The Denver Foundation begins 2021 with an infusion of new energy, talent, and expertise, welcoming six new members to its Board of Trustees and a new slate of officers.
These exemplary local leaders bring a broad range of skills and accomplishments in business, government, finance, law, and the nonprofit sector to the Foundation’s governing body. All are deeply engaged in community work across the Metro Denver area. The new Trustees began new terms on January 1, 2021.
- Alisha Brown
Senior Vice President, The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities
- Veronica Crespin-Palmer
Co-Founder and CEO, RISE Colorado
- Carey Dobbertin
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Gary Community Investments
- Mira J. Finé, CPA
Consultant
- Ismael Guerrero
President and CEO, Mercy Housing
- Christina Raya
Managing Director, PNC Financial Services Group
“We are deeply honored to welcome these outstanding leaders at a pivotal moment in The Denver Foundation’s history,” says Javier Alberto Soto, President and CEO of The Denver Foundation. “Our Trustees will play an essential role in fully aligning the Foundation with our values as part of our new Strategic Framework. Far beyond a governing body, they are a brain trust, a moral compass, and a network of deeply connected leaders who advance our mission as well as our daily work. This diversity, expertise, and commitment of this group gives me great confidence in our ability to strengthen Metro Denver now and in the future.”
Also on January 1, John Loewy began his tenure as Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Loewy previously served as Vice Chair with Dr. Nita Mosby Tyler in 2020. Dr. Mosby Tyler will remain in service as a member of the Board of Trustees, which she joined in 2017.
“John embodies The Denver Foundation’s vision of engaged philanthropy,” says Soto. “He is generous, thoughtful, and endlessly curious about new ways of catalyzing change. Throughout 2020, John and Nita shepherded the Foundation through the process of building a new Strategic Framework, and I’m so delighted that they will both continue to contribute so meaningfully to our work.”
Loewy will serve alongside fellow officers:
- Myra Donovan, Vice Chair
Registered Financial Advisor, Eagle Strategies, LLC
- Katie MacWilliams, Secretary
Chief Financial Officer, Gambro BCT (retired)
- Lisa Zúñiga Ramirez, Treasurer
Director, Denver Employees Retirement Plan
Other current Trustees include Mosby Tyler and Seth Belzley, Myra Donovan, Tad Kelly, Sean Kenney, Peter Kirsch, Katie MacWilliams, Erika Martinez, Dr. Nita Mosby Tyler, Mark Newhouse, Ceyl Prinster, Lisa Ramirez, and Julie Reiskin to round out the 2021 roster.
John Loewy
Chair, Board of Trustees
Mr. Loewy is an attorney who has, for the past 10 years, primarily been involved in funding and assisting companies in the early stages of their development. Examples include Digimarc (DMRC-nasdaq), Venture ad Astra, and Immersive Media Corporation. Prior to becoming involved in investments on a full-time basis, Mr. Loewy served in public and private sector positions with an emphasis on the substantive policy areas of energy and the environment. He has held positions in the federal and in state governments including with the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the New York Office of Federal Affairs, and within the White House Office of Energy Policy and Planning under the Carter Administration. Mr. Loewy holds a donor-advised fund at The Denver Foundation and is a founder of the Environmental Affinity Group at the Foundation.
Alisha Brown
Senior Vice President, The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities
Ms. Brown is Senior Vice President of The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities, and the founder and Executive Director of its be well Health and Wellness Initiative. She serves on various boards and commissions including the State of Colorado’s Health Equity Commission and the City and County of Denver’s Board of Public and Environmental Health as the past Chairwoman. Ms. Brown earned a Master of Nonprofit Management degree from Regis University while being a Colorado Trust Fellow. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism from Langston University, a Historically Black University in Langston, OK.
Ms. Brown has received various awards and recognitions including the Colorado Martin Luther King Commission’s Humanitarian Award, the State of Oklahoma and Southwest Region TRIO Achiever Award and the Friends of Yates Women of Distinction Award in Kansas City, Kansas. She is a Leadership Women of America Fellow and has completed the Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership Fellowship and the Colorado Trust Fellowship for which she also worked internationally through a self-oriented field experience in the townships of Cape Town South Africa. Ms. Brown is a member of the Denver Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She is a Christion active in the Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church where she serves on the liturgical dance ministry.
Veronica Crespin-Palmer
Co-Founder and CEO, RISE Colorado
Ms. Crespin-Palmer is the Co-Founder & CEO of RISE Colorado, which is centered around family engagement and community organizing in Aurora, as families lead the movement for educational equity. RISE works to Educate, Engage, and Empower low-income families and families of color to RISE as change agents for educational equity in our public school system. RISE has been awarded the Teach For America Social Innovation Award, Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, Colorado’s MLK, Jr. Humanitarian Award, Education Leaders of Color Boulder Fund, Colorado Nonprofit Association Inclusiveness and Racial Equity Award, a 2019 American Civic Collaboration “Civvys” Award.
