MPA Alumni Receive Outstanding Public Official Awards

Since 1980, the Utah Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA; the premiere professional association for public and nonprofit professionals) has made annual awards to individuals and organizations who contribute exceptionally to the public service. Recipients of these ASPA Chapter Distinguished Service Awards have helped make Utah a better place to live and work.

The 2024 recipients of the ASPA Chapter’s Outstanding Public Official Awards are:

• Luz Escamilla, for an Elected Official: State Senator
• Laura Briefer, Director of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, for an Appointed Official:
• Leah Duran Lobato, Director of the Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities & Business Relations, for Outstanding Contributions (usually a nonprofit leader or an academic):
• Shirlee Draper and Cherish Families, For Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Utah:

We are thrilled and proud that three of the 2024 ASPA Outstanding Public Official Award recipients are graduates of the UofU’s MPA program: Luz Escamilla, Laura Briefer, and Shirlee Draper.

Sen. Luz Escamilla, MPA, has served as Director of the Utah State Office of Ethnic Affairs, as the first Latina elected to the Utah State Senate, and as a Utah State Senator since 2008. Sen. Escamilla also served as Zion’s Bank’s Vice President for Community Development, Director of its Business Resource Center, and Market Manager for serving Utah’s Hispanic/Latino communities. Recently, she founded and manages ESCATED Solutions, a technology support consulting firm.

Laura Briefer, MPA,was appointed Director of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities by then-Mayor Jackie Biskupski and reappointed by Mayor Erin Mendenhall. In this capacity, she works to protect the public health and our fragile environment while managing a massive budget and a team of more than 450 employees. In addition, Ms. Briefer is actively engaged in multiple networks across Utah and the Rocky Mountain west that seek to protect our water, air, and environment.

 

Shirlee Draper, MPA, and Director of Operations at Cherish Families, advocate for current or past members of the Fundamentalist LDS community, providing education, crisis services (including food, shelter, legal services and mental health counseling), and employment resources to this under-represented population. Ms. Draper and Cherish Families connect individuals and families, primarily from polygamist cultures, with tools and resources they need to survive and move ahead.

The Division of Public Affairs at the University of Utah is proud of these MPA graduates – and the hundreds of other MPA, MPP and MIAGE graduates who are contributing to the public service in and around Utah. Please join us in congratulating – and celebrating them. We appreciate that the Utah Chapter of ASPA has recognized them and hope to see more Division of Public Affairs graduates as award recipients in 2025 and for many years into the future.