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Dayton Romero
Chair
Dayton currently serves as a Director of Senior Assistance Programs at Silver Key Senior Services. He holds a B.A. in Psychology with a Minor in Gerontology from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Health with a concentration in Leadership & Public Practice at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Lee Patke
Vice Chair
Lee has twenty-eight years in corporate and non-profit settings that combined business operations, execution of strategic plans, workforce readiness, and service to clients across a variety of settings. Lee has served as Executive Director for Greccio Housing in Colorado Springs since 2010. He earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX, and a Master’s of Science in Social Work for the University of Texas in Arlington.
Gail Nehls
Board Secretary
Gail M. Nehls is a respected leader in identifying and implementing innovative mobility solutions for specialized and rural transportation. In just the past two years she has opened two rural, public routes, acquired management of a volunteer driver program, launched a mobility solution for behavioral health rides, and collaborated with regional transit providers to adopt new software implementation for more effective and efficient specialized transportation. In 2016, through her leadership efforts, NEMT legislation was passed in Colorado, opening this regulation to more providers.
Nehls has been CEO of Envida, formerly Amblicab, since 2011, and she has grown the nonprofit agency from a budget of less than $400,000 to more than $5 million, expanded its geographic reach from 200 to nearly 2,000 square miles, and embraced a goal to more than double again over the next year. Envida promotes access and supports independent living with dignity, and with this vision Nehls expanded the agency’s services in 2016 to integrate homecare, solidly placing the agency in the forefront of a national movement that recognizes transportation and healthcare’s inseparable ties with access to care and social determinants of health.
Prior to her role with envida, Nehls served in various positions with other human service nonprofits, and she has an extensive background in management, sales support, and software development. She has her master’s degree in public administration from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and a bachelor’s degree in business logistics from Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
Terri Cassidy
Board Member
Terri Cassidy is an occupational therapist, certified driver rehabilitation specialist, and the founder of Health Promotion Partners. She completed her graduate work at Colorado State University and received her clinical doctorate from the University of Utah. Her patient care has focused on neuro-rehabilitation, vision, and driving rehabilitation. She founded Health Promotion Partners in 2018 to carry out her goal of empowering people to take positive actions toward their health and well-being. She and her team provide driving evaluations, brain health programs, and caregiver services to help older adults stay independent and connected to the community.
Terri has held leadership roles as president of the Colorado ADED chapter and as the Colorado representative to AOTA's Representative Assembly. She received the Marjorie Ball Award, the highest OT award in Colorado, and the Innovative and Emerging Practice Award from AOTA.
Mary Duran
Board Member
Mary Duran is the Older Adult Outreach Manager for UCHealth Southern Colorado. In this role, she oversees the Aspen Club, an educational health and wellness program for those 50 and older. In addition, she hosts community engagements, outreach efforts, and Provider education. Prior to working with UCHealth, Mary was the Operations and Program Director of the Colorado Springs Senior Center and has worked there since 2014. Mary is a commissioner for the Pikes Peak Commission on Aging. She is an Executive Council Member for AARP Colorado State Office. Mary attended Abilene Christian University where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science and a certificate in Gerontology. Mary has experience working in Continuing Care Retirement Communities running their activity programs in addition to working in non-medical home healthcare. She has a gift for working with older adults and it has been her passion since she was a child. She is dedicated to reducing social isolation for older adults by getting them to know themselves, be connected with others and find a purpose in their later years.
Indy Frazee
Treasurer
Indy joined the Board in 2022. She is the CEO for The Independence Center, the local home of civil rights for people with disabilities. Before joining The Independence Center, Indy served as the Director of Finance for Discover Goodwill. Prior to moving to work in the non-profit sector, Indy had 15 years of experience in the public accounting and financial services industries. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Colorado State University. Indy is a native of Colorado Springs and loves being a part of this community. In her spare time, she enjoys camping, 4-wheeling, attending theatre shows & spending time with her family!
Hayley Gleason
Board Member
Hayley is a Gerontologist with expertise in aging policy, long-term care and the direct care workforce. She currently serves as the Director of the Strategic Outcomes Division at the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. Prior to this role, she was the Department's Older Adult Policy Advisor and served as the Interim Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director of the Home Care Aide Council. Hayley has her doctorate in Gerontology from UMass Boston where her research focuses on the recruitment, retention, training and supervision of the home care aide workforce. She has presented and published extensively on the direct care workforce, including speaking at over 50 state and national conferences and publishing in the Journal of Aging and Mental Health, Geriatric Nursing, and the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Lynne Jones
Board Member
Lynne currently serves as the Executive Director of the Colorado Commission on Family Medicine, the Colorado Association of Family Medicine Residencies and the Colorado Institute of Family Medicine.
