Who We Are

Our Team

  • Aimee Alcorn (she/her)

    SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CLINICAL SERVICES

  • Akilah Martin (she/her)

    ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST- Z PLACE OPPORTUNITY CENTER

  • Allison Stertzer (she/ella)

    COMING SOON

  • Alyssa Noelle Chavez (she/her)

    ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST - Z PLACE OPPORTUNITY CENTER

  • Andrew Paquet (he/him)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Beimnet Yonas Mulugeta (she/her)

    COMING SOON

  • Briannah Hill (they/them)

    PROGRAM COORDINATOR - Z PLACE OPPORTUNITY CENTER

  • Claire Palius (she/her)

    CLINICAL MANAGER

  • Desirèe Martin (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Dustin Hacker (he/him)

    COMING SOON

  • Elizabeth Almaraz (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Fernando Branch (he/him)

    SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS & PROGRAMS

  • Galen Duran (he/him)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Gemma Sanchez-Contreras (she/her)

    INTERIM PROGRAM COORDINATOR AT WESTWOOD OPPORTUNITY CENTER

  • Jennifer Ramirez (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Jocelyn Vangundy (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Kim Sia (she/her)

    PRESIDENT & CEO

  • Lindsey Michal (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Lissette Uribe (she/her)

    ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

  • Mary Elizabeth Minor (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Malik Burton (he/him)

    PROGRAM MANAGER - Z PLACE OPPORTUNITY CENTER

  • Morgan Meacham (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Paige Kimble (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Patrick Tully (he/him)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • Sophie Silver-Trujillo (she/her)

    CLINICAL MANAGER

  • Stephan Bennett (he/him)

    ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

  • Stephanie Dreiling (she/her)

    VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS

  • Summer Wimberly (she/her)

    DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE & CAREER DEVELOPMENT

  • Taylor Vaughn (she/her)

    INTERIM PROGRAM MANAGER AT WESTWOOD OPPORTUNITY CENTER

  • Victoria Chappelear (she/her)

    CLINICAL INTERN

  • CHAIR

    Denny O’Malley was the President of Craig Hospital from 1974-2008. Under his leadership, Craig was internationally-recognized as a premier center for the rehabilitation and research of adults with spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury.

    Denny received a B.S. in Business from Creighton University in 1971 and a Masters in Hospital and Health Care from the University of Minnesota in 1973. He was chair of the Board of the Colorado Hospital Association, the American Hospital Association’s Rehabilitation Governing Council, the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association, the Denver Zoo, and has served on numerous other non-profit boards during his career. He received the El Pomar Foundation’s Colorado Leader of the Year Award in 2008. He received lifetime achievement awards from the Denver Business Journal and Anthem Blue Cross of Colorado, the Insurance Rehabilitation Study Group, and the Brain Injury Association of Colorado. In 1997, Denny was recognized by his peers for his leadership and vision when he was awarded the American Hospital Association’s Brent England Award for outstanding leadership. He is a member of the Nebraska Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is a certified Spinning instructor. He and wife Denise have 6 daughters and 12 grandchildren.

    Since 2008, Denny has been a strategy consultant for a variety of non-profit and for-profit enterprises. From 2009-2017, he was the lead consultant in the complex merger of Creighton University’s academic medical center into a regional community hospital system and migrating all health science teaching programs. He has been a consultant to the executive team and board of the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, a charitable giving foundation which contributes over $25 million annually to spinal cord injury causes. He is the Executive Director of the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals and has served as a facilitator to the leadership of numerous organizations in their strategic planning efforts.

    From June 2017 to September 2018, Denny served as Interim CEO of the Denver Zoo while the Board conducted a national search. He was a member of the Zoo Board of Trustees from 2008-2016, and Chair from 2014-2015.

