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Anthony R. Aragon, Denver's Office of Aging
Anthony Aragon joined the HRCR staff as the Director of the Denver Office on Aging & Community Relations on August 18, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of Boards & Commissions for Mayor John Hickenlooper and also served as the Mayor's Director of Scheduling for several years. Anthony is a Denver native and has been a proud member of Denver's GLBT community for over 25 years. Anthony also serves as Mayor John Hickenlooper's GLBT Liaison. He is a long-time Democratic activist having worked for former Mayor Federico Pena, Governor Roy Romer and Ambassador Swanee Hunt. He has also been honored as the Colorado Pride Guide 2005 Coloradan of the Year and the 2006 Colorado Business Council Professional Man of the Year. Some of Anthony's civic engagement includes serving as a Commissioner on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, having been appointed by Governor Bill Ritter in July, 2007. Anthony is also the President of the Board of Directors for Equal Rights Colorado. Anthony lives with his partner of 12 years, David Westman in Stapleton.
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Char Bloom, Outdoor Adventurer/Entrepreneur
Adventure and the outdoors have always been a valued part of Char Bloom's life. Her first job was on MGM's ship the Bounty. As a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines, Char flew nearly seven million miles domestically and internationally. She has taught skiing/snowboarding for twenty years as well as fly fishing. Along with these endeavors, she feels blessed to share her life with her three amazing children.
Believing it is important to make a difference in the world and be of service to others, Char donates 100% of her teaching and guiding income to women's shelters across America…specifically the Champa House which is supported by the Denver Rescue Mission. Now that her son has founded Jeremy Bloom’s Wish of a Lifetime, she is committed to fulfilling its mission of enriching the lives of low income seniors. This foundation was formed in honor of Jeremy’s living grandmother and Char’s mother, Donna Wheeler.
Currently on the Board of Jeremy Bloom’s Wish of a Lifetime, Keystone Citizen's League, Snake River Water Board, Co-Director of the Keystone Beautification Project and member of Summit County Mentoring Program, Char is a committed conservationist who works diligently on the improvement of the environment and animal habitats.
She can frequently be found on the high mountain rivers rowing her drift boat with her two dogs Ranger and Doodlebug and maybe a friend or two.
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Chris Tetzeli, Manager with Red Light Management
Chris Tetzeli was born in Milan, Italy. Chris grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. Chris then attended the University of Virginia. There in Charlottesville, Virginia Chris began an association with The Dave Matthews Band. Subsequently Chris worked for the band as part of Red Light Management. In 1999 Chris founded ATO Records with Dave Matthews and two other partners. Chris ran the label for seven years. Upon moving to Denver in January 2008 Chris left ATO but he continues to manage bands as part of Red Light. Chris is married to Emily Philpott of Denver and they have two girls.
Chris was drawn to Wish of a Lifetime because of "the pure and simple mission makes perfect sense. To enhance the lives of elderly people who have not had access to a privileged life is noble. It is an honor to be a part of Wish of a Lifetime. There is no reason that the later years of life have to be desolate or lonely. I love what the organization is set up to accomplish."
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Elva Pellouchoud, President of Epiphany Luxury Marketing
If you want to do things right for your clients, start your own company. Simple enough? After marketing
the planet's most recognized brands and the world's finest resort communities and luxury hotels, Elva
had an epiphany. Yup, that's how her company got its name-through Elva's realization that she could create
stronger initiatives by recruiting and leading the smartest minds in the industry. She now leads that group of talented individuals as president of Epiphany, Inc., a firm that specializes in marketing resorts, real estate and consumer products and services to the affluent buyer. Maybe falling asleep at night to a recording of the Dali Lama's blessing chant fueled the impulse to follow her bliss.
Elva first discovered the power of her infectious enthusiasm as a cheerleader at Notre Dame.
That enthusiasm spread through each marketing company she managed for 12 years prior to starting her own. It inspires people to push beyond limits. It sparks innovation. It continuously elevates Epiphany's standards of excellence. It's why her clients say the company is more fun to work with than any other agency-
and more successful in helping them achieve their goals.
When she is not focused on her "day job", Elva spends much of her time running the nonprofit that she started in 2007 called Resort 2 Kindness (R2K). Inspired by Elva's family (she is one of 15 children and an aunt to more than 50), R2K was created to expand the presence of kindness in the world through generosity, thoughtfulness and unconditional love. Since its inception, the organization has brought acts of kindness to more than nine countries and 27 states.
Elva spent two years at Notre Dame before she got homesick for Colorado and returned to attend
Metropolitan State College of Denver, where she completed her studies and received a Bachelor of
Arts in Journalism with a minor in Public Relations.
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Gregory W. Dickson, Shareholder - Heider, Tanner, & Dirks, Inc.
