The first thing to know about me – when it comes to leadership – is that I’ve been a nonprofit Executive Director for 22 years in the Denver Metro area. Owner of a Natural Resources Degree and Law degree and working in environmental consulting in the late 90s and the early 2000s, my life changed when there were four suicides at my neighborhood local high school in one school year. I didn’t know any of the kids but helped spearhead a community response through my neighboring church, as a volunteer. That effort unwittingly co-founded an organization (Second Wind Fund) organized around providing treatment services, and I worked as Second Wind’s Executive Director for almost 10 years. Instead of going back to law or consulting, I went on to two more nonprofit Executive Director positions, at Denver’s Bluff Lake Nature Center from 2011-2016, and then at Dinosaur Ridge from 2017 until the present.

I’ve served on five boards, but none currently, as the Dinosaur Ridge position is pretty dynamic, and I’m a foster parent as well.

Dinosaur Ridge sees 200,000+ visitors a year and we manage/own four properties. We are the #1 Dinosaur Tracksite in the nation, according to paleontologists! It’s a busy place and every day is different. I did travel to South Korea in 2022 to visit more than a dozen dinosaur tracksites there. I came back with a new perspective on my job, even after having already been here 5 years.

What inspired you to pursue a career in public service?

I was born this way, I think! Even as a young kid, I was always interested in the world around me, making people’s lives better, and felt that awe and wonder were the best moments in life. I was never materialistic or wanted money, probably to a fault. A bit of an idealist. When kids say “I want to be a firefighter” or “I want to be an oceanographer” – well, I don’t think I ever lost those instincts. I’m super serious in a lot of ways but a big kid in others. I think it really came down to the idea that many of my most connecting moments were around public service, and so I came to understand that people are at their best, and feel their best about each other, when they’re working for something larger than themselves.

What has been most meaningful to you about your career?

I love working at Dinosaur Ridge, and I loved Bluff Lake.

But in terms of meaning, nothing beats the meaning derived from hearing from parents and kids that kids became less suicidal as a result of our intervention at Second Wind. Thousands of kids were helped while I was there, and I understood how our model was serving uninsured and underinsured at-risk kids so well. The testimonials couldn’t have been more meaningful. “I might not be alive if not for Second Wind Fund.” “My kid might not be alive if not for Second Wind Fund.” I literally heard those words, verbatim, on a somewhat frequent basis. I am privileged. Who hears more meaningful things than that?

What part of your education at the School of Public Affairs has had the greatest impact on your work?

I was young and just getting into a leadership role and starting to manage people. My background hadn’t given me much reason to think about those topics, but there I was, having to deal with the upsides and downsides of my natural leadership instincts. The Denver Community Leadership Forum program, as Zeik Saidman told me, was “mind candy” to just take some time and think about how we can best manage people. Every week was a new insight, and usually many new insights. Somehow, I was in my mid-30s and it had never occurred to me that leadership was something that could or should be considered as a discipline. So, it was a whole new world that I found applying to every relationship that I was building and managing. It really helped me realize that we could be more efficient, and I could retain staff and volunteers more effectively, if I would double down on my best leadership qualities and shore up my worst. I was so sorry to see the program end!

What is your favorite memory of the School of Public Affairs?

The Outward Bound trip! So much happened on that trip that I still carry with me. Awe in how we could push ourselves. Joy about what we saw and experienced and the connections we made. Lessons learned from outdoorspeople. Bonding moments (and moments of frustration!) to carry with me. I loved my classmates, even the handful I didn’t “like” as much. I realized I could learn a lot from every one of them, and I had mad respect for each of them. I couldn’t wait for class day to come each month; it was a vacation of the mind. I could see myself growing by the day in class, but Outward Bound accelerated that.

Looking ahead, what do you see as the biggest challenges that your field faces?

Paleo is one of those fields in which people think that there’s so few jobs available, so what’s the point? The reality is that paleontology is expanding like crazy. 200 years ago, dinosaurs were nearly unknown to science. Now, there’s new discoveries All. The. Time. More and more people are finally saying “Hey, there are jobs for paleontologists and with paleo organizations!” The biggest challenge isn’t the field itself, but how Dinosaur Ridge stays relevant despite places where more dinosaur tracks have been discovered, and huge quarries that dwarf what we have here.

Yet Dinosaur Ridge will always have one of the most iconic tracksites in the world. Everyone in paleontology knows it. Dinosaur Ridge will always be the home of the first Stego discovery. Dino Ridge will always be home of the “Bone Wars” of dueling paleontologists in the 1870s. Dinosaur Ridge is one of the few places in the world that has famous dinosaur bones, AND hundreds of dinosaur tracks, AND a raptor track, AND evidence of dinosaur courtship behavior, AND global-quality ripple marks, AND…more. It’s literally a “Jurassic Park!”

What advice would you give to current students and professional development program participants at the School of Public Affairs?

Can I make a list designed for leaders?

1. Consider the Denver Community Leadership Forum!
2. More broadly, realize that leadership really is a journey, cliche as it sounds. Numbers and data people – don’t forget the emotional intelligence and personal side. Creative and relationship-oriented people – don’t get detached from the numbers; the numbers tell your story too.
3. Keep trending toward what interests you. I truly believe that you’re happiest in your career, and most effective, when you feel that your work is important.
4. Get enough sleep, and at least moderate activity!
5. Find peers that can help you work through your toughest issues. Don’t always go it alone.
6. Listen to your inner voice if it keeps repeating itself about something negative. Maybe the first time it’s a one-off or a bad day, but by the third time it’s not.
7. Play to people’s strengths – don’t be afraid to adjust job descriptions around people’s skills. Within reason!
8. Be humble – you’ll never know it all. Delegate not just tasks, but decision making.
9. Learn how to run a good meeting.
10. Like everyone else says, laugh. And breathe.