Meet Our Board

Circles is supported by a passionate, dedicated group of people who believe in our mission of helping others get out poverty.

Stephanie Taylor

2024 Board President


Accomplished professional in the financial services industry with a proven track record of leading strategic initiatives and driving operational excellence. Outstanding skills in talent management, multi-project administration, start-up operations, compliance enablement, and delivery of fintech and financial product and services in deadline-driven environments.
Martha D Wunderli

Martha D. Wunderli

2023 Vice President

Martha D. Wunderli who retired in May 2020 as Executive Director of Fair Credit Foundation, a nonprofit center for financial capability, has over 35 years of experience working in the nonprofit and for- profit sectors and believes in innovative collaborative community solutions that foster financial mobility and economic inclusion.

Martha is recognized as a leader in the asset building field. She completed the business plan for the Utah Individual Development Account Network in 2004 and grew that program to over 1,400 participants. In addition, she has identified and implemented innovative interventions that meet the needs of low and moderate income Utahns such as an alternative to payday loans and a FinTech app that provides real-time financial coaching.

Ms. Wunderli has presented nationally, provided technical assistance to other nonprofits across the country and participated in performance improvement and policy discussions at the local and national level. She serves on the Promise Partnership Regional Council’s Financial Stability subcommittee, Utah Council on Financial and Economic Education, Salt Lake County Council for Aging and Adult Services, the Family Selection Committee of Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity, Secretary of the Canyon Crest Condominium Board and is working part-time on a research project to measures health disparities in public housing.

Ms. Wunderli has an undergraduate degree in Humanities from Binghamton University and a Master’s in Business Administration with honors from Central Michigan University. Martha is a native of Upstate New York and has lived in Salt Lake City since 1998.

Lydia Carlisle

Lydia Carlisle

2023 Treasurer

I am the Branch Manager for WaFd Bank at our Sugar House Branch. I have been in the banking industry for 36 years. I started as a teller with First Federal Savings & Loan and have grown with the company to the current “Best Bank” awarded WaFd Bank. Our mission statement is to serve the real estate, business and financial needs of the community while building long-term relationships. I love what I do and try to make a difference.
I enjoy people. I love working with them and assisting with their financial needs. WaFd Bank is a great company that allows me to provide exceptional service along with great products. I specialize in residential mortgage lending and business banking. I assist clients in learning what they are needing to be successful in the business and what they are needing in a home. I love meeting new people and learning what their needs are and then being able to help them obtain that goal.
I have volunteered for many years with Junior Achievement. I have enjoyed going into the classrooms of my children and grandchildren and teaching them about banking. To see them learn of the different ways in which the financial industry affects their lives is amazing. I have also volunteered with the Sugar House Chamber, Boy Scouts of America and United Way.
I am married and have 3 children and 4 grandchildren. I love having my children and grandchildren around. I enjoy all kinds of crafts. My favorite thing to do is to take long rides in the mountains on my motorcycle.
Jess Jackson board member

Jess Jackson

2023 Secretary

Jess Jackson is a 2021 graduate of Circles Salt Lake. She credits her Allies for the support she and her family needed due to situational poverty, the push to complete her Associate’s Degree, and the confidence to apply for and rejoin the Emergency Communications field. She enjoys art, reading, road trips, visiting National Parks, and is an advocate for the disabled and those living in poverty. Jess, her husband Justin, and their boys live in Murray with a wolf-sized German Shepherd named Arlo.
Rob Ricks Circles Board Member

Rob Ricks

Board Member

Rob works as an equity portfolio manager for a local non-profit. He is tasked with helping to grow the organization’s endowment, which supports its many charitable efforts. Rob has always been torn between the world of corporate finance and the non-profit sector. After graduate school, he initially took a job at a prestigious investment firm in New York City, only to subsequently turn it down in favor of the non-profit role he has held here in Salt Lake City for the past 14 years. He has found the opportunity to give back to the community and world to be more fulfilling than the prestige and pay of Wall Street. He has been blessed to be able to live the mantra, “doing well by doing good”, and he feels lucky to be able to straddle his two passions.

Rob graduated from the Yale School of Management with an MBA in 2007, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Weber State University. He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and 4 young children. Outside of work and service, he most enjoys traveling the world, watching movies with his kids, and moonlighting as a professional bluegrass fiddler.

Michael Torrence Circles Board Member

Michael Torrence

Board Member

Justin Utley Circle Board Member

Justin Utley

Board Member

Justin Utley is an award winning singer/songwriter, a human rights advocate, and public speaker. He began his singing career after performing at the 2002 Winter Olympics and moved to New York City. After over a decade of activism, community engagement, and touring, Justin relocated to Salt Lake City and hit the ground running. He spoke at the Utah Senate hearings about the need for laws against discrimination in housing & employment for LGBTQ individuals in 2015, in addition to testifying against the use of conversion therapy, in support of a bill to ban its abusive practice on children in 2019.

He has been a guest contributor on CNN’s ‘Faces of Faith’ Sunday news segment, NPR, SiriusXM’s OutQ and MSNBC. He is a two-time recipient of the New Jersey FBI’s “Inspiring Citizen of the Year” award, “Artist of the Year” by SiriusXM Radio, and the 2021 Impact Award from Equality Utah.