Greg Dickson is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Colorado and a shareholder in the firm of Heider, Tanner & Dirks, Inc. He has worked in public accounting and financial management for over two decades, after having served in the U.S. Air Force for four years.
Mr. Dickson received his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Pacific Lutheran University (Cum Laude). While at Pacific Lutheran University, he was awarded an undergraduate fellowship, with responsibility to staff, teach, and supervise the university's accounting lab courses. Mr. Dickson has continued his education with an average of 45 hours of continuing education each year, in topics ranging from non-profit organizations to computer applications.
Mr. Dickson's public accounting career began in Seattle with a large firm, which gave him a broad base of experience serving non-profit, insurance, manufacturing and wholesale clients, professional practices, and in estate planning and taxation matters. Mr. Dickson then accepted a position with a local firm in the Seattle area, and within one year he was offered ownership in the firm. After a twelve year absence from his home state of Colorado, Mr. Dickson sold his practice in Washington and returned to Denver in 1997, joining the firm Heider, Tanner & Dirks, Inc.
Mr. Dickson's practice as a Certified Public Accountant is focused on serving non-profit organizations, and he currently serves as auditor and consultant for more than 60 non-profit organizations throughout the Denver Metro area.
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Greta Walker, Director of Public Relations at Denver Rescue Mission
Greta Walker has been the Director of Public Relations for the Denver Rescue Mission for the past seven years. Since 1892, the Denver Rescue Mission has been serving homeless and low-income men, women, and families through emergency services, rehabilitation, transitional and permanent housing, and community outreach. Ms. Walker is responsible for representing, managing, and directing multiple public relations and marketing campaigns while overseeing 52 special events. She also promotes the core values of the Mission through internal and external media affairs, marketing, internal publications, media training and fundraising initiatives.
Ms. Walker joined the Denver Rescue Mission ten years ago after attending Baylor University on a tennis scholarship, becoming a professional tennis player and lastly a coach. She sits on the Community Awareness Committee for Denver's Road Home, is an Impact Denver Leadership Alumni through the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, participates on the Safety Committee for the Downtown Denver Partnership, and acts as lead communications director for Mayor Hickenlooper's annual PJ Party benefitting Denver's Road Home.
Eight years ago, Ms. Walker met Jeremy Bloom and his mother Char at a Denver Rescue Mission event where Jeremy donated his time to help raise funds for the Mission's programs. Since that time, they have been close friends and supporters of each other's endeavors. Through her fly-fishing clinics and guided tours, Char Bloom has raised thousands of dollars for the Denver Rescue Mission's Champa House, a long-term residential and rehabilitation facility for single mothers and their children. Ms. Walker chose to participate as a board member of Jeremy's foundation because of his vision and dedication to serving the poor and low-income populations.
Greta Walker lives with her husband Clark and son Connor in Wheat Ridge. She enjoys skiing, obeying her terrier Colfax, and watching Connor in his fencing tournaments.
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Jane Runge, Sales & Marketing Specialist, Piñon Management
Jane has over 20 years experience in healthcare marketing, business development and management. Prior to joining Piñon Jane has served in many roles in healthcare, including Special Projects Director for the Colorado Gerontological Society, Marketing Director for skilled nursing facilities here in Colorado and Sales Director for a local Infusion Company. She also has dedicated many hours to numerous volunteer programs. Jane has a bachelor's degree in Sociology with an emphasis on Gerontology from Metro State College in Denver, where her focus of study was to help seniors. After joining the Piñon team, Jane guided North Star Community and Parkview Care Center to achieving 100% capacity. In her current role, Jane provides marketing and business development oversight, guidance and direction to the Admission Directors of the Piñon managed homes. Jane loves spending time with her family. Her family includes husband Jon, daughters Lexie and Cassie and son Derek. She also enjoys helping others in the community. Jane was introduced to the Wish of a Lifetime foundation from a dear friend who was writing stories about Jeremy. I am so lucky to be involved with the Wish of a Lifetime!
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Jeanette Hensley, Director of Aging and Adult Services, Colorado Dept. of Human Services
Jeanette is a two-time National Award Winner from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for her work in the area of enhancing the lives of individuals in Colorado. Jeanette has over thirteen years experience working with the Colorado Medicaid program. During that time she was responsible for the design and implementation of programs for low-income adults and children in the areas of long-term care, acute care services, managed care, mental health, developmental disabilities and children with special needs. Currently she is the Director of the Aging and Adult Services Division with the Colorado Department of Human Services. Aging and Adult Services assists older persons, persons with disabilities and persons with special needs to live safely and independently. Jeanette was selected as a Colorado delegate for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.
