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Our Team

We're here to help.

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Ann Theis

Advisor

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Audrey Godfrey

Associate

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Brittany McCoy

Advisory Partner

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Carson Beck

Analyst

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Derek Walker

Advisory Partner

Eric Gibson

Director

Jason Godfrey

CEO

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Kimberly Bonner

Manager

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Kyle Scott

Advisor

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Matthew Godfrey

Founder

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Meng Guo

Advisor

Rachel Boyett

Advisor

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Ryan Englund

President

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Serra Güllü

Advisor

team, economic development - trenton

Trenton Smith

Associate

Trina Kittleson

Director

Connect with a member of our team about your community and what we can do for you.

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Our Values

Commitment

We pride ourselves on being committed to the local communities, counties, states and regions we work with. We believe in working in a community, with its residents and leaders to create real change.

Integrity

We believe in building trust through responsible actions and honest relationships. We aren't afraid to confront obstacles to deliver what we think is an honest, achievable, impactful plan.

Impact

We are in the business of making an impact, real change to real people in communities across the country. Impact to us means improving the quality of life for individuals.

Collaborate

Collaboration is our secret ingredient. We believe collaboration is the key to successful and lasting change. Our "we" includes you: your community members, residents, business owners and stakeholders.

Respect

We believe in respect for the community; its' history, strengths and setbacks, potential and vision. Our goal isn't to change a community into something new, our goal to strengthen its' roots and help build it to withstand what the future holds.

Humility

We haven't worked with every type of community, in every state, with every set of challenges. However, we believe this gives us motivation and openness to creative ideas, new perspectives and vision to change.

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(801) 332-9006

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Ann Theis

Advisor

Community-based Media has been an intrinsic part of Ann’s life ever since she attended Antioch College to become a documentary filmmaker. Discovering the importance of community media under pioneers in the field, she learned that teaching people to express their own voice was more important than merely documenting them. Ann started her career at Manhattan Neighborhood Network as a Production Assistant and then became the Director of Production and Education. Then for twelve years, Ann guided the Open Media Foundation’s media efforts with Denver Open Media and its user-driven tools that minimized staffing and operations costs. Youth Media has been a passion of hers, mentoring hundreds of youth over the last twenty years. At Brookline Interactive Group and the Public VR Lab (BIG), she managed station operations, educational programming for adults and youth, community outreach, grant-writing, reporting, and project management for BIG’s productions and technical services. Since 2020, Ann has been volunteering for El Raton Media Works to bring economic and workforce development to Raton, including mentoring local youth filmmakers and working with the community to engage them in the economy of filmmaking.

She is also the 2019 recipient of the Dirk Koning – George Stoney Award for Humanistic Communication and the 2021 Hats Off Award from Steps to Success for her dedication to Steps to Success programming and efforts towards improving educational outcomes for low-income students living in Brookline.

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Audrey Godfrey

Associate

Audrey is a business student at Brigham Young University. She currently assists with leading social media initiatives, website development and marketing projects.

Audrey is from Houston, TX and enjoys sports, music and spending time with her family.

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Brittany McCoy, MSED

Advisory Partner | McCoy Consulting

McCoy Consulting, LLC. was established in 2021 and provides business development and grant writing and grant management services. McCoy has a background in hospitality and tourism management (12 years), economic development (3 years in the public sector, and 6 years in the private sector), and 5 years in the grant writing and grant program management field, along with a BA in Hospitality & Tourism Management, MS in Economic Development, and 2 grant writing certifications. McCoy is ecstatic to work alongside Better City and the great work that it does for communities across the country in the field of economic development.

mccoyconsultingllc.com

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Carson Beck

Data Analyst

Carson conducts research and analyses to inform strategic planning efforts. He is studying Finance at Utah State University.

Carson is from Downingtown, PA. He is on USU’s club soccer team and enjoys skiing and lifting weights, and will be getting married in 2024.

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Derek Walker

Advisory Partner

Derek has worked in real estate development for 10 years, both as a developer and as a consultant to public and private clients. He specializes in feasibility studies, financial analysis, site planning, and development across a variety of asset types, including self storage, hotel, office, industrial, multifamily, and specialty mixed-use. He has a BA in Economics from the University of Utah and an MS in Real Estate Development from New York University.

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Eric Gibson

Director of Strategic Analysis

Eric specializes in analyzing and visualizing data, with experience in conducting economic and market analyses, feasibility studies, economic impact studies, and crafting impactful and digestible strategic plans. Eric helped develop Better City’s premier economic analysis tools and works with clients to identify and leverage robust and useful data insights. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science Degree in Economics from Purdue University.

Eric was born in rural Cortez, Colorado and now lives in northern Utah with his wife and two children. He enjoys reading, writing, and reading, watching, and listening to all things economics, politics, and technology.

