Holland & Hart is proud to announce Salt Lake City Partner Engels Tejeda has been named the 2021 recipient of the Raymond S. Uno Award by the Utah State Bar for the Advancement of Minorities in the legal profession. Engels was presented with the award during the Utah State Bar’s 2021 Spring Convention awards presentation.
The award is presented annually to a Utah State Bar attorney whose professionalism, public service, and dedication improves the legal profession, enhances the administration of justice, and the delivery of legal services in Utah. Recipients have a history of encouraging new efforts and engaging in significant activity on behalf of the advancement of minorities in the legal profession. The award is named in honor of retired Judge Raymond S. Uno, who was a civil rights advocate, the first ethnic minority judge in Utah, and the first president and co-founder of the Utah Minority Bar Association.
Engels shares Holland & Hart's value and commitment to communities by actively seeking and undertaking opportunities for giving his skills, time, and talents to pro bono and public service activities. Engels leads Holland & Hart’s Pipeline Mentor Program, a collaboration with the Utah Minority Bar Association and the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion, which provides diverse law students access to career development advice and guidance. He has held myriad leadership positions throughout his career and is actively involved with the Utah Minority Bar Association – both as a mentor and as a member – as well as the LGBT & Allied Lawyers of Utah, the National LGBT Bar Association, and the Hispanic National Bar Association.
Some other organizations and associations he is currently serving or has served with include Operations and Finance, and Academic and Student Experience Committees, Westminster College Board of Trustees; Governing Board, Intermountain Healthcare, Inc.'s Salt Lake Valley Hospitals; University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law Board of Trustees; Co-chair of Mentoring Program for Under-Represented Students, Utah Center for Legal Inclusion; and Advisory Board and Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, KUER. He also served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve for eight years, which included two active duty deployments to Iraq and Kosovo.