Board Members

Shaun Ritchie

  • Shaun started his first company in 2002. Neutron Interactive, an online marketing company, twice earned spots on the Inc 500 list, at #313 and #318. Shaun co-founded his second company, Teem, in 2012. Teem raised over $20 million in venture capital from several prominent venture capital firms. After the sale of Teem to The We Company, Shaun served as the Chief Workplace Experience Officer at WeWork until his departure in 2019. Shaun currently is a managing partner at Grinder Ventures, a firm he co-founded, which seeks to invest in those who embrace the grind of building successful, enduring companies. Shaun is Utah Business 40 under 40 award recipient and an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Shaun has served as the president of the Utah Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization and was twice recognized as the EO Utah Entrepreneur of the Year. 

Eric Loudon

  • Eric Loudon is the co-founder of O.N.E. Coconut Water, one of the original coconut water brands to enter the U.S. The company was eventually bought by Pepsi Co. He has bachelor degrees in Economics and International Business, as well as an MBA from Pepperdine University.

    Eric is currently the owner of Dedicated Trucking Services, a full-service trucking and staffing company that operates in the western U.S. He is also a partner in JD&E Restaurant Group that has holdings in Texas and Utah. Over the years, Eric has also been a consultant for many natural food and beverage startups.

    Eric enjoys serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a full time mission in Brazil. He has also held many callings with the youth, and has served as a Ward Clerk, Stake Executive Secretary, and Bishop. He currently lives in St. George, Utah with his wife Kim and their nine children.

Joe Swenson

  • Joe and his wife Jolene recently returned from serving as President and Matron of the Concepción Chile Temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, previously serving as Mission Leaders in the Chile Concepción South Mission. As a young man he served a mission in Spain.

    Joe is currently on the Board of Directors for Gibby Group headquartered in Burley, Idaho. Previously, Joe was CEO of two technology companies, Imagine Learning (digital education) and DynaVox Systems (augmentative communication). For several years he served as Vice Chairman and board member of the Utah Technology Council. In 2006, DynaVox was recognized as Life Sciences Company of the Year and Joe as CEO of the Year by the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

    Joe spent 20 years with Hill-Rom Company, a medical device provider. His last position was President of Hill-Rom Europe with manufacturing and distribution throughout Western Europe. Joe received his bachelor’s degree and MBA from Brigham Young University.

Stephen W. Gibson

  • Stephen W. Gibson has created or funded more than a dozen entrepreneurial businesses, including being the first investor in 1-800-Contacts, Omniture and Ancestry.com. He also cofounded the Utah Angels, the first Angel investment group in Utah. In 1999, he and Bette moved to the Philippines on their own for 19 months and created a non-profit educational system, The Academy for Creating Enterprise, for Filipino returned missionaries. The Academy now has more than 671 alumni chapters in the Philippines, Mexico, Peru and expanded to Brazil in 2019. The chapters are led by more than 1,900 volunteers who are learning leadership skills that they apply in business, church, family and their communities. Gibson also taught as Entrepreneur in Residence and later as full-time faculty for the Marriott school for a total of 15 years having retired in 2011. He continues to enjoy writing, investing and mentoring and traveling with his wife, Bette. They have been married for 56 years.

Doug Holmes

  • Doug spent the majority of his career in the telecommunications industry with MediaOne Group, a fortune 100 company. At MediaOne Doug held various positions including CFO and Executive Vice President of strategy, corporate development and technology. Prior to his work at MediaOne, Doug was a strategy consultant with Booz Allen and Hamilton. Doug served on several company boards including: Time Warner Entertainment, IPIX, InfoGear, and Time Warner Telecom. He has also served in multiple volunteer positions including as the chairman of Parents for Choice in Education and United Way of Davis Co. He spent three years in Detroit, Michigan leading a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Jolene Swenson

  • Jolene and her husband Joe recently served as President and Matron of the new Concepción Chile Temple, previously serving as Mission Leaders in the Chile Concepción South Mission.

    Jolene served many years as a docent for the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and as a Seminary teacher. She has written articles for various publications, and has served in her community and church in Utah, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Paris, France. She graduated from Utah State University with a bachelor’s degree in English.

    She and her husband live in Midway, Utah and have four children and 12 grandchildren.

