A hands-on, results driven visionary, leader and motivator with a natural entrepreneurial approach, he 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 as Senior Vice-President of 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.
Kathleen is an artist and former academic and 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. What Kathleen brings to The Helper Project is her Arts organizational skills and community trust.
Melissa currently lives in Park City and has always been deeply committed to giving back to her community and now joins the Board of The Helper Project with the same spirit of commitment. She has held Board positions in several nonprofits over the years, was on the Park City Planning Commission for five years, including one year as Chair, is the current Chair of the PC Board of Realtors Legislative Committee and the Summit County Economic Advisory Board. She has received advanced industry accreditations including Accredited Buyer Representative, Seller Representative Specialist, and Resort and Second Home Property Specialist.
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.
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.
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.
Ben Levenger has over 20 years of experience guiding rural communities through Main Street revitalization and economic development projects. As the President of Downtown Redevelopment Services, he brings national best practices in urban planning and economic development to the Helper Project. In his free time, he enjoys skiing and spending time with his family. As a board member of the Helper Project, Ben continues to work with the municipality and governmental agencies to move critical community-wide projects forward.
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, she and her husband have 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. She also owns Anne Jespersen Fine Arts Gallery.
Christopher Warnock, 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.
Deeply committed to her community, Mequelle volunteers at Sally Mauro Elementary School where her boys attend. She joined the PTA as treasurer and after a few years formed a small group to change it into a locally based organization called the PTO where she currently serves as Secretary. She was a member of the Community Council at Sally Mauro setting yearly academic goals and distributing funds from Utah's Trust Land Endowment for Education. In 2023, she became a board member on the Carbon County Tax Advisory Boardas vice-chairman. She graduated from the Eastern Leaders Academy, a leadership program that assists emerging and established leaders in becoming changemakers and unifiers in their community. She now joins The Helper Project as a new Board member.
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. 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.