2023 Kitty Kaplan Event - Panelist Bios

2023 Kitty Kaplan Building Bridges Series
FREE Community Event

Please join us on Tuesday, June 6th, 2023 at 7 pm

The City Library
Downtown Salt Lake City
Nancy Tessman Auditorium

Read more details below about these panelists from:

First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City
The Episcopal Diocese of Utah
South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society
Congregation Kol Ami
University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
Moderator: Professor Emeritus, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

Watch the trailer for Under G-d Film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4aB-3Bxw3c

More about the film from award-winning Director Paula Eiselt: https://www.paulaeiselt.com/under-g_d
“Inspired by the lawsuits filed in Florida challenging the state’s abortion ban on the basis of religious freedom, Under G-d is a documentary short film about the national Jewish response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization U.S. Supreme Court decision woven through the lived experiences of impacted Jewish women and the various lawsuits currently being launched by rabbis, Jewish organizations and interfaith leaders to challenge the overturning of Roe v. Wade, state by state. Through the lens of maintaining the separation between church and state, these nationwide efforts are predicated on ultimately protecting religious freedom – and democracy – for all.”

Meet the Panelists:

Cantor Sharon Brown-Levy, Congregation Kol Ami

Cantor Brown-Levy is also fluent in Spanish and has been trained in the musical genres of opera, operetta, Broadway, folk, contemporary, and big band. Her concert career spans the U.S. and abroad. She is also a respected choral conductor, co-leading one of the country’s largest community interfaith choirs, Voices in Harmony.

She is a devoted parent, wife, teacher, linguist, and community builder. She is married to Eytan Levy (a rabbi’s son) and they have one son, Mattan.

Rev. Dr. Curtis Price, First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City

In 2022 Pastor Curtis received his Doctor of Ministry Degree from the Berkeley School of Theology. His dissertation was entitled Redeeming the Church: Healing and Reconciliation Between the LGBTQ Community and the Church in the Baptist Context.

Dr. Price is married to Katy and together they have five wonderful children. He especially enjoys cooking, playing guitar, and singing. He also loves the outdoors and being on the water.

Rev. Phyllis Spiegel, Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Utah

The Rt. Rev. Phyllis Spiegel was consecrated as the 12th Bishop of Utah on September 17, 2022. She is passionate about The Episcopal Church’s work of deepening discipleship through daily practices of faith, believing that deepening our daily walk with God profoundly changes the way we walk in the world. Bp. Spiegel has a commitment to finding sustainable solutions for providing stability and dignity for the unhoused and those with mental illness.

Bishop Spiegel was ordained a priest in 2004. She served as a Priest-in-Charge to St. Thomas in Christansburg, VA from 2006-2015. In 2015, she was called as rector to St. Anne in West Chester, Ohio.

The Bishop graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2004. Her undergraduate work was at Emory & Henry where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management, French, and International Studies. After graduation, she interned with Southern Empowerment Project (SEP) and spent her time learning grassroots organizing in Appalachia. She then taught Business and Commerce at a secondary school in Kenya for nine months. Upon returning to the U.S., she answered the call to the priesthood.

She has a daughter, who lives in England with her husband. The Bishop’s hiking partner is a 90-pound Dutch Shepherd mix named Samson, who loves his morning hike with her

Rev. Lora Young, South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society

Rev. Lora Young serves as the minister of the South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Cottonwood Heights Utah. Her theology is deeply rooted in feminist and queer perspectives that honor the body as holy and already whole. Prior to moving to Utah during the pandemic to begin her ministry with South Valley, Rev. Young worked as a chaplain. She has been dedicated to advocacy for and with women and girls throughout her career and is proud to say she got her start at Plannned Parenthood in CA as a health educator out of college. She holds a masters of divinity from the Iliff School of Theology and is learning to live winter as a former Californian. She lives with her partner and son locally and their two cats.

Moderator: Linda Smith, Professor Emeritus, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

Former Professor of Law and Clinical Program Director Professor Smith has directed and developed the Clinical Program over the past two decades, receiving the University of Utah Distinguished Service Award in 2006 in recognition of this work. She aspires to combine students’ service with their study of lawyering skills and ethics to produce greater self-knowledge while providing representation to needy clients and governmental entities.

Her clinical work began at Yale Law School where she participated in the prison legal services clinic and continued at Greater Boston Legal Services where she was the senior attorney in family law and supervised Harvard Law clinic students. Professor Smith’s scholarship spans three areas. She writes about the pedagogy of clinical legal education and civic engagement, and she focuses on the intersection of the lawyer’s skills and ethics. Her judicial clinic article was a seminal piece about supervising and teaching judicial clinic interns. More recently, she has focused on the skills of client interviewing from the perspective of conversation analysis. Her scholarly work, her teaching, and her service merge in her most recent writings about pro bono programs and the need to provide access to justice for all. Professor Smith also “walks the walk” by providing brief advice and full representation in challenging family law cases on a pro bono basis. Professor Smith teaches Legal Profession, Family Law Practice, Poverty Law, Lawyering Skills (Interviewing, Counseling, & Negotiating), other clinic-related courses.