13th Annual Mile High United Way Women's Leadership Luncheon Program

Mile High United Way’s 13th Annual Women’s Leadership Luncheon September 28, 2011

Thank you for attending Mile High United Way’s 13th Annual Women’s Leadership Luncheon

Agenda September 28, 2011 11:30 a.m.

Ballroom Doors Open

12:00 p.m.

Program Begins Welcome Deb Smith, Women’s Leadership Council Co-Chair, Deloitte Services LP Pam Jeffords, Women’s Leadership Council Co-Chair, Via Management Consulting Presentation of the Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award Christine Benero, President and CEO, Mile High United Way Presented to Neyeska Mut, De Jour Energy Inc. Introduction of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock Christine Benero, President and CEO, Mile High United Way Introduction of Keynote Speaker Michael Hancock, Mayor, City of Denver Keynote Speaker Wes Moore, Author of The Other Wes Moore Closing Christine Benero, President and CEO, Mile High United Way

1:30 p.m.

Adjourn

www.UnitedWayDenver.org

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Dear Friends: Over a century ago, an extraordinary woman stepped forward to articulate a vision of a community that is united to create better opportunities for all. Today, we celebrate the vision of Frances Wisebart Jacobs at our 13th Annual Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Luncheon; we are honored you have joined us.

Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council, led by the phenomenal duo of Deb Smith and Pam Jeffords, continues to lead the way uniting people, ideas and resources to advance the common good. The women of Mile High United Way are community builders, leaders, unifiers and champions. They are connectors and resource brokers. They are mothers, daughters and sisters. They are volunteers and business leaders. They are the heart of this community. We invite you to join them.

Today we are proud to celebrate an extraordinary woman who excels in all these roles. Neyeska Mut inspires us on a daily basis, and is the epitome of all that Frances Wisebart Jacobs believed in and aspired for women and for our community.

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Christine Benero

Author Wes Moore paints a brilliant picture of what it means for a community to come together and of the role women play every day in shaping the destinies of all of us. We are honored to have Wes and his mother here in Denver.

We are also so pleased to welcome Denver’s new mayor, Michael Hancock, and First Lady, Mary Louise Lee, whose own stories inspire us and remind us that indeed We Are All Denver.

124 years since our founding as the first United Way in the country, we are able to do our work and serve as a catalyst for social change because of all of you. We are grateful for your support and for the vision you hold.

Warmest regards,

Christine Benero President and CEO Mile High United Way

Give. Advocate. Volunteer.

Peter Beaupré

Peter Beaupré President and COO PCL Construction Enterprises Chair of the Board of Trustees Mile High United Way

Thank you for joining us: What an amazing year to be a part of Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council. Today, we are thrilled to have Wes Moore take us through his amazing story and reflect on the factors and choices that define our paths. Through the efforts of Mile High United Way, we help people in our community reach their fullest potential.

This year, the council and its 1,900 members, delivered school supplies and backpacks to children in need.

We conducted training sessions and Pam Jeffords and Deb Smith, Co-Chairs of mentoring opportunities for adults Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council in transitional housing. We provided a traditional holiday meal to all the residents of Brunetti Lofts, hosted more than 100 families at a holiday celebration including a personal visit with Santa, gifts and books for every child, arts, crafts, storytelling and much more!

These efforts were possible because of the dedication to Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council’s vision and mission. Our vision and mission are strong and clear: Our Vision We are dedicated to inspiring, educating and encouraging women to become agents of change in our community through philanthropy and leadership.

Our Mission Women leading philanthropic giving in ways that provide an opportunity for everyone in metro Denver to lead a life of human dignity and self-reliance.

We thank all of you for being here today and taking part in this year’s luncheon to continue the vision of inspiration and education. LIVE UNITED!

Deb Smith Co-Chair Partner Deloitte Services LP

Pam Jeffords Co-Chair Partner Via Management Consulting

www.UnitedWayDenver.org

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The 2011 Women’s Leadership Luncheon - Keynote Speaker

Wes Moore

Best-Selling Author of The Other Wes Moore The Other Wes Moore, tells the true story of two boys named Wes Moore. Born blocks apart in similar neighborhoods, both had difficult childhoods; hung out on street corners with their crews; and ran into trouble with the police. How did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated war veteran, White House Fellow and business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence?

Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council is proud to welcome Wes Moore as he shares his story of how each of us can impact, inspire and support young people on their path to success.

4 Women’s Leadership Advisory Council Co-Chair: Deb Smith Deloitte Services LP Co-Chair: Pamela Jeffords Via Management Consulting Kathy Ambrose Community Volunteer Jeanette Alberg Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Give. Advocate. Volunteer.

Melissa Brownstein Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman

Michelle Campbell M.D. Campbell & Associates, LLC

Vicki Bogenberger CH2M HILL

Kristie Chamberlain Colomer Beauty Brands

Linda A. Brisnehan Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (Retired)

Renelle Everett Darr InSight Coaching & Consulting

Linda Brown IBM

Darla Figoli Xcel Energy Leslie Hilton Success Partner, LLC

Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council

Join the Power of Women We are sisters, daughters, wives and mothers. We are homemakers and presidents, doctors and lawyers, engineers and teachers. We manage businesses while we drive the carpool to our children’s school. The power to change our community is in our hands. Join us and build on the power of women.