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Jason Godfrey

Chief Executive Officer

Jason has a wide breadth of experience working in both the public and private sectors having held executive positions in real estate development, public administration, operations management, and management consulting firms. His specialties include developing actionable strategic plans and structuring complex financial deals using tax increment financing, tax credits, grants, and public-private partnerships.

Jason lives in Cypress, Texas and enjoys running, reading and playing sports with his active family.

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Kimberly Marie Bonner

Manager | CEO, New Day Consulting Systems

Kimberly is an expert at scaling small businesses and entrepreneurial ecosystem development. Trained as a lawyer, Kimberly has over 20 years of experience scaling businesses and helping create the environments in which they flourish.  

She currently owns a management consulting firm that works with Fortune 500 companies, family owned companies and start-up businesses to achieve sustainable growth, profitability, brand dominance, and digital transformation.  

Her expertise includes, but is not limited to, business model innovation, intellectual property licensing, franchising, mergers and acquisitions, turn-arounds and exits, economic development work for micro businesses; women-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses. 

  • J.D., University of Virginia
  • BA, Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia

More information about her work can be found on her website.  www.newdayconsultingsystems.com

Feel free to connect with her on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymariebonner/

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Kyle Scott

Advisory Partner

Kyle Scott is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at Sam Houston State University. He has spent the previous fifteen years in the private sector where he started and grew several businesses. Prior to that Kyle taught political science at Miami University, University of North Florida, Duke University, and University of Houston. He has published five books and more than a dozen academic articles in addition to more than 100 articles in trade publications and news outlets. Kyle received his BA in Government from UT-Austin, PhD in Political Science from University of Houston, and MBA from Rice University. Kyle lives with his wife and two teenage children in Spring, TX. 

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Matthew Godfrey

Founder

Better City was founded by the former mayor of Ogden, Matthew Godfrey. During his time as mayor, Mr. Godfrey developed Ogden’s “outdoor recreation” industry cluster, recruiting in over $1.2 billion of new investment; 6,000 jobs including major brands such as Salomon, Rossignol, Atomic, and Descente; and redeveloped over 130 acres of blighted downtown. In 2011, Ogden led the country in job growth and was ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the top 10 cities to raise a family. Shortly after leaving office in 2012, Mr. Godfrey founded Better City with the intent of helping other communities around the country achieve similar results. 

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Meng Guo

Advisor

Meng is a consultant skilled in conducting research, market analysis, and identifying solutions to address ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) issues. She is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Yale University. Meng has also volunteered her time as a Pro Bono consultant for Healthcare companies. When she’s not working, Meng enjoys cardio dancing, painting, and spending quality time with her beloved corgi.

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Rachel Boyett

Advisor

Rachel has experience in legal procedures and technical writing. She assists in drafting documents, marketing, research, and project implementation.

Rachel graduated from Indiana University in Public Policy & Persian and is now currently based in Houston, Texas. She enjoys reading, experimenting in the kitchen, and spoiling her dog, Lando.

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Ryan Englund

President

Ryan has spent the past 40 years working as an executive and as a consultant for many organizations across the globe including the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, England, Germany, Denmark, U.A.E, Qatar, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, and Sudan. He has led workshops in Kuwait, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, and Turkey.

Ryan has worked as an executive and consultant, serving clients in government, manufacturing, retail, and finance. He is skilled in turning organizations around and driving performance to the next level, and is able to gain insight as to challenges and opportunities within a community and to map out how assets can best be utilized to maximize their potential.

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Serra Güllü

Advisor

Serra is a political economist with expertise in project management, data analysis, research, and problem-solving. Born and raised in a small town for nearly 20 years, she strongly believes that true change begins at the grassroots level, with local communities driving sustainable growth. Serra is the recipient of the Sena Eken Schieber Economic Award and holds a master’s degree from Duke University’s Analytical Political Economy Department. In addition to her academic studies, she was a member of a pro bono consulting club assisting and tackling challenges faced by local non-governmental organizations in Durham. She also enriched her personal growth and leadership abilities by participating in the Emerging Leaders Institute at Duke University. In her free time, Serra enjoys cooking, drawing/painting, and exploring Boston’s coffee shops with friends.

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Trenton Smith

Associate

Trenton is a sophomore at Brigham Young University, studying for his Bachelor’s in Business Strategy. Trenton is currently assisting the team with research and data analysis.

Trenton is from Parker, CO. He enjoys watching and playing sports, fishing, and hiking.

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Trina Kittleson

Director of Business Operations

Trina is instrumental in furthering our clients’ strategic projects. She is skilled in doing research, crafting deliverables, conducting outreach, and identifying strategic solutions to community challenges. She has developed business support resource guides, business recruitment marketing collateral, economic development strategic plans, and grant applications. Trina has a Masters in Public Administration.

Trina spends any free time playing with (and cleaning up after) her two rambunctious kids. She enjoys reading, painting, and dancing.

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