the strategies we can pursue — including those already in place — to make sure there is affordable and stable housing for all Utahns, even those with incomes that can’t keep up with the housing market. We also talk with the experts about what happens when we don't have enough affordable housing: gentrification and displacement. We'll talk about what those two processes are, why they happen, and how we can address them moving forward with our housing solutions.

Special thanks to our expert guests in this episode: Doug Harris, Vice President of the Utah Housing Preservation Fund, Dan Lofgren, CEO and founder of Cowboy Partners, and Angela Price, Policy Director for Salt Lake City's Community and Neighborhoods Department.

Tune in to part two of our series on the future of housing in Utah. In this episode, we look at what it will take to ensure that every Utahn — regardless of background or stage of life — can find affordable housing in communities they want to be a part of. 

We talk with experts about the two most important principles we can follow to address our housing crisis: the how and where of what we build. We’ll talk housing variety, transit-oriented communities, and centers — and we’ll even look at a city that’s putting these solutions into practice, all while still preserving the single-family character of its neighborhoods. 

Special thanks to our expert guests in this episode: Ted Knowlton, Deputy Director of Wasatch Front Regional Council, and Francis Lilly, Assistant City Manager and Planning Director for Millcreek City.

Tune in to part one of our three-part series on the future of housing in Utah. In this episode, we dive into the factors that have led to our current housing shortage and affordability crisis. We’ll look at the historic trends that have led to our housing deficit, the natural constraints facing housing development, the impact of resident opposition, labor and supply shortage as a result of Covid-19, and the influence of our state’s growth on the housing market.

Special thanks to our expert guests for joining us in this episode, including Ted Knowlton, Deputy Director of Wasatch Front Regional Council, Chris Gamvroulas, President of Ivory Development, Dejan Eskic, Senior Research Fellow with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, and Mallory Bateman, Director of Demographic Research with the Kem C Gardner Policy Institute. 

Tune in for the final installment in our series on disaster resilience in Utah! In this episode, we’re looking at the most common natural hazards in our state—wildfires, flooding, and drought. We look at how Utah’s geography and climate put us at naturally high risk for each hazard, and how they compound one another. We also talk with the experts about how our changing climate, specifically warming average temperatures, will impact these natural hazards. 

Special thanks to our expert guests who joined us in this episode: Seth Arens, Research Scientist with Western Water Assessment, Jason Curry, Deputy Director for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, and Angelia Crowther, Utah State Flood Plain Manager with the Utah Department of Emergency Management and the National Flood Insurance Program Manager.