Deadlines
BYU Healthcare Industry Network Conference
Presenters
Rich Saunders
Richard Saunders is Utah’s first chief innovation officer after serving as executive director of the Utah Department of Health (UDOH). Saunders joined the Utah Department of Health in 2015, where he was a consultant in Medicaid. He joined the agency’s executive leadership team in 2017. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Saunders was appointed as chief deputy, and in August 2020, he was appointed as interim executive director. In that role, he served in the leadership of the state’s Unified Command. He was installed as executive director, a role that garnered unanimous Senate approval, in February 2021.
Before joining state government, Saunders was an entrepreneur for 25 years with extensive experience in multiple verticals, and developed significant sales networks that included Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, AAFES, and QVC. He later cofounded a multi-million dollar construction company that grew to cover a national footprint with offices in Salt Lake City, St. George, Seattle and Idaho Falls. As this company’s president, he headed its executive leadership team, oversaw its accounting and legal departments, and led the company’s strategic planning efforts. These experiences, coupled with Saunders’ ongoing passion for leadership knowledge, communications and organizational health, led to the creation of a consulting service that has influenced companies in both the private and public sectors.
Saunders enjoys volunteering and serving his community. His volunteer experience includes teaching groups throughout the Wasatch Front as a master gardener, a volunteering as a suicide prevention trainer for youth and young adults with HOPE4UTAH, and serving within in various religious capacities including chairman of the Advisory Board of LDS Family Services; chairman of the Board of Education over Seminaries and Institutes; and chairman of Scout Relations.
He received his education in communication and organizational studies from Utah Valley University and the University of California, Davis. He is married and the father of five children, four sons-in-law and nine grandchildren.