Her work experience has encompassed the non-profit, government and for-profit sectors of the health care and human service fields. After an extensive career on the for-profit side of healthcare, she has gratefully returned to the non-profit sector and now works with a collaborative of family medicine physician training residency programs. Lynne's biggest motivator is driving for positive change, whether in individuals, organizations, and/or systems.
Lynne is proud to currently serve on the Community Health Partnership board of directors, along with the Silver Key Foundation board and the Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation grants committee. Her strongest supporters and main inspiration are her husband and two adult children. For Lynne, family forever comes first!
Deborah Kenny
Board Member
Dr. Deb Kenny grew up in Colorado Springs, CO and received her undergraduate nursing degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 1975; a master’s in education from Boston University in 1983; MSN in Cardiovascular Nursing from Vanderbilt University in 1986; PhD in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2002; and MA in Bioethics from Loyola University Chicago in 2021.
LTC Kenny retired after almost 24 years from the Army Nurse Corps. She received numerous awards from the military including the Legion of Merit and is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit.
Currently, Dr. Kenny is Associate Professor and Division Chair for the Health Systems, Leadership, Informatics, and Veteran/Military Health Care graduate programs at the College of Nursing for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Previously, in 2010 upon her retirement from the military, Dr. Kenny was honored with the first Carole Schoffstall Endowed Professorship at the Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences and spent 12.5 years as faculty at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She held many positions there, to include Associate Dean for Research and Associate Dean for Academics. In 2010, she was inducted as a Fellow in the prestigious American Academy of Nursing. Since then, she has earned numerous awards for her research, professional service, and community service.
Daniel O'Rear
Board Member
Daniel joined the Board in 2018. He is the Executive Director of the Myron Stratton Home Foundation, the oldest private foundation in Colorado. Prior to arriving at his current position, Daniel spent 22 years at Goodwill Industries serving as Chief Financial Officer and later as President of the Goodwill Industrial Services Corp. Daniel has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado and is a CPA. Daniel resides in Colorado Springs with his wife Sandy. They have three children and one grand-daughter all living in Colorado.
Paula Pollet
Board Member
Paula has been part of the investment management and fiduciary community of Colorado Springs for over 40 years and she is currently Vice President of Wealth Management at Ent Credit Union. She is a member and Past President of the Colorado Springs Estate Planning Council and attends the El Paso County Bar Probate Section. Paula is a board member and immediate Past President of IIAC, current Secretary of the Cheyenne Village Board, President Emeritus of the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, a member of the Pikes Peak Library District Foundation Board and a member of the Southern Colorado Women‘s Chamber of Commerce having served on their Foundation board also.
Judy Scott
Board Member
Judy Scott teaches community and public health to nursing students at UCCS. Her teaching goals include improvement in geriatric content in nursing programs and interest in professional practice with older adults. Her research interests are aging in place, and cognitive and sensory losses related to adjustment to assisted living and community settings. She provides connections between the university and local healthcare and service organizations
BJ Scott
Co-Founder
Emeritus Board Member
In December 2014, BJ stepped down from a 20 year career at Peak Vista Community Health Centers that included ten years as its President & CEO as well as Executive Director of the Peak Vista Foundation, a separate nonprofit that she helped form in 2005. She currently serves on the following Boards: Innovations in Aging - an organization she co-founded; The Colorado Springs Health Foundation - a founding Board member serving 3 years as chair; and the USBank Advisory Board.
David Lord
Emeritus Board Member
David Lord is a graduate of Rollins College in 1969 with BA Political Science and a MBA from the Rol-lins Crummer Business School in 1971. For most of his professional life he worked in higher education financial administration which included 7 years as the Business Manager at Rollins and 19 years as Busi-ness Manager at Colorado College. He did spend three years with the Griffis Residential in Denver help-ing develop real estate investment funds for acquisition of multifamily housing before retiring in 2009. In his retirement Lord has served on a number of Colorado Springs non profit Boards and serves as a Trustee at Rollins College. He has a special interest in aging issues and helped start IIAC, served on Silver Key Board, and now Chairs the Housing Domain of Age Friendly Colorado Springs. He enjoys travel and golf.
Shawn Raintree
Emeritus Board Member
Shawn brings forty years of experience on the leading edge of change in health care, nationally and regionally. He has served as CEO of new startups, business models or turnarounds in diverse locations across the country. In Colorado Springs, Shawn led the successful growth of Kaiser Permanente in southern Colorado for ten years. He was also a senior advisor in the design of Colorado's health insurance exchange.
Shawn has served as a board member for multiple community-based nonprofit organizations. He is currently Board Chair of AspenPointe, the largest provider of behavioral health services in the region. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the USAF Academy, and a Master of Science degree from the University of Colorado.
