Planning America’s Birthday, with Utah Style
To plan the Utah celebration of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, Gov. Spencer J. Cox and the Utah Legislature have established the state’s America250 commission.
Commission members represent a geographically diverse range of historians, philanthropists, educators, as well as business and community leaders. Their charge is to work with public and private entities to inspire Utahns to imagine our role in the country’s next 250 years, while creating once-in-a-lifetime experiences to commemorate America’s birthday in 2026.
Commissioners were appointed on June 1, 2023 and their terms will extend through December 2026. The commission’s first meeting was held on June 6, 2023 in the Utah State Capitol’s Gold Room.
Commission Members
Ron Fox | co-chair; public historian, author, The Fox Group president
Mindy Benson | co-chair; president of Southern Utah University
Christine Durham | co-chair; lawyer and former Utah Supreme Court Justice
Barbara Jones Brown | historian and publisher
Andrea Clarke | managing partner, Clark Capital, philanthropist
David Clark | consultant, former chair, Utah Tech University Board of Regents, former Utah state representative and House speaker
Sanchaita Datta | inventor and co-founder of FatPipe Networks
Brandon Fugal | real estate executive and entrepreneur
Alan Hall | founder, former CEO, Marketstar, philanthropist
Steve Handy | marketing consultant and former Utah state representative
Jani Iwamoto | former Utah state senator and county commissioner
Kathryn Asay Jenson | honorary Utah state regent, Daughters of the American Revolution
Luis Lopez | Ogden City Council
Douglas McGregor | state secretary, Sons of American Revolution
Darren Parry | Tribal leader and author
Byron Russell | marketing consultant
Don Stirling | business Leader
Brian L. Tarbet | retired U.S. Army major general
Kim Wilson | lawyer and community leader
Kristy Pike | writer and community leader
The Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement (CCE) is staffing the Utah America250 Commission, at the direction of Gov. Cox, who will serve as honorary chair.
Staff contacts are:
Nicole Handy, America 250 Utah coordinator - nhandy@utah.gov
Jill Love, CCE executive director - jlove@utah.gov.
Ellen Weist, public information officer - text 503-490-4806 (for interviews and press questions)