Heber City-based nonprofit accountant Carol Sonnenberg was sifting through the finances of an AIDS nonprofit in San Diego on the day of Magic Johnson’s November 1991 press conference. The nonprofit’s staff members and volunteers huddled around a TV in the conference room as the basketball star announced to the world that he’d contracted HIV.

“There were people in the building who were really sick and had lost their jobs and lost their homes,” Sonnenberg said. “He gave a very positive message, and it helped turn the tide on how people looked at (HIV and) AIDS because he publicly owned it.”

That same year, she saw the AIDS-focused nonprofits she was auditing be hit with a “fire hose” of funding as the federal government distributed $220 million in grants through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act. 

Being a Certified Public Accountant, or CPA, in the nonprofit sector has allowed Sonnenberg to watch life unfold from the unique perspective of a number cruncher. 

Her involvement in nonprofits has also been invaluable in her personal life. For example, when her nephew was born with a heart defect and needed a blood transfusion, she knew how to handle the situation and whom to contact because she had been audit committee chair of the San Diego Blood Bank.

“I knew how to form the family blood bank, and my blood went into my nephew. I would have never been able to do that if I wasn’t on the blood bank board,” she said. “You never know when you’re going to need a nonprofit.”

Sonnenberg’s involvement in nonprofits began with becoming a Girl Scout at 6 years old. It was at a Girl Scout camp where she learned horseback riding, one of her lifelong passions. She later served as the leader of her younger sisters’ and daughter’s troop and audited Girl Scouts San Diego. 

That experience, along with participating in her local Special Olympics with her brother, who has Down syndrome, as a teenager, formed the basis of Sonnenberg’s passion for nonprofit organizations.

Sonnenberg graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1988. She began her studies as an equine science major before realizing just how cutthroat and expensive the industry was. But it turned out that auditing was very similar to wrangling horses. 

“Being not just an accountant, but a consultant and a partner to my clients, you have to be brave, and you have to be kind. So, both at the same time,” she said. “If I’m hard with my clients, they’re not going to want to listen. If I’m hard with the horses, they’re not going to want to listen.”

After graduating college, Sonnenberg began working at her father’s CPA firm, which had “hundreds of homeowners associations” and only five nonprofit organizations as clients. But the nonprofits provided Sonnenberg with a greater sense of purpose in her work.

“I’m like, ‘My people!’ So, I would audit those, and I’m like, ‘Can we get more of these?’” she said. “Within 10 years, we had over 100.”

That’s in large part because Sonnenberg began teaching classes at Nonprofit Solutions in San Diego in 1992. The organization, which had launched a year prior, has now taught over 110,000 practitioners how to more effectively run their nonprofit organizations.

Sonnenberg’s involvement began when she drove to their headquarters and asked to teach a class: “How to Save $1,000 on Your Audit.”

“They said, ‘Sure, but we also need someone to teach nonprofit budgeting and nonprofit tax, and we’re not going to pay you.’ And I’m like, ‘What a good deal!’” she said. 

Teaching was an opportunity for Sonnenberg to provide advice to nonprofits before she audited them. Nonprofits were typically “ill prepared” for audits.

“It’s like movers showing up on moving day and your boxes aren’t even packed,” she said.

Volunteer teaching in the sector she was most interested in was not only a smart business move, allowing her to make connections with potential clients, but enjoyable for the same reasons being a Girl Scout troop leader was. Sonnenberg later taught courses about nonprofit finance at University of San Diego as an adjunct professor between 2004 and 2013. 

Putting together audit reports isn’t all “checklists and forms,” but also involves meetings with the nonprofit’s accountant and CEO, culminating in a brief presentation to the board of directors followed by advice and a Q and A. 

“Now that I’ve already visited 100 other nonprofits and I’ve seen best practices and I’ve seen challenges, I say, ‘You know what I saw somewhere else? I think you guys should try this,’” Sonnenberg said. “Speaking in front of people when you mean it, when you care, when you want them to grow and do better is so easy. People don’t want to look at their audit. I get it. … But this is a tool they use to get bigger.”

