Nominate a Changemaker for the 2025 Common Good Awards!

At Envision Utah, we believe that a better future for our state is shaped by those who dare to lead, serve, innovate, and uplift. Each year, the Common Good Awards honor the incredible organizations and individuals who work selflessly to improve life in Utah and leave a lasting, positive mark on our communities.

Whether it’s building affordable housing, creating pathways to education, protecting our natural resources, or supporting vulnerable populations, these Utah-based changemakers are lighting the way forward. The Common Good Award is one of the most meaningful recognitions we offer—an opportunity to celebrate people and groups who are moving the needle in bold, compassionate, and visionary ways.

Past recipients have included everything from local nonprofits and family foundations to major employers, academic institutions, and artists. What they all share is a commitment to service, collaboration, and long-term impact.

Now, we want to hear from you.

Who do you see making a difference in your community? What companies or organizations are going above and beyond to make Utah stronger, fairer, safer, greener, or more connected?

🏆 Submit Your Nomination Today!

Help us spotlight those who are building the Utah we all want to live in.

Nominations are open now through October 1st.

👉 Nominate HERE

Together, let’s lift up the people and ideas that are shaping a brighter future—for all Utahns.

Missing Middle Housing

Quality Communities

During the Guiding Our Growth statewide conversation about Utah's future, nearly two thirds of 28,000 Utahns who took the survey said they want to see more small homes and small lots, townhomes, duplexes, and accessory dwelling units. Younger Utahns are particularly supportive of providing a variety of housing choices to improve affordability. (This is really consistent with what we saw in the Your Utah, Your Future process as well.) Housing and living expenses have long been a plus about living in Utah, but it's increasingly cited as a downside home price have increased.

When we talk about increasing housing variety, we’re often talking about increasing what’s known as missing middle housing—housing types that are somewhere in between detached single-family homes and mid-rise apartment buildings. 

Our partners at the Land Use Academy of Utah recently completed the Missing Middle Toolkit to help communities of all sizes across Utah learn about and consider more housing variety tailored to their own city or town.

"Today, I'm proud to inroduce the state's first Missing Middle Housing Toolkit, a resource collaboratively designed by staff from state, regional, and local agencies to help local communities bridge the gap in housing supply by supporting the growth of diverse, attainable, and neighborhood friendly housing options." - Governor Spencer Cox

Staff Spotlight

If you’ve ever met Laurel Miller-Jones, you know she has a heart for Utah’s youngest residents—and an impressive knack for turning science into simple, powerful tools for parents and caregivers. As Envision Utah’s Senior Early Learning Project Manager since 2022, Laurel brings together her wide-ranging experience in juvenile court, healthcare, schools, and nonprofits to champion brain-building essentials in those all-important first five years of life. She loves crossing sectors, connecting with community partners, and helping adults understand that reading, talking, and nurturing kids early on isn’t just nice—it’s foundational for a healthy and happy society.

When she’s not shaping the future of Utah one brain cell at a time, Laurel can be found exploring new places (especially if there’s a lighthouse involved), cooking up something delicious, or hiking in the mountains with her family and her dog. A Utah native, she cherishes the state’s stunning variety—mountains, deserts, open lands—and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

For Laurel, it all comes down to one thing: giving children the strongest start possible so they can grow into thriving adults who love and contribute to the place they call home. In her own words, "How we grow matters—and it all starts in the first five years.”

What Made Our “Big One” Article a Hit — and How You Can Help Us Build Resilience

When we looked into what readers at Envision Utah are most drawn to, one blog post from August 2021 stood out dramatically: “What ‘The Big One’ Could Look Like and How We Should Prepare”. That post, imagining the social and physical aftermath of a magnitude 6.75+ quake along the Wasatch Front, captured the most views of any page on our site.

Why did it resonate? Here are just a few powerful takeaways we uncovered:

• 43% chance of a magnitude-6.75 or greater earthquake in the coming 50 years—making it one of the most pressing threats Utahns face.
• Nearly 80% of Utah’s population lives along the Wasatch Front, built atop an old lakebed ripe for liquefaction—turning solid ground into unsettling quicksand under stress.
• Over 140,000 unreinforced masonry buildings (URMs)—brick or block structures without modern reinforcements—pose a grave danger in a quake scenario.
• Prolonged disruptions are likely: more than a million Utahns could be without water for months, and infrastructure like roads, power, and gas lines would be severely compromised.
• Economic fallout could be catastrophic, $33.2 billion in short-term losses, with long-term damages potentially reaching hundreds of billions.
• People overwhelmingly underestimate the timeline: in a 2021 survey, 71% of Utahns expected normalcy to resume within six months—far shorter than realistic projections.
• More recent studies suggest we may be underestimating the severity, thicker sediment under the valley could amplify shaking, increasing risks beyond current models.

Why This Article Matters for Utah’s Future

This widely-read post didn’t just raise awareness, it sparked conversations and actions. It’s also inspired new research, public awareness, and efforts to strengthen our infrastructure.

A Simple Question For You, Our Supporter

As someone who values Envision Utah’s role in building disaster resilience, would you be willing to support more impactful work like this? Whether it's updating our quake preparedness tools, funding educational materials, or supporting community outreach—the ripple effects matter.

Make a donation today, and help us help Utah prepare—not with alarm, but with insight, clarity, and action.