  • PAST CHAIR

    Doug Andrews has worked in commercial real estate in Colorado since 1983 and has specialized in apartments and multifamily land since 1991. In the last ten years, with his partner Jeff Hawks, he has closed more than $7.4 billion in multifamily transactions, representing a list of clients that includes JPI, Equity Residential Properties Trust, AMLI Residential Trust, Blackrock, The Carmel Companies, Embrey Partners, The Morgan Group, Archstone/Smith, TIAA/CREF, Wellsford Real Properties, First Pacific, Rocky Mountain Mutual Housing, Griffis Blessing, Waterton Associates LLC, Pauls Corporation, Baron Properties, CAN Insurance, Sentinel Real Estate, Lincoln Property Company, Columbia Savings, John Hancock, Henderson Global Investors, Prudential Real Estate Investors, Goldman Sachs, RREEF, Allied Realty Services, PaineWebber Properties, Principal Insurance and Simpson Housing.

    Mr. Andrews has been a member of the portfolio disposition teams for Balcor/American Express ($600 million), Archstone Communities ($650 million), Mitsui Real Estate ($225 million), and Jupiter Realty Corp. ($65.5 million).

    In 2005, Doug co-founded Capital Real Estate. He is also a partner in ARA Newmark’s Denver office. ARA Newmark is a full-service investment advisory brokerage firm that focuses exclusively on the multifamily industry. He was honored as the Denver Realtor’s Investment Broker of the Year in 2000 and has been the #1 multi-housing specialist in Denver for 20 of the last 21 years. Jeff and Doug have sold more Colorado apartments than any other broker in Colorado’s history.

    Prior to 1991, Mr. Andrews was president of Andrews & Company, a family held commercial real estate investment and development firm with more than $30 million in assets, including apartments, office and retail properties. Mr. Andrews is a native of Denver and a graduate of The Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Denver Southeast, currently serves as a director on the board of the Colorado I Have A Dream Foundation and has served as president of Apartment Realty Advisors, Inc.

  • Cuneyt A. Akay is a shareholder in the firm’s White Collar Defense & Special Investigations practice, focusing his practice on international compliance matters including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act. Cuneyt has extensive experience in conducting internal investigations, designing anti-corruption compliance policies and procedures, and implementing compliance program enhancements.

    As a member of the Litigation and Government Litigation practice groups, Cuneyt has also experience representing clients in complex civil litigation, class actions, and in appellate proceedings in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Cuneyt also represents clients in various governmental matters, including challenges to voter‐approved constitutional amendments, election law issues, ballot initiatives, campaign finance, and administrative proceedings.

  • Commercial real estate occupancy is the result of employment, financial, an operational decision-making. As such, Anthony ensures that his clients have access to world class local market insights, portfolio optimization, labor analytics, lease administration, state and local economic incentives, debt & equity financing, facilities management, and developer/construction oversite through project management. Because of his holistic strategic approach Anthony is frequently looked to by his clients and peers for partnership on many of the largest and most complex real estate projects in Denver and beyond.

    Anthony has focused on Denver and national tenant representation for over a decade. Additionally, in 2013 Anthony co-founded the CBRE Energy Facilities Group (EFG), a North American practice group that he continues to lead today.

    In 2015 Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock appointed Anthony to the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) Board of Directors for a 5-year term. The City and County of Denver created DURA in 1958 to assist in the redevelopment of blighted property and help foster the sound growth and development of Denver.

    Specialties: Strategic advising, multimarket accounts, commercial acquisitions and dispositions, sale/leasebacks, and build to suits.

    Anthony earned his Bachelor of Science in Real Estate & Management from Ohio University.

  • Tonya Allen is a Senior Staff Program Manager in Release Management at ServiceNow. She manages large-scale cross-functional software development programs with engineering teams around the world. Tonya is passionate about empowering individuals, teams, and stakeholders in improving their effectiveness and culture through Lean-Agile thinking. Before her time with ServiceNow, Tonya worked at Tivo as a program manager on mobile and web applications, and prior to that, she worked for 14 years in a variety of roles in Information Technology at Level 3 Communications.

    Tonya has a heart for kids, family, and her community, having fostered children and volunteered at a number of Denver area youth organizations and is one of our newest Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation Board members. She is excited about being part of a great organization that is making a difference for kids in Colorado.

