Bill Bio

William Ayen
Senior Instructor of Information Systems
College of Business
University of Colorado Colorado Springs

William Ayen has dedicated over 17 years to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. At UCCS, Ayen teaches a variety of information system courses including, Microsoft Office, Introduction to MIS and Information Systems Security Management. Ayen has received the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award and Outstanding Alumnus Award (2013) from University of Wisconsin - Platteville, Outstanding Instructor (2012) from the the College of Business at UCCS and 2015 Distinguished Volunteer of the Year from Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains. Ayen enjoys spending his free time outside where he has climbed 35 fourteeners. 


Kat Bradley Bennett

Kat Bradley-Bennett
Program Director
St. Vrain Community Adult Education


Kiersten Bio

Kiersten Chartier
Business - Outreach Specialist
American Job Center

Kiersten Chartier is the Business - Outreach Specialist for the American Job Center where she engages local employers in the Jefferson, Clear Creek, and Gilpin counties through business-outreach services, performs comprehensive needs analysis, and assists in talent recruitment and identifying best practices. Chartier peviously worked as Job Development Coordinator at Easter Seals Colorado providing supported employment services to individuals with disabilities to ensure job acquisition and retention. She also served as a vender to the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) and Community Centered Boards (CCB's) building relationships with community employers to assist with recruitment and staffing needs. 


Bil Bio

Bill Dowling
Director
Division of Employment and Training
Colorado Department of Labor

Bill Dowling is currently the Director of the Employment and Training Division at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, with “over 21 years of experience working in the Workforce and Economic Development arena.”  Before taking his current role, he has served in a variety of positions including Director of Workforce Development for the City of Springfield, MO and Executive Director of the Ozark Region Workforce Investment Board. Bill holds a Master of Arts in Theology and a Master of Divinity from St. Johns in Camarillo, California. He was elected to the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) Board in 2008 and served until May 2012, representing four states. Additionally, Bill is an accomplished trainer and facilitator, providing workshops on Continuing Quality Improvement, Mentoring and Coaching, Building Your Team, Making Progressive Discipline work for you, From Manager to Leader, and Becoming a Change Leader.


Joe Bio

Joseph French
Associate Professor of Finance
Monfort College of Business
University of Northern Colorado

Joseph French is an associate professor of Finance at UNC. Joe holds a PhD in Financial Economics from the University of New Orleans and a MBA from Clemson University. Joe’s research interests are mainly in the areas of international finance, econometrics, and developmental economics. His research appears in leading academic journals including: Global Finance Journal, Emerging Markets Review, Studies in Economics and Finance, and Journal of Developing Areas.   French has spent significant time researching internationally and was appointed a visiting scholar at universities in Japan and Peru.  Joe also has extensive international teaching experience having delivered lectures in the following countries: China, Denmark, Mongolia, India, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Lithuania, Germany, and England. 


Su Hawk

Su Hawk
Executive Director
B:CIVIC


James Horan
Vice President
Refugee and Community Services
Lutheran Family Services

James Horan began working for LFS in 1999. James oversees the Refugee & Asylee, Immigration Legal Services and Disaster Response programs, with offices in six communities in Colorado and New Mexico and providing services to clients in three states. Previously James served as an English instructor, employment specialist and program director. James has been a Board of Immigration Appeals accredited representative since 2005 and has acted as a consultant for refugee resettlement, employment and self-sufficiency in a number of states


William Kaempfer

William H. Kaempfer
Dean
The Leeds School of Business


 Mark Meaney

Mark Meaney
Executive Director, Center for Education on Social Responsibility
Leeds School of Business
University of Colorado Boulder

Mark E. Meaney, Ph.D. has garnered an international reputation as a respected leader in the ethics and compliance profession. With more than twenty years of experience in academic program development and implementation, consulting, and government regulation, Dr. Meaney’s experiences cover a wide array of industries including healthcare, higher education, global engineering and construction, government contracts, transportation services, and non-profits. Former appointments include Faculty Director for Ethics and Compliance Program Development at the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkley, System-wide Director of Ethics and Compliance with the Office of the President for the University of California, Chief Compliance Operations Officer and First Deputy Director of the Office of Compliance with the Daley Administration in the City of Chicago.


Francy Bio

Francy Milner
Lecturer
College of Engineering and Applied Science
University of Colorado Boulder

Francy Milner created a course called Business Solutions to Global Poverty and her students wrote case studies for the Peace Corps, highlighting the efforts of Peace Corps volunteers who worked with microenterprises in developing countries. As a member of the cross-campus Committee on Social Entrepreneurship for Equitable Development and Sustainability (SEEDS), Milner has worked with faculty and students to promote social entrepreneurship. She created a service learning course for juniors and seniors at the Leeds School of Business called Business Solutions for the Developing World and an MBA class in Social Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets. Both courses involved experiential learning in which student teams supported the work of social entrepreneurs around the world. Francy is fluent in Spanish and is a member of the board of directors of Friendship Bridge, a non-profit organization that provides microfinance and education for Mayan women entrepreneurs in Guatemala. She has also served on the boards of directors of other two non-profit organizations, The Conflict Center and the Colorado Judicial Institute.


Karima Osman

Karima Osman
Denver Immigrant and Refugee Commission
TIAA Individual & Institutional Services


Ryan Bio

Ryan Plourde
Director
Soccer Without Borders

Ryan Plourde joined Soccer Without Borders in 2015 after three and a half years living and working in Ethiopia, where he oversaw the implementation of the Grassroot Soccer HIV/AIDS prevention program, the Peace Corps' Camp GLOW program, and a collaboration with One World Futbol. Under Plourde’s leadership, the GRS program expanded from a single volunteer to more than 140 volunteers and counterparts trained in approximately 50 communities across Ethiopia. Plourde also spearheaded a multi-day malaria training for rural health extension officers that led to the distribution of more than 13,000 mosquito nets, designed three different creative projects to educate and raise awareness in the community about important issues, and planned and implemented a 282 km run throughout Northern Ethiopia. Prior to Ethiopia, Plourde worked in multiple corporate capacities, including as a senior level sales executive in the baseball industry and as a youth development specialist with Boys and Girls Club of America. Ryan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Redlands.