Jeanette graduated from Colorado State University and has worked as an advocate for low-income Colorado citizens and for the State of Colorado for 25 years.
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Kevin Medina, CEO of Mile High Sports Magazine and Radio
Kevin Medina is a Colorado native. He grew up in Arvada and attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where he earned his business degree in marketing in 1988. After a short stint at a local advertising agency, Kevin joined 850 KOA Radio where he specialized in sports marketing and sales. Following a successful tenure at 850 KOA, he returned to the advertising agency business in 1995 when he launched Medina Communications. Medina Communications quickly became one of Denver's largest advertising firms. The resources provided by the successful venture permitted Kevin to get involved in several community organizations.
Kevin served on the board of directors for The Metro-North Chamber of Commerce. During his three-year service, he prepared and implemented the Chamber's strategic marketing plan which resulted in unprecedented growth in membership and revenue. For his service, Kevin was named business person of the year in 2003.
In 2003, Kevin was invited to join the board of a fledgling organization called Court Appointed Special Advocates of Adams County (CASA). The organization provides neglected and abused children an advocate in the courtroom and in real-life situations. Upon his arrival on the board, Kevin and his colleagues developed a massive fundraising event that generated over $100,000. This funding literally saved the organization from folding, which would have left thousands of children to fend for themselves.
During this time period, Kevin left Medina Communications to launch Mile High Sports Magazine. His entrepreneurial spirit, along with a strong ownership group, has made the company a household name in the Denver sports community. Elevating the company to even further heights, Kevin spearheaded Mile High Sports Radio which hit the airwaves in 2007. Within a year's time, the station has become the flagship for the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Denver University Pioneers, Air Force Falcons, Colorado Crush, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Mammoth and Mountain West Conference. The station also carries NFL and NCAA football games throughout the season.
Today, Kevin is the CEO of Mile High Sports Magazine and Radio. His duties include strategic development, investor relations, marketing, contract negotiations, programming and media production.
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Laura Love, Founder of GroundFloor Media
As the founder of GroundFloor Media, Laura Love provides vision and leadership for the Denver-based public relations agency she founded in 2001. In the past eight years, Laura has taken a business she started in her basement in Boulder, Colo., and built it into one of the region's fastest growers, boasting a national client base that has included Coors Light, Starbucks Coffee Company, Qdoba Mexican Grill, the Special Olympics U.S.A. National Games, The Children's Hospital, Corporate Express and CH2M HILL.
The agency has become an award-winning public relations firm and one of the fastest-growing companies in Colorado. GroundFloor Media was named the 2007 Best Boutique Agency to Work For in the nation by The Holmes Report, an influential public relations industry newsletter, and was recognized by the Denver Business Journal as the No. 2 small company on the 2008 Best Places to Work list. The agency was also recently recognized by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce as the number two top Small Businesses of the Year.
Love was recently named by Mayor John Hickenlooper to the Denver 150, an honor that recognized 150 unsung heroes for their contributions to the Denver community. Love was also named a finalist for the Denver Business Journal's 2006 and 2007 Outstanding Women in Business awards, an accolade that recognizes women in Denver for their significant contributions to their industry and their community. In 2005, Love was recognized as one of the "Forty under 40" by the Denver Business Journal. On an international level, Love was honored with the Kauffman Community Award for her personal and corporate commitment to the Tennyson Center for Children, an award honoring outstanding individual entrepreneurs who have made a significant difference in their local communities.
Laura understands the importance of community involvement and is committed both personally and professionally to helping whenever possible. Since she started the agency, Laura has dedicated at least 10 percent of GroundFloor Media's work to nonprofit clients and pro-bono accounts. Additionally, Laura and her team members are committed to various non-profit organizations throughout the country. She is a President-Elect of the Colorado chapter of the Entrepreneur's Organization (EO) and serves on the board of the Better Business Bureau, dZi Foundation and Tennyson Center for Children. She serves on an advisory council for the Downtown Denver Partnership and the Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and is involved in The Birthing of Giants program.
Drawing from a background in journalism and extensive experience in media relations, Laura earned a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University. In her spare time, she continues to learn a few things from her seven-year-old daughter and their Bernese Mountain Dog. She is adopting a son from Nepal, but while she waits for that news, she continues to run half marathons, tries to break away to go skiing, and travels whenever she can. She recently took up yoga in an effort to find an hour of quiet time each week.
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Laura Wildt, Program Manager, Foster Grandparent Program, Volunteers of America
From a very young age, Laura knew she wanted to spend her life helping others. She grew up in Colorado and was fortunate enough to travel outside of the state to work on her education. She received her Bachelor's in Psychobiology from the University of California, Riverside and her Master's in Counseling Psychology, with a specialization in Infant Development, from Rutgers University.
