BETTY SAWYER

Betty Sawyer is the Community Engagement Coordinator in Access & Diversity at Weber State University and advises the Weber State University NAACP College Chapter. Utilizing her skills as a communicator, collaborator, encourager and builder, Betty has been an agent for change in the city of Ogden and throughout Utah for over 40 years. Betty moved to Utah in 1975, after graduating from Morgan State University in Baltimore with a BS in Physical Education. She earned a second BS in Physical Therapy and her Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Utah. Her advocacy work includes the creation of the state’s Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission while serving as Director of the Governor’s Office of Black Affairs, the Utah Juneteenth Freedom & Heritage Festival/Holiday, Charter member of the Greater Salt Lake Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Utah Black Chamber of Commerce, the Utah Black Roundtable, and president of the Ogden NAACP. Betty serves on numerous local, state, and national boards including the Ogden Diversity Commission, Ogden Civic Action Network -OgdenCAN, U.S. Civil Rights Commission/State Advisory Committee, the Utah Board of Juvenile Justice, and the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, to name a few. Betty is the co-founder of Project Success Coalition, a local grassroots non-profit focusing on health, education, cultural arts, and advocacy. Project Success Coalition has been at the forefront of addressing health disparities reduction and promoting health equity, providing education, outreach, and resources to those impacted by COVID-19 and being a voice in public policy deliberations. Betty’s personal motto is Ubuntu: I am because we are and because we are, therefore, I am. This African Proverb points to the universal bonds of humanity that connects us all and should drive us to work for equity, inclusion, and justice both in private and public arenas.