Rich Andrus

  • Rich Andrus is the Executive Vice President for Menlo Commercial Real Estate and Co-founder/Co-owner of Menlo Dental Transitions. Prior to working in commercial real estate, Rich was Regional Manager for Cardinal Health, a Fortune 100 company. Rich graduated from Utah State University with dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Finance and Marketing and dual minors in Economics and Spanish. He attended the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, earning his Master’s in Business Administration. His Church callings include missionary in the Mexico Veracruz Mission, Executive Secretary, Bishop, as well as 15+ years of various youth callings. He currently lives in Gilbert, Arizona with his wife Miriam and their four children.

Lyle Parry

  • Lyle Parry started his career working as a certified public accountant for Arthur Young and Ernst & Young. He spent the majority of his career as the senior vice president, chief financial officer and secretary-treasurer of Management & Training Corporation (MTC). MTC, a privately owned corporation, is an international education and training company that focuses on providing education for economically disadvantaged youth as well as education for rehabilitation in a correctional setting.

    Lyle was prominent in the strategic growth and management as a senior executive of the company. When he retired it was the largest contractor with the US Department of Labor and the third largest company to manage correctional facilities globally. MTC had over 10,000 employees and revenues of around $950 million. He retired to serve a mission, with his wife Cricket, for their church in West Africa and continues to serve in a similar capacity in Salt Lake City. He has served on various boards, including charitable organizations and international corporations.

Cricket Parry

  • Cricket began her dance career at the age of 3. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, Hawaiian, musical comedy and lyrical dance. As she grew, her goal was to own and direct a dance studio. She accomplished that goal and taught hundreds of students. Cricket not only wanted to teach her dancers to dance, but also how to be a team player, good sport, confident and good people. Her dance teams competed for many years, receiving national championships. She also coached dance and cheer teams on the high school level. These high school teams also received many national awards and championships.

    Along with teaching, Cricket was co-founder, board member and officer of the Utah Dance Judges Association. She was named Utah High School Judge of the Year and National Stars Director of the Year. Cricket has also choreographed and directed NFL and NBA halftime shows as well as other events for Junior Miss, Miss USA and various artists in national celebrations. Her greatest accomplishment is being married, the mother of 5 children and Grandma Cricket to 9 grandchildren.

Andy Barfuss

  • Andy currently serves as a director of five company boards in the dental products, publishing, metal machining, and real estate development industries. He has a background in finance and has expertise in entrepreneurial finance, management, and real estate.

    Andy helped Bette and Steve write some of the Academy curriculum when he volunteered for at least 10 hours a week. He was the first CEO of ACE until called as a bishop in 2010.

Brian and Louise Murphy

  • Brian and Louise Murphy live in Midway Utah, have 4 children and 13 grandchildren (14th is due in August). Both graduated from BYU. Brian with a business degree and Louise with a degree in English Literature. Brian also has an MBA from Columbia Business School. They are on the BYU Marriott National Advisory Counsel, participate with the BYU Marriott Founders, the BYU Cougar Club and are on the Board of Rising Star Outreach. Brian is the Chairman of the UVU Foundation Investment Committee and on the Woodbury School National Advisory Board. Louise is a Board member of the Stella Oaks Foundation. Brian is a Senior Advisor to FS Investments and the Founder of Portfolio Advisors.

Tanner Milne

  • Tanner Milne is an experienced entrepreneur, investor and commercial real estate advisor. He has worked in the commercial real estate industry since 2003, and in 2008, he founded Menlo Group Commercial Real Estate. He has also invested in more than 50 other businesses and real estate opportunities.

    Tanner holds a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Arizona State University. He lives with his wife and five beautiful children in Gilbert, Arizona. Tanner served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Brazil and is grateful to give back to the country he loves as an ACE instructor.

Carrie Thompson

  • Carrie Thompson is the Executive Director of Esperanza, a support organization to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A graduate of Brigham Young University, Carrie discovered her passion for non-profit work during a life-changing trip to Mozambique, Africa in 2001. With a commitment to uplifting those in need, Carrie has volunteered with Care for Life, an initiative focused on providing village self-reliance solutions for extreme poverty. 

    Married to Kris Thompson, Carrie is the mother of four children. In her spare time, she enjoys family activities, outdoor adventures, and continuing her volunteer efforts to make a positive difference in her community.