Following graduate school, Laura returned to Colorado and spent a number of years in early childhood education, where she worked with infants. She also facilitated parent support and education groups for first time parents of infants and families who needed a refresher on infant development.
In 2003, Laura took the position of Project Manager for Volunteers of America Rainbow House, a child care program for HIV-positive families. This is where she first became familiar with the Foster Grandparent Program and where her passion for seniors began. In 2007, Laura began managing the Foster Grandparent Program, a program designed for low-income seniors over 60 to share their time, experience, and love with at-risk children and youth. Her interest in and work with seniors is a perfect fit with the foundation and she is delighted to be the Director of Wishes.
Laura lives with her wonderful son, Brandon, and spends much of her time supporting his passion for baseball.
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Matt Wess, Vice President of Acquisitions for Storage Brokers, LLC
Matt Wess had been doing some soul searching and had been looking to find an organization with which Matt could donate his "time", "treasures" and "talent". After meeting Jeremy he became aware of the Donna Wheeler Foundation and instantly knew this is where his heart was. Matt began to reflect on his Grandma Bea's life and he saw how she made an impact on those she helped all by living month to month on her social security check. Matt is certain there is something that his Grandmother would have liked to have experienced before she died and never had the opportunity. As Matt serves on the Board of Directors with the Donna Wheeler Foundation, Matt will be inspired through the life of his Grandmother to help touch as many lives as possible.
Matt Wess has possessed an entrepreneurial spirit from the beginning. Matt undertook his first enterprise at the age of 12: a lawn mowing business. After putting time and effort into cultivating a trustworthy reputation, which spread quickly through referrals, Matt was met with great success. He implemented this same drive and perseverance into his schooling and the career that followed. Matt attended the University of Iowa, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Henry B. Tippie College of Business. After graduating, Matt chose to take a chance and move to the Denver, CO area without a job where he eventually accepted an entry-level position in the email marketing industry. His natural skills and fervor for business did not go unnoticed, earning him two promotions within a six month period.
During his free time, Matt took on an e-Commerce endeavor which he developed, funded, managed, and later negotiated the successful sale of. Matt eventually moved on to a position in software sales. He quickly excelled in his first sales position, earning him the "Rookie of the Year" sales award his first year and the "Salesperson of the Year" award the following year. These experiences only helped to further develop his already keen ability to network on both personal and professional levels. After several years in software sales, Matt determined he was in the perfect position to make his next career change. A trusted mentor encouraged Matt to follow his instincts and pursue a career in real estate; for which he had a true passion.
Currently, Matt is Vice President of Acquisitions for Storage Brokers, LLC based in Lone Tree, CO. He works exclusively for a large national self storage owner/operator; actively taking part in all new project underwriting, acquisition and site selection decisions of each property based upon market feasibility studies he conducts. In his spare time, Matt enjoys taking advantage of all the beautiful wonders the State of Colorado has to offer, with his wife Christine and daughter Madison.
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Sarah Bodhaine, Director of Accounting for MBH Enterprises
Sarah graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in the year 2000 with her bachelor's degree in accounting and finance. Immediately following graduation, she earned her CPA license and began working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in their audit and business advisory services division. After many long nights and weekends in the office, Sarah decided it was time to move on in her career and accepted a position with Denver's homegrown MurrayHill Company (now Clayton Holdings) as a credit-risk manager. There, she managed a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities with collateral totaling over $1.5 billion. After playing her hand at finance for a bit, she realized that accounting was her true calling and has since focused her career on honing her accounting skills through a variety of positions, from real-estate accounting analyst to corporate controller of a restaurant chain. In 2007, Sarah accepted the Director of Accounting position with Denver-based MBH Enterprises, a diversified holding company which invests in opportunistic enterprises. MBH combines its capital and business-building acumen with the target-company's industry expertise to drive market value.
Sarah learned about Wish of a Lifetime through her company's support of the foundation, and immediately took a special interest in the organization. Sarah has a close relationship with her 92-year-old grandmother, and sees firsthand the struggle that senior citizens face on a day-to-day basis. She admires other cultures who covet their elders, and has always wished that our society treated the aging population with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Wish of a Lifetime is aiming to accomplish that, first by granting wishes to deserving individuals...and eventually, by shifting the entire perception of younger generations to appreciate and admire our seniors. Sarah is so honored to be a part of this movement!
Sarah lives with her husband, Bryan, and their one-year-old son, Bauer, on beautiful Wash Park in Denver. In her free time, Sarah enjoys spending time in the mountains, skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer (she is on a quest to climb all of Colorado's 54 "fourteeners"). Sarah also loves to travel and has been fortunate to visit places such as Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, England, Spain, France, and Switzerland. Up next is a wine tour through Italy!
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