We have a vision for our community that all children are prepared to learn when they begin school, that all youth graduate from high school and are prepared for success, that adults have the means to live a self-sufficient life and provide for their families.

We are Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council.

By giving at least $1,000 a year to Mile High United Way, you will become part of the collective generosity of this powerful and compassionate group of committed women who create better futures for more people than you can imagine.

For more information on the Women’s Leadership Council please contact Lisa Nierenberg at 303-561-2355 or Lisa.Nierenberg@UnitedWayDenver.org.

Mindy Gates Office of the State Auditor Laura Gill Davis, Graham & Stubbs Shelly Harper Kroenke Sports Polly Lestikow Closet Factory Ann Mahoney TW Telecom

Carol Miller Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Melinda Ravsten Retirement Planning Resources Kristen Russell Fall River Consulting Group

Carla S. Stewart CenturyLink Kelly Rodriguez Grant Thornton LLP Teresa Van De Bogart Molson Coors Brewing Company

Katrina Salem PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP www.UnitedWayDenver.org

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Mile High United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council Honorss

Neyeska Mut 2011 Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award Winner More than 120 years ago, a woman transformed the then-pioneer city of Denver, bringing the community together and sparking a humanitarian revolution that would become the modern United Way movement. Her name was Frances Wisebart Jacobs and she is heralded as the “Mother of Charity.”

This year, the award in her honor goes to a woman with a keen interest and tireless involvement in improving early childhood education in Colorado and across the nation, Neyeska Mut. Neyeska, a compassionate and dedicated woman of philanthropy, is also committed to women’s causes, health and the environment. Through her selfless work in our community she is truly advancing the common good and helping to create opportunities for a better life for all.

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Congratulations Neyeska Our 2011 Recipient Neyeska Mut is a successful businesswoman and an inspirational philanthropist. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, she now calls Denver ar home. om Neyeska has an innate ability to take o on n a challenge, ge either in business or in her community, com co tty and turn it into an opportunity. and global insights, coupled Her leadership de er with her wit he passion ion n for fo or community, have translated into real success in improving tra tr lated in early ea arly l childhood chil hild o education facilities and ass in increasing access to ccurricula urriicc la as u a well we ela cre quality for low-income families qu q ua alitty programs a prog and an d their th h children. chi dr

Give. Advocate. Volunteer.

Frances Wisebart Jacobs Frances Wisebart Jacobs is known as Colorado’s “Mother of Charity.” Her commitment to the Denver community astounded many in her day. Her realization that much more could be done if there were an organized effort was part of the genesis of United Way more than 120 years ago. The Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award is given annually to the woman who has a significant impact on the community and on women’s philanthropy through Mile High United Way.

Past Recipients 2003

Barbara Mellman Davis

2004

Caz Mathews

2005

Debbie Welle-Powell

2006

Kate Paul

2008

Susan Kiely

2009

Barbara Grogan

2010

Carrie Morgridge

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This lovely necklace, which will be presented to Neyeska Mut, was created by Jill Farquhar, Designer/Owner, of J. Skaar Collections. This design includes the “Compass Star” pointing toward North demonstrating that the wearer serves as a literal “Moral Compass to Society.”

www.UnitedWayDenver.org

The 2011 Women’s Leadership Luncheon is generously sponsored by the following organizations:

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

SM

9 Silver Sponsors AlloSource Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Caz Matthews CenturyLink CH2M HILL CoBank ACB Colomer Beauty Brands Colorado State Bank and Trust Daniels College Of Business, University of Denver

Dejour Energy (USA) Corp.

Delta Dental Plan of Colorado Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman PC Ernst & Young LLP FirstBank Grant Thornton LLP Hitachi Consulting Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC Kaiser Permanente Kathy Ambrose KPMG LLP Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Lockton Companies LLC North Highland PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP QEP Resources Quest Diagnostics, Inc. RBC Daniels Suncor Energy Telcordia Technologies, Inc. United Launch Alliance UPS URS Corporation US Bank Wells Fargo Williams Production The Women’s Foundation www.UnitedWayDenver.org

Mile High United Way lives at the intersection of the private, public, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors.

WE: • Are community builders, leaders, unifiers and champions • Are connectors and information and resource brokers • Inspire philanthropic investments • Serve those who need support in creating better opportunities for themselves and their families

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• Celebrate those who make a commitment to give, advocate and volunteer

OUR MISSION

OUR VISION

Uniting people, ideas and resources to advance the common good.

A community united to create better opportunities for all.

Mile High United Way will leverage relationships and invest resources to drive social change. We will lead the community in achieving measurable results in the areas of School Readiness, Youth Success and Adult Self-Sufficiency.

See what you can do. www.UnitedWayDenver.org

Photo Credit: Amy Loomis

OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

30% of Colorado’s 3rd Graders can’t read at grade level.

Children who start behind stay behind.

Eighty-five percent of a child’s brain is developed by age five.

