Keith Bateman | Chair
A hands-on, results driven visionary, leader and motivator with a natural entrepreneurial approach, Keith has extensive experience developing and executing worldwide sales, marketing, and corporate strategies, and brings that wealth of knowledge to The Helper Project board. For over 20 years, he has been involved in the medical laser industry, most recently co-founding Fotona, a world-leading medical laser company. He received his BA from University of Utah and served his country in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Keith and his wife have a home in Helper, where they look forward to spending time and being active in the community.
Michelle Sulley | Executive Director
Michelle Sulley holds a B.F.A. in oil painting and pottery and a B.F.A. in graphic design. After spending 19 years as Office Manager in her family’s business in Colorado, she and her husband moved to Salt Lake City in 2013. She worked for the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art until August 2020 and served as a trustee for The Helper Project from 2018 until 2020, when she accepted the Executive Director position.
Michelle’s family has lived in Carbon County for three generations. Her great uncle even served President of Helper State Bank. She is honored to be part of an organization that is working hard to reinvigorate the Helper community.
Tony Basso | Trustee
Tony began his business career in 1989, while in high school in Price, Utah. He sold school supplies out of an old briefcase to his classmates and bought an older Cadillac and started a limousine service, shuttling students to their proms, parties, and special events. Tony bought his first commercial building on Main Street and became a landlord to a local bar owner. Still too young to go into the bar to collect the rent, his mom did it for him.
Tony opened his first car dealership, “Madman Basso’s”, where he, his wife, and his mom washed, detailed, showed, sold, and financed the cars. He has invested in dozens of businesses, and currently owns the GM and several other car dealerships, restaurants, an event center, rental cars, towing, financial services, an RV/ATV business, several radio stations, a convenience store, and commercial and residential rental properties.
Tony is passionate about everything he does, and has contributed a great deal of time, products, services, and money in support of important community and educational needs. Recognizing the many resources and opportunities Carbon County has to offer, Tony encourages local business and political leaders to aggressively look for ways to get investors to relocate to Carbon County and to “Build it here”. Tony is President and CEO of the Tony Basso Group and President of the Utah New Car Dealers Association.
Shalee Johansen | Trustee
Shalee Johansen has over 25 years of extensive experience in marketing and as a real estate broker. She currently lives in Carbon County where she owns several businesses in the hospitality, tourism, and real estate industries. She also enjoys renovating old homes and buildings on Helper’s Historic Main Street. Most recently, she held the position of Director of Tourism for Carbon County and the Executive Director of the Castle Country Trails Committee, where she promoted her passion for all that Carbon County and Helper have to offer.
As a board member of The Helper Project, Shalee will continue to advocate for the cultural, recreational and economic advantages of the area.
Anne Morgan-Jespersen | Trustee
Anne Morgan-Jespersen is an artist and designer. She holds a Master’s Degree of Architecture from the University of Utah and with combined practice of Art, Design, and Architecture has over twenty-six years of professional experience.
After living and working in Helper part time for fifteen years, Anne and her husband made Helper, Utah their permanent residence. They founded The Helper Project in 2016. Her professional expertise and ability to execute projects, as well as fund-raising efforts have been critical for the success of the organization. Anne served as the Executive Director of the organization until 2020. She also owns Anne Jespersen Fine Arts Gallery.
Roy Jespersen | TRUSTEE | FORMER CHAIR
Roy Jespersen is a director and principal in Eastisoft, Inc., a financial services company and serves on the Intermountain Healthcare board of trustees investment committee.
He was a principle of Wasatch Advisors and Wasatch Funds, Inc. and formerly served as a trustee for the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, advisory board member of the James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies, former board president of the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA), former board chairman of CHOICE Humanitarian, and board member of the Salt Lake Acting Company. In addition, Roy was one of the founders of the Ronald McDonald House in Salt Lake City, UT and sits on their advisory board. In 2002, Jespersen was the attaché for the Uzbekistan Winter Olympic Team and as such was a fully accredited member of their team.
DAVID JOHNSEN | TRUSTEE
David is an artist whose work depicts scenes of a bygone era. He was born in Salt Lake City, and lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles, before moving to Helper. His work is included in the private and corporate collections of Sid Sheinberg, Marilu Henner, Peter Weller, Jackie Collins, Universal Studios, Turner Network, Sundance Institute, CBS Records, Sony, and Arnesio Hall/Eddie Murphy Productions.
Kathleen Royster | Trustee
Kathleen is a ceramic artist and former academic. She owns Ceramic Fine Art & Design located on Main Street in Helper, Utah. Her work has been exhibited internationally, collected by major museums, and has been cited in the critical discussion of contemporary Ceramics literature. She served on the board of directors for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
As a trustee, Kathleen brings her Arts organizational and design skills and community trust to The Helper Project. She designed the organization’s logo and numerous professional catalogs for the annual fundraising exhibition.
Barbara Warnock | Trustee
Christopher Warnock | Trustee
Christopher Warnock, is Founder and CEO of Helper Systems, LLC, a software company that is still in development. Prior to founding Helper Systems, Christopher was Founder and CEO of ebrary, Inc. which was acquired by ProQuest in 2011. Prior to co-founding the company, Christopher consulted at Stanford University to help develop a method in which University Presses could implement an electronic workflow solution for the delivery of their publications for electronic distribution. Christopher also worked at Arion Press, a San Francisco based fine press that produces Letter press and hand bound Limited-edition books. At Arion Press he helped them produce the Arion Lectern Bible. He also provided feasibility research for Octavo Corporation, which publishes and preserves rare books and manuscripts using advanced digital tools and formats. From 1991-1996, he worked at Adobe Systems as a Systems Engineer, Project Manager, and Project Marketing Manager for Adobe Acrobat. Mr. Warnock holds a B.S. in Philosophy from the University of Utah.
Amy Jespersen | Treasurer
Amy Jespersen holds a Bachelor of Business degree in Finance. She has worked in the banking industry for over 10 years with an emphasis in accounting. She is a member of the Price City Council.
As Secretary/Treasurer of the Helper Project, Amy plays a vital role in managing the organizations finances and reporting. Amy is a native of Carbon County and loves the outdoors, boating, camping, mountain biking, and hiking. She is married and the proud mother of three.
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