Robert “Archie” Archuleta is a graduate of Idaho State College and a post graduate of the University of Utah. He retired from his position as administrative assistant for minority affairs in the Salt Lake City mayor’s office in 2004. A former elementary school teacher and administrator in the Salt Lake City School District, Archuleta is an activist and advocate in minority, poverty, peace, economic, civil rights, civil liberties and cultural issues. He and his wife Lois have five children—Jason Roberto, Florencia Lucienne, Keith Emiliano, Micaela Lisette, Letitia P.—and six grandchildren.

John A. Beckstead is a partner in the Salt Lake City office of Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. His legal practice includes transactional commercial lending, litigation focusing on commercial lending and intellectual property and representation of non-profit organizations. John is a member of the Commercial Finance Association Education Foundation Advisory Board, a regular columnist and speaker for the International Factoring Association, past chairman of the Utah State Bar Banking & Finance Section, and chaired the Subcommittee on Contracts/Secured Transactions/Sales, Model Utah Jury Instructions. He also served on the Utah Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct. John is active in the American Bar Association’s Commercial Financial Services Committee and the Commercial and Banking Litigation Committee. He has received an “AV Rating” by Martindale-Hubble and has been named to the Best Lawyers in America and Utah Legal Elite. He received his JD from the University of Utah College of Law.

Larry Cesspooch (Whitebelly) is one of the Ute Spiritual Leaders residing on the Uintah and Ouray Ute reservation in Northeastern Utah. He is a filmmaker and works as the Tribe’s Head Start Fatherhood Advocate/Public Relations Liaison. Cesspooch believes documenting history and culture through media is an excellent way to preserve, educate, and bring understanding to future generations, and he fully supports CDA and The Leonardo.

Kathleen Christy is originally from Compton, California. She moved to Utah to attend the University of Utah in 1970. Christy has been an educator since 1975, having served as a teacher for 10 years, an equity specialist at the Utah State Office of Education for 7 years, and an elementary school principal for 5 years. She currently is the assistant to the superintendent for equity and advocacy in the Salt Lake City School District. She is actively involved in her community in a variety of roles, from serving on advisory boards to participation and leadership in community-based organizations. Christy is also a doctoral student at the University of Utah in education, culture and society. Diversity and multicultural education are her specialties, and she has conducted numerous trainings and presentations on diversity issues.

Jeffery Lloyd Davis graduated with a BS in architectural studies from the University of Utah in 1999 and went on to complete his Masters of Architecture from the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Utah in 2001. Davis is a Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional. His recent projects include the Weber State University Department of Visual Arts Building by Prescott Muir Architects, the Snow College Performing Arts Center — which won an AIA Utah Honor Award — by Gould Evans, and the Brigham Young University Housing by Architectural Nexus. He is currently working as an architectural designer at Architectural Nexus under David Cassil.

Born in Brigham City, Anne Dolowitz graduated with a degree in history from the University of Utah and has taught in the Granite School District. For the past 38 years, she has been involved with museums, arts groups, education organizations, human rights activists, and her Jewish community. Anne currently serves on the Anti Defamation League based in San Francisco, the National Council of Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews) and the long-range programming committee of the Jewish Community Center. Anne has trained docents for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts for the exhibit “Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936,” which opened during the 2002 Winter Olympics; the Museum of Utah Art and History; and also for CDA, beginning with the Joel Meyerowitz 9/11 exhibit and most recently Sebastião Salgado’s “Exodus” exhibit.

Hank Liese, MSW, Ph.D., is an associate professor and Director of Doctoral Studies in the College of Social Work at the University of Utah. He received a BA degree in psychology from Stanford University in 1971; a masters’s in social work (MSW) degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985; and a Ph.D. in social welfare from UC-Berkeley in 1990. Hank currently chairs the board of the Utah Foster Care Foundation and is a member of the board of Art Access/VSA arts of Utah. He is a member of the Community Advisory Council for Salt Lake County’s Christmas Box House emergency shelter and a member of the Council on Disability and Persons with Disabilities for the Council on Social Work Education. He currently teaches a year-long undergraduate Honors course entitled, “The Documentary, Human Rights, and Social Justice.” Additionally, he is chairman of the CDA board of directors.

Doris M. Mason, LCSW is a clinical social worker whose interest in documentary arts developed as an undergraduate, from studying at different campuses and becoming acquainted with people from many nations. She attended the University of Utah and received a BA in Russian language and literature in 1975 and a master’s in social work (MSW) degree in 1978. Mason chaired the task force that helped establish Lutheran Social Service of Utah and is a former board member of the organization. She is the CDA’s assistant to the director, and she has been affiliated with the CDA since its inception as the Oral History Institute in 1983.