Children in poverty hear as many as 30 million fewer words than their wealthier peers before they reach kindergarten.

School Readiness Initiative Mile High United Way’s School Readiness Initiative provides thousands of children from low-income families access to high-quality early education so they enter school ready to learn and read at grade level by the end of the third grade.

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SPECIAL NEEDS FOR SUCCESS 3-year-old William is a bright child with sensory issues. Certain sights, sounds - even smells can send him into a rage. Traditional pre-schools and daycares weren’t equipped to provide him with the support he needed. He wasn’t learning. He wasn’t progressing. Then William’s parents found help through Mile High United Way’s partner agency Children’s Outreach Project a nonprofit therapeutic preschool and child care center that offers integrated, quality, early childhood education to typical accelerated and developmentally delayed children. Now, William is thriving and on the road to success in the classroom and in life.

Photo Credit: Amy Loomis

We LIVE UNITED when children like William have the support they need to learn and grow.

Give. Advocate. Volunteer.

Colorado’s graduation rate is 78%.

50% of students in Denver don’t graduate.

Dropouts cost taxpayers more than $8 billion annually and they earn $10,000 less a year than workers with diplomas.

Youth Success Initiative Mile High United Way’s Youth Success Initiative provides thousands of students access to mentoring, quality afterschool programs, tutoring and dropout prevention, gang and violence intervention programs. Students who participate in mentoring programs are 90% more likely to advance to the next grade and 75% more likely to graduate from high school.

HAPPY TRAILS TO PROMISING LIVES Juan and Sazian both struggled as teenagers. Juan

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became a teen father. Sazian dropped out of school.

They were both going nowhere fast until, with the help of Mile High United Way’s partner agency Mile High Youth Corps, an organization that helps youth make a difference in themselves and their community through meaningful community service opportunities and educational experiences, they got a second chance and are working, learning and planning for college. We LIVE UNITED when young men and women graduate from high school prepared for career training, higher education

www.UnitedWayDenver.org

Photo Credit: Amy Loomis

and life.

60% of Colorado’s homeless are women and their children.

Colorado has the fastest growing rate of child poverty in the U.S. More that 48,000 working families live in poverty and don’t make enough to meet basic needs: child care, clothing, health care, housing and transportation without assistance.

Adult Self-Sufficiency Initiative Mile High United Way’s Adult Self-Sufficiency Initiative devotes resources to programs that help low-income people increase financial skills, develop workforce experience and move toward economic self-sufficiency.

BUILDING A SELF-SUFFICIENT LIFE Wayne’s construction business was floundering.

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He didn’t know what to do. Then he heard about Mile High United Way’s Individual Development Accounts, a program that provides matching savings accounts and financial and business education.

Wayne got back on track and turned his business around. We LIVE UNITED when individuals and families have the resources and support they need to

www.UnitedWayDenver.org

Photo Credit: Amy Loomis

become self-sufficient.

Mile High United Way Calendar of Events

Emerging Leaders

Wine Event October 20, 2011 Denver Newspaper Agency

Mile High United Way’s 38th Annual

Turkey Trot Thanksgiving Morning November 24, 2011 Washington Park Registration begins soon!

Denver’s Road Home’s

PJ Day and Party February 9, 2012

Please visit www.UnitedWayDenver.org/events for more information on our events.

Mile High United Way’s 2011-2012 Board of Trustees

Chair: Peter Beaupré PCL Construction Enterprises

Barry Amman KPMG LLP

Dave Baker FirstBank

Marc Beasley Lockton Companies

David Berezin Grant Thornton LLP

Scott Binder FCC Services

Linda Brisnehan Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (Retired)

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Brad Busse RBC Daniels

Luella Chavez D’Angelo Western Union Foundation

Nathan Christian Wells Fargo Bank

Sean Daly Ernst & Young LLP

Steve Davis CenturyLink

Paul Franke Franke, Greenhouse, List and Lippitt LLP

David Goldberg Greenberg Traurig

Give. Advocate. Volunteer.

David Hammond Davis, Graham & Stubbs

Tensie Homan Community Bank Partners, Inc.

Kevin Hougen Aurora Chamber of Commerce

Bryan Hutchinson International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers

Glenn Jacks MLC Development

Brian Jackson Linden Lane Partners

David Licko Denver Newspaper Agency

Darren Markley US Bank

Dale Mingilton Better Business Bureau

Todd Munson JP Morgan Chase and Company

Roy Palmer Xcel Energy

Kate Paul Delta Dental Plan of Colorado

Christine Riordan, Ph.D. University of Denver

Todd Roebken Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc

Gloria Rubio-Cortes National Civic League

Kristy Schloss Schloss Engineered Equipment

Lawrence Scicluna Ball Corporation (Retired)

Deb Smith Deloitte Services LP

Elizabeth Soberg United HealthCare of Colorado

Henry Solano Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP

Greg Symons Colorado State Bank and Trust

Debbie Welle-Powell Exempla Healthcare

Julie Wolf, Ph.D. RHR International

Charlie Wright Kroenke Sports Enterprises