    In her free time, Tonya enjoys traveling, hiking with her sweet dog Hope, camping, road biking, snowboarding, snowshoeing, scuba diving, yoga, and spending time with family and friends. She is working her way down her wish-list of worldly adventures, and adding new ones all the time. Currently top of her list is visiting an elephant sanctuary in Asia with her children and snowboarding at Jackson Hole on a power day!

  • Ramon is a Principal of the RazrGroup, a Realtor team and investment group of Keller Williams Realty Urban Elite. Through a personalized approach to real estate, Ramon provides sound advice and guidance to empower his clients through real estate investments. He understands the worth of a strong community and the relationship of real estate and as such he is an active contributor to his community.

    Ramon has been active in supporting education initiatives for many years. He served on neighborhood school turn-around committees, he worked for the Denver Public Schools, he served on school funding committees, he was board President of the Adolescent Counseling Exchange (ACE) / Community Challenge School (CCS), an alternative education school and he is an Executive Board Member of the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation.

    Ramon is a graduate of Leadership Denver 2010.

  • Robert Cohen is the Chairman and CEO of The IMA Financial Group, Inc. The IMA Financial Group is a diversified financial services company which is currently comprised of four primary businesses. IMA, Inc. is a retail insurance broker, offering a full range of risk management-related products. Signature Select is a subsidiary of IMA, Inc. that focuses on high-end personal lines and specialty commercial business. Eydent Insurance Services, Inc. is a Managing General Agency/Managing General Underwriter. Towerstone, Inc. is a wholesale insurance broker. TrueNorth, Inc. is a discretionary money manager as both a registered investment advisor and a limited broker dealer.

    A native of Kansas, he received his bachelor’s degree in Risk Management and Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. His professional memberships include Colorado Concern, the Colorado Forum, Assurex Global, Intersure, World Presidents’ Organization, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (Chair), and World Broker Network.

    He earned his Charter Property Casualty Underwriters designation (CPCU) and is a graduate of Leadership Denver and 50 For Colorado. He is a 21-time participant in the City-to-City Leadership Exchange.

    He and his wife, Molly, have three sons and one daughter.

  • SECRETARY

    Vanessa co-founded several financial firms and served as a turn-around executive for three additional firms. She began her career in the late 1990s, serving as President and CEO of a de novo banking platform. She formulated and executed the corporate strategy successfully targeting a multi-national Latin American market and grew the company from 36 employees to over 1,200 employees while maintaining profit margins and diversifying the company’s sources of revenue within 36 months.

    Vanessa’s career has a rich history in the financial sector with many notable accomplishments but most importantly always attracted to disrupting the status quo to help organizations launch products, grow, execute operational models, build their corporate culture and market understanding by executing on strong organizational programs. Today, Vanessa leads a team of management consulting experts to assist organizations go through business transformation initiatives which involve business strategy, capability-building & organizational design, enterprise strategy, change management and business process management. Panorama’s philosophy is about bringing together the People, the Process and the Technology in order provide breakthrough value. Panorama’s New York staff is assisted the communities affected by Hurricane Sandy and Irene by managing the largest buy-out and acquisitions program for the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery for the State of New York, HUD and FEMA. With a strong financial and political acumen, Vanessa is paving the way for many socio-economic projects around the world and affecting change to have a greater humanitarian impact on society.

    She is a graduate from the Harvard School of Business, the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, holds a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley, holds the well-respected CMB designation from the MBA, Six Sigma Black Belt and is fluent in Spanish. She serves on both private and public sector boards such as Colorado “I Have A Dream” Foundation, Pacific Mutual Real Estate Investment Trust, ECS Team, Inc., and The Global Chamber.

  • George works for Lockheed Martin as an Engineer. His work focuses on: Multi-Industry “Integrated Hardware, Software & IT Development” Program Manager, Systems Engineering Mgr., Major Subcontracts Mgr, Business Development Mgr in Medical Device, Healthcare IT, High-Speed/Density Interconnect Printed Wire Board Design W Electromagnetic Compatibility & Interference Analysis, Launch Vehicles/Missiles, Material Science, Satellites, Telecom, & Turbomachinery.

