$200 million new effort fueled by personal donations led by Josh Romney to save the Great Salt Lake
Utah’s most prominent philanthropists and business leaders have stepped forward in a dramatic new push to save the Great Salt Lake, pledging a combined $200 million in donations as announced this week by Governor Spencer Cox at Farmington Bay.
The largest individual effort comes from Josh Romney, president of The Romney Group, who organized and led the “Great Salt Lake Rising” coalition to pledge $100 million toward conservation measures over the next year.
Romney, son of former senator Mitt Romney, brought together dozens of Utah’s top business figures and major philanthropists to support the initiative, underscoring what he called the “multi-billion dollar” scale of the crisis and the urgent need for local leadership.
Josh Romney is the founder and President of The Romney Group, which owns and operates multifamily, office, and industrial properties throughout the US. The Romney Group is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.
Josh is also the Chairman and CEO of Intercap Lending, based in Draper, UT. Intercap is direct Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie seller/servicer and is licensed in 43 states. The company has over 200 employees operating in five states.
Josh also serves as President of Charity Vision International, which partners with local doctors in developing nations in an effort to establish permanent and sustainable eye care programs. The organization currently performs over 80,000 surgeries annually in 28 different developing countries. He also serves as an Executive Board member at the Romney Institute at Brigham Young University.
Josh worked on his father’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, working with both the political and fundraising teams. In addition, he spoke at hundreds of events as a surrogate for his father.
He earned an undergraduate degree in English from Brigham Young University in 2000 and a master’s degree from Harvard Business School in 2005.
Josh currently lives in Holladay, Utah with his wife, Jen, and their seven children.
Other major individual and family donors to the campaign include Matthew and Tatiana Prince, the Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation, the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, the John and Marcia Price Family Foundation, the Huntsman Family Foundation, the Garff Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and the Daniels Fund, each of whom pledged $20 million.
These high-profile Utah families and business titans are united in the “Founding Captains” group for the project, reflecting unprecedented philanthropy and community solidarity in their efforts to restore the Great Salt Lake ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Governor Cox, who set the ambitious restoration target and emphasized collective responsibility, hailed the campaign as historic: “We will not let the Great Salt Lake fail—this is part of the soul of Utah, and we’re going to write the chapter of one of the greatest environmental successes of our time,” Cox stated, joined by legislative and philanthropic leaders.
With these pledges already in place and more expected, Utah’s elite donors have put themselves at the forefront of environmental renewal, marking one of the most considerable conservation efforts ever mounted in the state and setting a new standard for individual giving to a landmark cause.