Community Leaders Honored At Library Awards Ceremony
The 2006 Latino Leadership Awards were announced by the Denver Public Library Commission’s Latino Awards committee. The annual awards presentation  was held last month at  the Denver’s Woodbury Branch Library. The Cesar Chavez Leadership Hall of Fame winners include Rev. Lucia Guzman and Sen. Ken Salazar. The Lena L. Archuleta Community Service Award winner is Anthony “Tony” Garcia. The Cesar Chavez Leadership Hall of Fame inducts two individuals (one male and one female) annually. The recipients are Coloradoans of Latino origin who have made a major contribution to and/or achievements in Denver’s Latino community. The Lena L. Archuleta Community Service Award is presented annually to a Colorado resident of Latino descent who has made an impact on the community through his or her involvement with the Denver Public Library.

Excelsior Youth Center Receives Substance Abuse Treatment Grant
Excelsior Youth Center has received a $38,000 Daniels Fund grant to support its substance abuse treatment program. This grant will provide weekly specialized therapy groups for all clients; campus wide psycho-educational substance abuse workshops in 10-week sessions in their cottages; and scholarships for staff members to earn their Certified Addiction Counseling  levels to better serve Excelsior’s clients.
Excelsior Youth Center provides safe, structured residential care to 180 young girls, ages 11 to 18, who reside in dorm-like cottages for an average 12-month period. Many of the girls have experienced abuse, failed adoptions and academic failures. More than half of the girls come from Colorado and the rest from throughout the United States. If not living here, the girls could be in jail, psychiatric hospitals or on the streets.  Excelsior’s structured treatment plan provides the tools to transition back to their communities and accomplish their goals. In 2005, more than 400 girls participated with 80 percent successfully completing the phase.
           
Denver Health Named To Solucient Top 100 Hospitals List
Denver Health was named a top hospital in the Major Teaching Hospitals category. This is the first time Denver Health has been recognized on the Solucient list.  
Now in its 13th year, the Solucient study uses a board- and executive-level scorecard based on objective measurement in five critical areas: clinical outcomes, patient safety, operational efficiency, financial stability and growth. According to the Solucient Web site, “Winning hospitals display balanced organizational performance – an ability to provide sustainable and reliable health care services to their communities.”      

MAIAC Member St. Cyr Leads National Indian Chamber  
Dee St. Cyr of metro Denver has been elected to a two-year term as president of the newly formed American Indian National Chamber of Commerce (AINCC) of Washington, D.C.
The new organization is the only national Native American chamber. St. Cyr, who belongs to the Winnebago tribe of Nebraska, helped establish the new organization. A long-time Native American activist, St. Cyr is also chairman of the Denver Indian Center and co-chair of the opening ceremonies for the 2006 North American Indigenous Games, scheduled for July 2-9 in Denver. Last year, she was appointed to a two-year membership on the U.S. Small Business Administration's national advisory council.

Rose Community Foundation Announces New Committee Appointments
Rose Community Foundation’s board of trustees has announced the appointment of two new committee chairs, and eight members to the Foundation’s grantmaking committees. These community volunteers provide guidance and expertise to support the Foundation’s mission, programs and policies. Trustee Stephanie Foote is the new chair of the Investment Committee. She has served on the committee since 2004 and has been a Foundation trustee since 2002. New Trustee Irit Waldbaum has been named chair of the Foundation’s Jewish Life Committee on which she previously served from 1997 through 2002. Eight new members have joined four of Rose Community Foundation’s grantmaking committees. Milroy A. Alexander, who has been the executive director and CEO of Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, and Founding Trustee Richard B. Tucker have been added to the Aging Committee; Gerri Gomez Howard,  president of The Howard Group, Cynthia Kahn, co-founder of The Children’s Museum of Denver, and Bruce T. Karpas, former president and CEO of Crème de la Crème, Inc., have joined the Child and Family Development Committee; Dawn P. Bookhardt, a founding partner in the law firm of Bookhardt & O’Toole, was named to the Health Committee; and Trustee Scott L. Levin and Rabbi Raymond Zwerin now serve on the Jewish Life Committee.

Representative Diana DeGette Named BIO Legislator of the Year
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has named Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D, CO-1) as a “Legislator of the Year” for 2005-2006. Congresswoman DeGette received the BIO Legislator of the Year award in a meeting with representatives of the biotechnology industry from Colorado, including Denise Brown, Executive Director of the Colorado BioScience Association. BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in 31 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.