Meet Our Board of Directors

Samantha Cullinane

Sam is a parent of a City Academy student and serves on the Board of Directors for the school.

Cullinane is a self-employed business consultant with expertise in program and business process management, business strategy, and leadership/organizational development. Previously employed as Chief of Staff for the current President and CEO of Affiliated Computer Solutions, Inc, Cullinane has broad experience working with commercial market clients and executive management in business process and information technology outsourcing engagements. Additionally, she worked with ACS in the areas of leadership development, corporate program management, and mergers and acquisitions. Cullinane also has experience working internationally - she has lived and worked in Malaysia, has worked and traveled throughout Europe, and spent 2006 living and working in Barcelona, Spain as the Executive Program Director for a Human Resources outsourcing engagement for the European division of a Fortune 500 company. Cullinane attended the University of Utah.

Larry Hintze

Larry is currently the Vice President of Zions Bank in the commercial real estate division and is a certified residential appraiser.  He has worked in both residential and commercial real estate banking for over twenty years including a start-up of a loan production office for an Arizona bank.  He served as the President of the Utah Mortgage Bankers Association and was active on the board for a number of years.  Larry attended the University of Utah.  In his spare time, Larry is an avid tennis player who competes at a national level in his division.  He is also a husband and father of four. [back to top]

Kristin D. Fink

Kristie is the executive director of the Utah Coalition for Civic, Character and Service Learning, which is chaired by the Utah State Supreme Court Chief Justice and located at the Utah Law and Justice Center. She coordinates the activities of the Coalition and works closely with the Utah Commission for Civic and Character Education, which is chaired by the Utah State Lieutenant Governor. She is the former executive director of Community of Caring in Washington, D.C., and the former director of Community of Caring at the University of Utah. She was the character education and service learning state specialist at the Utah State Office of Education, and was the first person in the nation to serve as a full-time character educator in a state department of education. She was also a junior high and high school teacher for 22 years, teaching English, reading, speech, drama, literature, journalism, and gifted and talented programs. She holds a B.A. in English, an M.A. in Education with an emphasis in theatre and English, a teaching certificate and administrative supervisory license.

Kristie currently serves as an officer on the Board of Directors for the Character Education Partnership in Washington, D.C., and chairs the board for the Salt Lake Center for Engaging Community. She co-authored "Making Character Education a Standard Part of Education" with Linda McKay, for the Character Education Partnership, wrote "Promoting Character Education" for Glencoe-McGraw-Hill, and consulted with Turner Learning and the Cartoon Network on "Animate Your World: Shaping Character." She has received many teaching and service awards, including awards presented by Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and former First Lady of Utah Jacalyn Leavitt. She has spoken widely on character education and service learning across the U.S. and Canada. [back to top]

John T. Kesler

John received his law degree from Columbia University Law School. He has practiced international commercial law, and now limits his practice to real estate.

John also acts as a consultant and lecturer with regard to community building.
John served as the executive director of the US healthy community coalition, the Coalition for Healthy Cities and Communities. He has a broad background with various approaches to community flourishing and has worked with all the major community building movements. John founded and leads the Salt Lake Center for Engaging Community (SLCEC), a non-profit organization which models, educates and mentors best practices for community flourishing, particularly including complementary integral alternatives to existing political processes and institutions. [back to top]

Joseph M. Krella

Joseph M. Krella is president and CEO of UHA, Utah Hospitals and Health Systems Association. In this capacity, he oversees the administration of the 47-member hospital association, which represents hospitals and health systems operating throughout the state of Utah.

Prior to accepting his current position in September 2003, Krella served 12 years as president of the Greater Dayton (Ohio) Area Hospital Association (GDAHA). In this capacity, he oversaw the operations of 32 staff members and represented 19 hospitals and healthcare providers in the Greater Dayton area. A health care administrator for more than 20 years, Krella served as director of planning and business development at Mercy Hospital in Scranton, PA, and held director positions at the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania and Hospital Council of Northeast Pennsylvania.

Krella holds a bachelor's degree in human services from the University of Scranton, and a master's of public administration degree in health services administration from Marywood College. He has served as an adjunct professor in the health administration graduate programs at both the University of Scranton and George Washington University.

Krella is a frequent lecturer and author on health care issues and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the highest level of achievement in the professional organization.

Krella is a recipient of the American Hospital Association's Nova Award and the Ernest A. Codman Award, sponsored by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). He also serves on the Utah Council of HealthInsight, the state's quality improvement organization, and is a member of the Utah Patient Safety Steering Committee. Other appointments include serving on the Utah Health Information Network board and executive committee, and the ACHE Committee on Allied Hospital Associations. He also serves on the Regulatory Relief Task Force and the Medical Task Force of the American Hospital Association. [back to top]