Jeremy Bio

Jeremy Priest
Founder & CEO
Knotty Tie Company

Jeremy Priest co-founded the Knotty Tie Company when he wanted to help create employment opportunities for Colorado's refugees. Priest's company's values include creating products that are handmade quality, through an eco-friendly process and are made to matter. He is on a mission to make things meaningful, "Together, we work incredibly hard every day to make awesome products that uphold the highest ethical standards for treatment of people and the environment - products that also expand and create opportunities for the most disadvantaged populations in our global community." 


James Ruder

James Ruder
Owner
L&R Pallet Service, Inc.

James is the second generation owner of L&R Pallet Service, Inc. Established by his father in 1974, L&R Pallet has provided their customers with pallet solutions for over 42 years.  After James made the decision to change the company’s focus to its employees, L&R Pallet has grown to be the largest Colorado based pallet manufacturer in the Rocky Mountain Region. L&R Pallet operates a state-of-the-art manufacturing and recycling facility to sort, repair, assemble and dismantle pallets, distributing nearly 10,000 pallets per day.

In October of 2013, James and his team hired 7 Burmese refugees and today they employee over 81, comprising nearly 2/3rds of their work force.  L&R Pallet has become a flagship in Colorado’s refugee community for successfully integrating refugees and has been recognized by the Denver Post, as a guest at the Colorado Prayer Luncheon, and most recently by the 700 Club.


Abigail Bio

Abigail Schneider
Assistant Professor
College of Business and Economics
Regis University 

Abigail Schneider works as an Assistant Professor in marketing, consumer behavior and values-centered marketing at Regis University's College of Business and Economics. Schneider attended Colgate University where she graduated with a BA in Psychology and Film and Media Studies. She then went on to the University of Colorado Boulder - Leeds School of Business where she received a Doctor of Philosophy and Business Administration (Marketing). Schneider has held previous positions as Resarch Assistant at Columbia Business School and Production Assistant at ABC News. 


Dee Daniels Scriven

Dee Daniels Scriven
Office of Refugee Resettlement
Department of Health and Human Services


Kit

Kit Taintor
State Refugee Coordinator
Colorado Office of Economic Security, Division of Refugee Services

Kit Taintor is the Colorado State Refugee Coordinator with the Colorado Department of Human Services, overseeing the Colorado Refugee Services Program (CSRP) and the coordination of Colorado’s refugee resettlement program. In her role as State Refugee Coordinator, Kit maintains collaborative partnerships between systems and services at various levels to promote effective refugee resettlement and long-term integration. Prior to joining CRSP, Kit was the executive director of the Colorado African Organization, a local nonprofit serving refugees and immigrants from all over the world. Under her leadership, CAO developed key programs to develop refugee leadership in metro Denver that continue today. Kit’s background also includes work internationally, including with a local nongovernment organization educating traditional healers in Uganda and as a Peace Corps education volunteer in Malawi. She studied at Tulane University’s School of Public Health, focusing on International Health and Development, and has a BA in English from the University of Virginia.


Melissa Theesen

Melissa Theesen
Managing Director
ECDC-African Community Center


Jamie Bio

Jamie Torres
Director
Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs
City of Denver

Jamie Torres serves as Director for the Mayors’ Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships (HRCP) and Director, Denver Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs.  In this position Torres coordinates city-wide immigrant and refugee integration efforts.  In addition, she provides staff support to the Denver Immigrant & Refugee Commission and Agency Advisory Board promoting collaborative opportunities and dynamic community engagement. She has recently joined the board of Denver Community Ventures, the non-profit arm of the Denver Housing Authority. She has previously served as Board Chair for the Denver Election ACCESO Spanish Language Voter Advisory Board within the Denver Clerk and Recorders Office, KUVO Radio/Rocky Mountain PBS, Denver Sister Cities International and the Denver Center for Crime Victims. Torres received her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the Colorado College and her Masters degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is a member of the 2011 class of Leadership Denver and was a 2009 Marshall Memorial Fellow.


Linda Van Doren

Linda Van Doren
Chief Academic Officer
Emily Griffith Technial College


Alexandria Bio

Alexandria Wise
Executive Director
Community Enterprise Development Services (CEDS)

Alexandria Wise has dedicated over five years as a Board Member at The Afghan Scholars Initiative where she develops the accounting system and financial policies for a 501 (c)(3), as well as maintains the accounting books and generates quarterly reports from the Board. Wise has recently been named Executive Director of Community Enterprise Development Services, that "supports the American dream of financial self-sufficiency by assisting refugees, immigrants, and low to moderate income people in metro Denver who desire to own or strengthen businesses, develop assets, and empower themselves financially."


Cheri Bio

Cheri Young
Associate Professor
Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management
Daniels College of Business, Denver University

Dr. Cheri Young received her PhD from Cornell University, specializing in organizational behavior, human resources and hospitality management. She has held faculty positions at Keuka College, Washington State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. At the Daniels College of Business, she teaches courses in human capital management, lodging operations and food and beverage entrepreneurship. In 2013 she was awarded the Service Learning Faculty of the Year Award by the Center for Community Engagement & Service Learning at the University of Denver for her innovative diversified mentoring relationship program she established with the ECDC/African Community Center and her human capital students.