Some audit findings, like financial oversights or improper internal controls, require that Sonnenberg create a corrective action plan for the organization to execute by its next audit. 

“Sometimes, I get called in in a crisis. Emergency CFO. I’ve had it where someone’s died and they need a replacement, or someone’s committed fraud and they want a limited investigation,” she said. 

Then, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, Sonnenberg confessed that financial crisis response gigs are the most “fun.” She thinks that’s because her outdoorsy interests have prepared her for all sorts of survival scenarios, even financial ones. 

Sonnenberg now lives in Heber City with her golden retriever, Daphne, and three horses: mama Zeta, her daughter, April — also known as Wink because of her missing eye — and “mean girl” Lucy, short for Lucifer. Whenever Sonnenberg has a bad day or difficult meeting, her solution is to “hug a horse.”

Sonnenberg started her own CPA firm in 2016 and moved to Heber City in 2021 to be closer to her sisters and daughter, who was attending the University of Utah at the time. 

Some Utah nonprofits she’s audited include Wasatch Immigration Project in Park City, Friends of the Bear River Refuge in Brigham City and Utah Nurse Practitioners. She’s also the founding treasurer of Outdoor Access Project, a nonprofit committed to accessible outdoor recreation statewide.

Sonnenberg’s advice to those wanting to start a nonprofit is, in most cases, not to. 

There are about 1.9 million nonprofits in the United States, and over 12,000 of them in Utah, according to Candid, a nonprofit focused on nonprofit data. Chances are, there is already a local nonprofit that meets a particular need, Sonnenberg said.

“I really encourage people before they start one, ‘Do you know one that’s nearby, or now, even remote, that you can join and make better?’” she said. “If you want to start one, then let’s do the accounting right. … If not me, get another accountant. But don’t waste your time on your computer doing your own accounting and finance and banking when you need to do your mission and purpose.”

The post Heber City accountant finds purpose in nonprofit finance appeared first on Park Record.

Cody Martensen has had a saying written on his mirror for the past decade: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”

The motto fits for a man who overcame 21 years of substance abuse and regained custody of his children by joining Circles, a national poverty reduction program and support group run in Utah and Wasatch counties by Community Action Services and Food Bank. 

Martensen is now the director of the program and sole staff member after he was forced to lay off six employees. Community Action Services is significantly scaling back its Circles programs — including by shutting down the Wasatch County program — after losing federal funding.

Community Action Services has run Circles since 2010. It is available to those making less than 200% of the poverty threshold, or about $66,000 annually for a family of four based on federal guidelines.  

Participants complete a 12-week program to learn skills to help them toward financial stability. Then they are paired with mentors, or “allies,” who help them achieve their goals. 

Those goals are not restricted to financial ones. They could also be related to physical or mental health, substance abuse recovery, professional development or post-secondary education, as a few examples.

“We had a client that wanted to learn how to eat better and be more physically active, so the ally would walk a mile a day with them,” Martensen said. “We had an ally that would watch a girl’s kids so she could go get her CNA and get into the medical field. It’s just those intentional friendships, like, ‘Hey, I believe in you. How can I help you?’”

A participant ultimately completes the program by reaching 200% of the poverty threshold. On average, participants increase their incomes by $14,000, according to Jessica Miller, chief impact officer at Community Action Services.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grants almost entirely fund the Circles programs in Utah and Wasatch counties. The Utah Department of Workforce Services last funded Circles in July 2023 with a $1 million grant. That funding made it possible to expand to Wasatch County and add youth and Spanish-language classes to the Utah County program.

In anticipation of its three-year grant contract expiring, Community Action Services reapplied for a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant, but the Utah Department of Workforce Services declined to fund the program.

