ShayAnn Baker

(sh-ae-ann)

Program Manager, Return Utah, State of Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

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Speaker levelProfessional Speaker

Primary sectorsGovernment & public sector · Media, marketing & communications

Utah focusYes

About

ShayAnn Baker is the proud overseer of Return Utah, the first public career reentry program in the country. Baker participated in Return Utah’s inaugural cohort at the Utah Department of Commerce where she was responsible for mass communication projects before transitioning to her current role. Since that time she has presented to federal lawmakers at the Council of State Governments and has been a featured speaker for Utah Business Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, the Society of Human Resource Management (national and local chapters), Pew Research Institute, iRelaunch, and more.

Prior to her career break, Baker worked as a television news reporter and producer for KTVX and KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication and lives in Layton with her husband and three daughters.

Speaking formats

Experience level

Professional Speaker

Frequent / professional speaker (10+ speaking engagements in the last 2–3 years)

Topics & expertise

Civic & Community

Civic engagement & public service
Community organizing & coalition building
Cross-sector partnerships (business + government + nonprofit)

Communication & Storytelling

Communicating with frontline employees
Communicating with senior leaders / boards
Cross-cultural communication
Difficult conversations & feedback
Digital presence & thought leadership (LinkedIn, etc.)
Executive presence (online & in-room)
Media training & interviews
Personal brand & visibility
Public speaking & presentation skills
Storytelling for leaders
Storytelling with data

Culture/HR & Talent

Coaching & mentoring programs
Employer brand & employee experience
Handling burnout, morale dips & “quiet quitting”
Hybrid work, flexibility & future of work
Learning & development / leadership pipelines
Organizational change & transformation
Workplace culture design

Entrepreneurship & Startups

Family-owned / closely held businesses

Functional Expertise

Communications & PR
Human resources / people operations
Marketing & brand strategy
Operations & process improvement

Gender & Equity

Building equitable promotion and hiring systems
Gender lens on policy & community decisions
Inclusive leadership practices
Intersectionality (race, gender, class, etc.)
Motherhood, caregiving & careers
Return-to-work / re-entry after career breaks
Sexual harassment prevention & culture repair

Industry Expertise

Government & public sector
Media, marketing & communications

Leadership & Management

Difficult conversations
Giving & receiving feedback
Leading through change
People management & coaching
Vision, strategy & execution

Strategy/Innovation & Change

Change management & adoption
Customer experience & journey mapping
Data-informed decision-making
Strategic planning & execution

Utah & Regional Issues

Faith, culture & work in Utah
Mountain West / regional issues

Wellbeing & Personal Growth

Boundary-setting & saying no
Confidence, impostor syndrome & self-advocacy
Habit building & personal productivity
Values-based career design
Work–life integration

Signature talks

Return Utah, Return Utah: Breaking Barriers to Work, Return Utah: A Hiring Strategy that Works, Impact through Pivotal Partnerships, Making Innovation Stick, The Return on Returners

Media & video

Featured in more than 75 print, web, radio, podcast, television broadcasts over the last 4 years.

Selected engagements

Impact through Pivotal Partnerships, Utah Society of Human Resource Management Conference, Utah Valley Convention Center, Provo, Utah. 9/23/2025. Presented background information on the state's Return Utah program along with partnership strategy. Discussed the provided tools for small government strategic partnership building.
Return Utah: Breaking Barriers to Work, Utah Business Forward, Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City, Utah, 11/16/2023. Presented Key information and data points regarding Return Utah program as a solution to barriers within the state's workforce where employer expectations are often a mis-matched to the market conditions.
Return Utah: A Hiring Strategy that Works, National Public Sector Human Resources Association, 6/5/2024, Salt Lake City, Utah. Presented data on workforce participation numbers/market conditions to HR professionals working in large cities and states throughout the country. Displayed how career reentry program often resolves workforce/market conditions, traditional hiring cannot.
Making Innovation Stick, Lehi Leadership Academy (senior leadership within city governments including Lehi City, Pleasant Grove Provo, and more), Lehi City Center, Lehi, Utah, 4/12/2023. Presented change management methods used for continued success within the state's Return Utah program, along with change management methodologies and use cases for guaranteed success when solving public policy/government problems.
Return Utah: A Hiring Strategy that Works, Public Sector Human Resources Association, Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City, Utah, 5/2/2023. Presented data on workforce participation numbers/market conditions to HR professionals working in large cities and states throughout the country. Displayed how career reentry program often resolves workforce/market conditions, traditional hiring cannot.
Return Utah, Council of Western State Governments, Boise Convention Center, Boise, Idaho, 7/20-7/21/2022. Presented key information regarding Utah's Return Utah program, answered questions from western state lawmakers/committee chairs, and participated in a panel discussion regarding workforce solutions and state/national workforce policy.

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