Leticia Medina previously has served as the director of the State Community Services Office and executive director of Utah Issues. From 1997-2003, she was director of the Governor’s Office of Hispanic Affairs. Medina earned a degree in social and behavioral science from the University of Utah. She has worked as a mental health therapist for Granite Mental Health and for Youth Corrections and the Salt Lake City School District. Medina continues to advocate for families and provides training to various organizations on diversity, gang intervention and prevention, drug and alcohol prevention, and vocational program development. She is also the recipient of the Good Housekeeping’s Women in Government Award for 2002.

Robert A. Miller is the president of Lorraine Press in Salt Lake City. He is a graduate of the University of Utah and also attended Carnegie Mellon University. Miller is a past president of Printing Industries of Utah and was secretary of the Utah State Republican Party. He believes that a greater appreciation for the diverse groups who form our state will result in a more cohesive sense of community.

Natalya Rapoport, Ph.D. is a research professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Utah. She graduated in 1960 from Moscow State University with a master’s degree in chemistry and received her Ph.D. in polymer science from the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry in Moscow in 1966. In 1986, she was awarded a Doctor of Science degree (one step above the Ph.D. in Russia and Europe). Natalya is also a writer of fiction and non-fiction. In 1988, the Pushkin Foundation in Russia published a collection of her stories. Her second book was published in Russia in 2005 to great success, and she has offers for a reprinting. She has two screenplays awaiting a producer.

Allen Roberts, AIA is a founding principal architect of the Salt Lake City-based firm Cooper Roberts Simonsen Architects. He was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the San Francisco Bay area, and he was educated at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. Specializing in historic building restoration and compatible new design, he has designed more than 40 award-winning architectural projects. He is the author of six books, including Pulitzer-prize nominee and best-seller, Salamander, which he co-authored with Linda Sillitoe. He has written numerous award-winning articles for a variety of publications and has served on the boards of directors of 25 non-profit, publishing, and cause-oriented organizations. Allen has five children, is single and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ron Smelser is a professor of modern European history at the University of Utah, and his specialty is Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. For the last 21 years, he has organized the annual Days of Remembrance commemoration on campus. Ron regularly teaches a course on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust and has done numerous workshops for public school teachers on the subject. Ron was instrumental in bringing the “Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936” exhibition to the university in 2002. He has worked closely with Zev Weiss, president of the Holocaust Education Foundation, organizing the “Lessons and Legacies” biennial conference in Minneapolis in 2002 and editing the conference proceedings of the fifth conference in Boca Raton, “The Holocaust and Justice.” Ron’s publications include two monographs with a third in press, eight edited or co-edited books and 35 articles on Nazi Germany and Holocaust-related themes.

O. Fahina Tavake-Pasi received her AS degree in aeronautics from the College of San Mateo, California, and her BA in sociology from the University of Utah. She currently serves as executive director for the National Tongan American Society, a non-profit organization serving the Pacific Islander community. Tavake-Pasi also serves on the Utah Diabetes Advisory Committee, Salt Lake Mayor’s Drug & Alcohol Prevention Coalition, Tongan Research Association Executive Committee, Utah State Board’s Coalition for Minorities Advisory Committee, and is a former member of the Governor’s Pacific Islander Advisory Board, Ethnic Health Board, HIV/AIDS Community Board, Polynesian of Utah Association, Polynesian Scholarship Board, and Utah Tennis Association Board, among others. She was honored with the Women’s Achievement of the Year Award in 2000 by Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt for outstanding efforts in promoting education within the Pacific Islander community. Tavake-Pasi is married and has five children and 2 grandchildren.

Raymond Tymas-Jones is the associate vice president for the Arts and dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah. Tymas-Jones also is the chief administrative officer for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the Pioneer Theatre Company and Kingsbury Hall. He received a Ph.D. in Performance Practice: Voice, a Master of Music degree in conducting and voice from Washington University (St. Louis), and a Bachelor of Music degree from Howard University. Tymas-Jones has been a featured soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the St. Louis Orchestra, the Kämmergild Orchestra of St. Louis, the Dortmund (Germany) Youth Orchestra, the Erie (Pennsylvania) Chamber Orchestra and the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Orchestra. He has been a guest conductor for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Black History Month Concert, conductor for the World University Games Buffalo 1993 Ceremonies Chorus and the World University Games Buffalo 1993 Gospel Choir at the 1991 World Student Games Closing Ceremonies, in Sheffield, England.