    President, Western Springs Group Holding and Management Company (investments).

    COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS: COLORADO I HAVE A DREAM FDN (Past Board Chair, Treas, Secy); COLORADO SPACE COALITION; DENVER METRO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (Comm’s on Public Affairs, Transportation, Infrastructure, Water, & Education); and RED ROCKS CREDIT UNION (Board Chair 6 times, Treasurer, Secretary, Investment Chair).

    Education: MBA & BSME; Bradley Univ. PMI PMP. Information Technology: Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC); LM; Batky-Howell. Stanford Chief System Engineer Certificate, INCOSE Instructors, text. Studied ITIL v3, MCSE. SSBI, TS, SCI w Poly.

  • A Denver native, Leslie Ginsburg graduated from Colorado State University with a BFA, owned and operated a graphic design studio for many years, as well as an art gallery in Cherry Creek North.

    As a dedicated community advocate, Leslie has been active in many organizations. She previously served on the board of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) board for 15 years, as well as Jewish Colorado Women’s’ board/committees for more than 20 years. She is a past board member of the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation where she served as the Board Chair from 2013-2014. She also serves as a Board of Director for the Jewish Family Services of Colorado. Leslie has also been involved with the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation for over 25 years and is past Chair of the Board. Her husband Noel was a founding member of the Foundation and Noel and Leslie became a class sponsor for 42 inner city children at South Lincoln Housing Project through the Foundation. Their commitment continued through the Children’s graduation from high school, spanning a period of more than 10 years. Leslie has served on the board since 2007 and served as the Board Chair from 2015-2017.

    Leslie has received numerous awards including:

    Leslie and her husband Noel have two children Corey and Ali.

  • Shelby Martin is a true litigator with a steadfast goal of solving problems so clients can get back to business. As a member of Denver’s Litigation and Arbitration group, Shelby devotes her practice to pharmaceutical and medical device litigation and advocacy. She is an accomplished trial lawyer with experience representing one of the nation’s largest medical device manufacturers, as well as counseling clients in multidistrict and complex liability litigation. She is highly skilled in her motion practice, including briefing motions in opposition to class action certification in federal court. Shelby is also frequently involved in identifying, retaining, and prepping expert witnesses for depositions and trials, as well as in taking and defending depositions.

    In addition to her regular practice, Shelby maintains a well-established pro bono caseload, focused on civil and human rights, including the representation of indigent clients in immigration proceedings. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the Colorado I Have A Dream Foundation, which provides long-term academic and social mentorship for youth who live in economically-disadvantaged neighborhoods in Metro Denver.

  • CHAIR ELECT

    Derek has been helping to lead health care transformation for the last 15 years of his 20-year career. Making his start in software development he has been able to build and grow innovative health care software and business models.

    Derek currently serves as the Vice President of Physician Experience and the General Manager of DaVita Physician Solutions. DaVita is a Fortune 200 Healthcare company where Derek has helped increase health-related quality of life for DaVita’s patients by focusing on engagement, satisfaction, and technology tools for physicians.

    He joined DaVita in 2011 from McKesson Corp where he served as the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. Derek joined McKesson in 2007 and has been leading businesses in the high growth ambulatory practice management and electronic health records market for both the small and enterprise physician offices.

    Derek started his career at Accenture adapting and implementing software solutions such as SAP. Mr. Schoonover then pursued the promise of the Internet with a supply chain software start-up which led him to GE Healthcare where he has had a number of leadership roles including the General Manager of the Perioperative and Acute Care business.

    Derek brings balanced functional expertise through a background in the development, implementation, sales and marketing of software in a number of different industries including energy, manufacturing, and government. This foundation along with his inpatient and outpatient Healthcare IT business leadership provide a new perspective on healthcare and the power software and process improvement have on patient health, safety and business growth.