Ms. Crespin-Palmer has been chosen as an Inaugural Obama Fellow, a 2019 Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow, a TEDxMileHigh Speaker, and one of the Care 100 – the most influential people in care of 2020. She began her career in Los Angeles as a Teach For America corps member and has over 15 years of experience as an organizer, teacher, teacher coach, and social entrepreneur. She graduated with honors from Loyola Marymount University with a Master of Education degree, and served as CU Boulder’s first Latina Student Body President. A Latina born and educated in Denver, Ms. Crespin-Palmer is a 7th generation Colorado native, a proud wife, and a mother of two.
Carey Dobbertin
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Gary Community Investments
After more than 24 years working in public accounting, startup businesses, and private and public companies, Ms. Dobbertin found her passion helping Colorado’s low-income children and families through for-profit and philanthropic investment solutions. As Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for Gary Community Investments, which includes the Gary Community Investment Company and The Piton Foundation, she leads the conversion of financial assets into impactful, socially responsible investments while balancing the foundation’s goal of fully investing its assets into the community by 2035. Before joining Gary Community Investments in 2012, Ms. Dobbertin worked for Gary Williams Energy Corporation, a petroleum refiner and marketer of high value transportation fuels in the Midcontinent United States with more than $2 billion in annual revenue. She managed accounting and was instrumental in helping with the acquisition of the company by CVR Energy, Inc.
Ms. Dobbertin previously worked for both MarkWest Hydrocarbon Inc. and MarkWest Energy Partners L.P. where she was responsible for all technical accounting, Security Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting, the accounting integration of acquired companies, and the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). She was an invaluable part of the team that helped raise $500 million in public senior debt and a $500 million public equity offering. Prior to her time at Mark West she worked for two technology companies, one of which was an ed-tech startup that she helped take public. She started her career at Ernst & Young, a public accounting firm. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a certified public accountant.
Mira J. Finé
Consultant
Ms. Finé, CPA, has over 30 years of professional experience providing tax planning and compliance services to individuals and business organizations. As a consultant, she assists clients with significant transactions and reorganizations, and specializes in partnerships, estates and trusts, and succession planning. Ms. Finé primarily focuses on clients in the real 49 estate and construction industries as well as family businesses and trusts.
In 2003, Ms. Finé was honored by the Colorado Society of CPAs with the CPA Making a Difference award for her significant not-for-profit and volunteer contributions, and in 2012 she was recognized in the Experienced Leader Category of the Women to Watch awards. She has also received the Denver Business Journal’s Power Book Award and was named one of the top wealth advisors and estate planners for five years in a row for Colorado Business Magazine and 5280 Magazine. In addition, Ms. Finé has helped develop materials and videos for many wealth planning articles and books, and she serves as a business tax resource for KUSA, Denver’s NBC-affiliated television station.
Ismael Guerrero
President and CEO, Mercy Housing
Mr. Guerrero joined Mercy Housing in 2020, joining the organization with 25 years of groundbreaking achievements in community development. Guerrero has pioneered the coupling of healthcare and housing as well as success with innovative mixed-income communities. Before joining Mercy Housing, Mr. Guerrero was the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of The City and County of Denver (DHA) for 13 years. Under his direction, DHA became a nationally recognized leader in creative affordable housing development, neighborhood transformation initiatives, and entrepreneurial approaches to resident economic empowerment. Prior to DHA, Mr. Guerrero helped develop affordable multi-family housing throughout the Western United States as a business development officer with US Bancorp Community Development Corporation. He also spent close to three years as vice president and director of real estate development with Mercy Housing’s Mountain Plains regional office.
Mr. Guerrero serves key roles on a number of affordable housing-related boards and committees, including the Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future, the National Housing Partnership, the National Housing Trust, Colorado Health Foundation, EcoDistricts, Inc., Youth on Record, and Downtown Denver Partnership Management Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago.
Christina Raya
Managing Director, PNC Financial Services Group
Ms. Raya, CFP, is a Senior Vice President and a Managing Director with the PNC Financial Services Group, where she helps clients benefit from a full complement of investment, trust, financial planning, and private banking services to achieve their financial goals. Prior to joining PNC Asset Management, Ms. Raya was responsible for the expansion in the Mid-Atlantic for TD Wealth and Institutional. She also served families at BB&T Bank and Wells Fargo through a team approach and holistic planning. She has spent the past 14 years working in financial services, primarily serving high-net-worth families.
Ms. Raya earned her bachelor’s degree from Washington State University. She is a Certified Financial Planner, a member of the Denver Estate Planning Council and the Rocky Mountain Estate Planning Council, and is involved with the Women’s Estate Planning Council. She sits on the Board of Trustees for the Colorado Ballet and Florence Crittenton and serves on The Denver Foundation’s Professional Advisory Council.