WTC Utah Team
Miles Hansen
- Prior national security official at The White House
- U.S. diplomat in Saudi Arabia, Armenia, and Dubai; experience in ~80 countries
- Term Member Council on Foreign Relations, M.A. from Johns Hopkins University
Miles Hansen is the president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah, an organization dedicated to promoting prosperity across the state by attracting investment and increasing exports. Hansen was most recently the Director for Gulf Affairs at the National Security Council in the White House. Prior to that, he served as a staff aide to the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs. As a diplomat, Hansen was the energy and economic officer at U.S. Consulate General Dhahran in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province where he served as a liaison with Saudi Aramco and advised U.S. government and private sector leaders on the Saudi energy industry and economic reform agenda. He also served tours focused on Iran at U.S. Embassy Yerevan, Armenia and the Iran Regional Presence Office at U.S. Consulate General Dubai. Before joining the State Department as a Thomas R. Pickering Fellow, Hansen started his career in Utah as a Special Assistant in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Hansen is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Brigham Young University. A speaker of Russian, Farsi and Arabic, Hansen has firsthand experience in more than 70 countries and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
David Carlebach
- Prior Managing Director in Operations at Goldman Sachs
- Principal at Booz, Allen & Hamilton
- University of Chicago Booth School of Business (MBA)
Jennifer Nakao
- 20+ years of experience working with national and international companies in diverse industries with complex financial and regulatory compliance requirements
- Prior Director of Administration for Silicon Valley IP law firm
- Prior Senior Audit Manager at Grant Thornton working in Salt Lake City, Silicon Valley, and Tokyo
Tiffeny Yen-Louie
- Prior advertising, business operations, and public affairs at R&R Partners
- South Valley Chamber Board of Directors
- Westminster College, BA communication and business, and Master of Strategic Communication
Julia Breinholt-Pappas
- Prior Senior Account Executive at MRM McCann
- Published in the Deseret News, Utah Business Magazine, Utah Pulse, Utah Policy, the Enterprise, and WTCA Meridian
- Booth design for the Farnborough International Airshow awarded ‘Best in Show’
Michelle Conley
- Program management and teaching at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business
- Background in refugee resettlement including clinical counseling
- University of Utah Master of Social Work with Global Emphasis
Dustin Daugherty
Calli Forsyth
- Prior business development manager at the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food
- Adjunct Professor at Brigham Young University, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences
- Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland (MSc)
Jacob Johnson
- Experience in grant management and community development
- Prior Program Manager with Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism
- University of Utah, Master in Public Administration
Stephen LeFevre
- Prior head of government relations for Qualtrics
- Prior aide-de-camp to Utah’s Lieutenant Governor
- Master of International Affairs from Columbia University
Jim Porter
- Experienced in Export Promotion, International Strategies, Program Development and Nonprofit Fundraising
- Prior research assistant for the Shingo Institute for Operational Excellence
- Jon M Huntsman School of Business (BS)
Troy Keller
Peter Given
- Prior investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs
- M.S. in Int’l Relations and Business from American University
- Avid snow skier
Kirsten Hirst
- Experience in brand management, visual identity, and omni-channel marketing
- Original artwork and designs recognized at state and university exhibitions
- Brigham Young University, BA History
Rayanne Riepl
- Prior Event Manager at Sutherland Institute
- Board of Directors at Emerging Leaders Initiative (ELI)
- B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University (2015)