  • Jim received his Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology in 1973 from the University of Colorado. He completed his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 1983 and completed a General Practice Residency program in 1984 at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

    A Denver native, Dr. Stambaugh practiced general dentistry 29 years in Denver prior to joining Cody Dental group in 2013. He is a member of the American Dental Association. He has the Elevate Dental study Club. Dr. Stambaugh is the dental representative on the Medical advisory Board for the Cherry Creek School District.

    Dr. Stambaugh was previously a clinical instructor at the University of Colorado School of Dentistry.

    Dr. Stambaugh enjoys golf, fly-fishing, photography and skiing. He is the Past President of the Rotary Club Southeast and is involved with several projects of the Rotary Club. He and his wife, Lynn, enjoy their four grown children and seven grandchildren.

  • Rusty is a founding board member of the Colorado I Have A Dream Foundation (1988). He has been a real estate professional in the Denver area since 1983. Throughout his entire career, Rusty has been recognized by the Denver Board of Realtors as a “top producer”. Currently, he is a senior loan officer for SWBC Mortgage.

    A Denver native, Rusty graduated from East High School in 1978 and from CU Boulder in 1983, with at BA in Economics and Business.

    Rusty enjoys coaching soccer, riding bicycles (mountain and road), golf, traveling, and fixing up old home back to their former glory. He and his wife, Frances, have two grown sons Zachary and Ian.

  • LoAn Vo has extensive background in financial and entrepreneurial experiences. Ms. Vo started TransCrude LLC and has been successfully growing the company. Ms. Vo is also currently the President of DragonFire Capital LLC., and investment consulting firm specializing in Oil and Gas Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets. Previously, Ms. Vo worked as an Investment Banker for WG Nielsen & Co and LJS Capital where she gained Oil and Gas clients on capital raises and M&A transactions.

    Prior to heading up TransCrude, Ms. Vo has worked as a wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney where she worked with high net worth investors both corporate and private clients. Ms. Vo has vast entrepreneurial experiences by working with startup companies to get setup and into operations. Ms. Vo received a BS in Biology from the University of Denver and an MBA from the Daniels College of Business at DU.

Our Board

Our Financials

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I made a gift to Colorado I Have A Dream, but I have misplaced my 50% childcare tax contribution document and my acknowledgment letter. Who should I talk to about receiving another copy?

Please contact Stephanie Dreiling, VP of Finance & Operations, at sdreiling@cihadf.org or 303-861-5005 x104.

Q: I would like to make a gift in the form of stock through a wire transfer. Who can help me with this transaction?

Please contact Stephanie Dreiling, VP of Finance & Operations, at sdreiling@cihadf.org or 303-861-5005 x104.

Q: I am interested in mentoring, tutoring, or volunteering for your organization. Who should I contact?

Please contact Hannah Bailey, Program Manager, at hbailey@cihadf.org or 303-861-5005 for tutoring inquiries. Please contact Aimee Alcorn, Senior Director of Clinical Services, at aalcorn@cihadf.org or 303-861-5005 x112 for volunteering inquiries.

Q: I am interested in doing my BSW or MSW Field Placement at your organization. Who coordinates field placements?

Please contact Aimee Alcorn, Senior Director of Clinical Services, at aalcorn@cihadf.org or 303-861-5005 x112.

Q: I am currently a college Dreamer, and I have a question about my partial college scholarship. Who should I contact?

Please contact Stephanie Dreiling, VP of Finance & Operations, at sdreiling@cihadf.org or 303-861-5005 x104.

Q: Who manages your press inquiries?

Please contact Kimberlee Sia, President & CEO, at ksia@cihadf.org or 303-861-5005 x100.

Q: You call your students “Dreamers.” Is this related at all to the DREAM Act? Does this mean your students are undocumented?

Our Founder Eugene M. Lang decided to call the first students he worked with “Dreamers,” to embody the hope and aspirations of this generation and emphasize the importance of creating opportunities for all children, regardless of socioeconomic status. While the DREAM act has led to the rise of another type of DREAMer over recent years, this is coincidental. While some of our students do have DACA status, this is not the case for all of our Dreamers.