Board of Trustees

 Bryce Fifield Ph.D, Vice President
Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University
Bryce Fifield is the Director of the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University. He holds degrees from Utah State University and the University of Oregon. He has worked as a researcher, program manager, administrator, and professor at the University of Idaho and Minot State University. Bryce has spent his entire career working with people with disabilities and their families in both large in small communities. He recognizes that the DLC can help our communities recognize that people with disabilities are citizens just like everyone else and they deserve the same rights, assurances and opportunities.

Leslie Francis 
University of Utah, Department of Philosophy
Leslie Pickering Francis is Alfred C. Emery Professor of Law and Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy at the University of Utah. She is the coeditor (with Anita Silvers) of Americans With Disabilities: Implications of the Law for Individuals and Institutions and author of Sexual Harassment as an Ethical Issue in Academic Life. She is a former member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Law and Aging, and has longstanding personal and professional interests in issues of discrimination based on race, sex, age, and disability.

Bio fortcoming 

Ken J. Martinez
Valley Mental Health
Ken Martinez is currently employed by Valley Mental Health as a Team Leader and clinician. He graduated from the University of Utah School of Social Work with an MSW and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He served for 10 years on the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing Board for Social Work. He has worked with severely and persistently mentally ill adults for more than 14 years. He brings to the Disability Law Center his belief in people’s ability to recover and lead productive lives. His experience has always been based on instilling hope and treating everyone with respect.

Claire Mantonya, M.A.
D.D. Council Liasion
Claire Mantonya is the Executive Director of the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council. Claire has many years of experience working for the Division of Services for People with Disabilities supporting People First and building self-advocate leadership around the state. She worked for three years as the Family Support and Respite Manager for Easter Seals Utah and also had an aunt with disabilities who lived with her family as she was growing up in central Ohio. Claire has an undergraduate degree in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan and a masters degree in Adult Education from the Ohio State University.

  Kevin Murphy, President
Kipp and Christian
Kevin Murphy is an associate with the law firm of Kipp and Christian in Salt Lake City. Prior to joining Kipp and Christian, he worked in the public sector, first as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Utah, and then as a Deputy District Attorney for Salt Lake County. Prior to attending law school, he was a registered nurse working primarily in mental health settings in Logan and Salt Lake City. Both as a prosecutor and as a mental health nurse, Mr. Murphy gained an understanding of the often-tragic consequences of untreated mental illness. Mr. Murphy is married and has a grown stepdaughter and two sons.

Paul Newman
Attorney
Paul holds a law degree from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University and a B.A. from the University of Utah. He has chosen to participate on the DLC Board because it advocates on behalf of and provides legal services for members of an under-represented group. As a person with a disability and the father of a son whose learning disability went undetected in the public school system for several years, Paul understands the value of the DLC. “I believe my personal experiences and my legal background will allow me to help formulate goals and strategies that will help the DLC increase its efforts on behalf of those with disabilities.” Paul believes the DLC should “educate people concerning their rights, advocate and sponsor legislation that protects those rights and, when necessary, commence legal proceedings to prevent and protect people from unfair and unlawful practices.”

Bio forthcoming

Angela Peleschka
Comcast
Angela Martellaro is currently the Director of Customer Care at Comcast Cable. She is passionate about the fair and ethical treatment of all people and has a particular interest in accessibility for people with disabilities. “I want people with disabilities to have the same opportunities that the rest of society has.” Angela has worked with several people with disabilities and has witnessed how they can become productive members of society and in the workforce.

Ron Roskos
Brain Injury Association of Utah
Ron Roskos is was elected to the Board of Trustees as part of the DLC’s efforts to increase collaborations with the TBI community. He brings with him a wealth of expertise in the area of brain injury. In his role as Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Utah, he has substantially increased services to consumers and family members. He coordinated and designed the TBI Return to Work Program and Co-Chairs the Brain Injury Association’s Statewide Conference Committee. The BIAU’s Conference is recognized as one of the most successful Brain Injury conferences in the country. Ron currently sits on the BIAU Resolution Dispute Committee and the Affiliations Committee for the Brain Injury Association of America.

Maria Schwartz, MD
Physician
Dr. Maria Schwartz is a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician. Maria recently served as a Mayo Fellow Co-representative. As a person with a physical disability, she would like to bring a perspective of an individual with challenges who cares for patients with challenges. While volunteering on the DLC Board she’d like to advocate for people with disabilities and educate the public and increase exposure and awareness.