Department of Workforce Services spokesman Jared Mendenhall said this year’s grant process was “very competitive” and that the majority of applicants did not receive funding. He did not share how many applicants there were, nor the total amount distributed, because grant contracts are still being finalized.

“We wish that there was no limit to any of our resources and we could fund all the good projects,” he said.

Community Action Services is seeking to fill Circles’ funding gap through local foundations and state and federal funding opportunities, Miller said.

“We remain hopeful that this important community resource will be brought back up to speed quickly so that families can continue their work forward out of poverty,” Miller said.

But for now, the nonprofit has laid off six of its seven Circles employees, closed its Wasatch County program and denied new applicants to the Utah County program, which is now being run entirely by Martensen.

In fiscal year 2026, the programs served 399 individuals in Utah County and 42 in Wasatch County.

Martensen said poverty typically looks different in Wasatch County than in Utah County.

“I have noticed that sometimes people are like, ‘I’m not in poverty.’ The ‘poverty’ word scares them,” he said. “I don’t see the real debt or the real finances until six months down the road. … Usually, the first six months we’re building rapport, and we’re building trust, like, ‘Hey, we’re not here to judge you. We’re just here to learn together.’”

Martensen’s biggest concern about Circles leaving Wasatch County is losing the relationships and trust he and other employees have built locally over the past three years. If the program were re-established in the area, it would be like starting over, he said.

The sight of his coworkers’ empty desks has also upset him.

“My staff were distraught. They loved what they did, and we had spent two years (since I became director) building this team and getting everybody trained,” he said. “The reason I picked these people and fought so hard to keep them was they really did care. They really had their own personal stories of triumph and had been through it and just wanted to help people.”

That’s why Martensen became director of the program. He was originally a participant himself eight years ago. He had struggled with drug addiction since he was 13, lost custody of his children and been in and out of jails and psych wards until his early 30s. 

Then, he joined Circles, surrounding himself with peers who would hold him accountable to his goals.

“When you hang out with doctors, chances are, you’re going to be a doctor. You hang out with investors, chances are, you’re going to be a really good investor,” he said. “I think it’s the same thing for Circles. If you’re hanging out with people who are working on their health and working on their finances and working on fixing their credit and working on achieving goals, then chances are, you’re going to do that stuff, too.”

In Circles, Martensen was no longer facing his problems on his own. One time, his car broke down, and within a few days, his peers had found him 10 cheap cars to replace it.

“Surrounding yourself with good people that want nothing but the best for you, it just does something for your mental stability, your emotional stability,” he said.

These days, Martensen can’t believe he’s built the life he has today. He recently welcomed his seventh child into the world. 

“I’ll have experiences with my baby, and I’ll call my older kids, and I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry for not being the best dad back then.’ They’re like, ‘I know, Dad. You don’t have to keep calling us and telling us sorry,’” Martensen said.

Though Martensen is sad about Circles losing funding, he’s choosing to approach the situation with optimism, just as the program taught him to do.

“This is nothing compared to what I’ve been through,” he said. “My addiction almost took me out a couple times. So, I’m grateful to be here. (Circles) takes what I’ve been through and gives a purpose. I didn’t go through all that pain and anguish for nothing. I can use what I’ve been through to … instill hope in people, like, ‘Hey, I was there too. I made it out. I live a good life today.’ If that’s all I can do with what I’ve been through, then I’m doing a good job.”

The loss of funding will not affect Community Action Services’ food banks, which will continue to operate in both Utah and Wasatch counties. The nonprofit accepts donations and is seeking committed Circles volunteers in Utah County. Learn more at communityactionprovo.org.

The post Poverty reduction program leaves Wasatch County after losing state funding appeared first on Park Record.

EpicPromise awarded $2M in grants to 31 Summit and Wasatch counties’ non-profits at O. P. Rockwell Wednesday evening, Nov. 30, 2016. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

The post PHOTOS: EpicPromise Grants Party appeared first on Park Record.