Athletics & Beyond Recognize Two Super Student Athletes
At the first Super Student Athletes Award celebration, Athletics and Beyond recognized the accomplishments of two Super Student Athletes, Andrew Davis and Devin Aguilar. Davis graduated in December from Montbello High School with a 4.0 grade point average and signed with the Oregon Ducks. Mullen high school senior Devin Aguilar, who carries a 3.0 grade point average, recently signed a letter of intent with the Washington Huskies.
As young boys, Davis and Aguilar played together in little league sports for the Falcons organization. During the event, Davis and Aguilar presented signed jerseys to the Falcon little league program. Guest speakers included Mullen High School football head coach Dave Logan, Mullen High School basketball Coach Randy, and Montbello Falcon little league Coach Dexter.
The purpose of Athletics & Beyond is to promote education while using sports as a vehicle to capture the attention of our young men and women.
For more information, call Coach Narcy at 303-725-0811 or visit www.athleticsandbeyond.com.

ADL Honors Families With 2007 Torch Of Liberty Award
The Anti-Defamation League will honor three families for “Passing the Torch” of community service from one generation to the next at its 2007 Torch of Liberty Award Dinner on Wednesday, March 14 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis. This year’s honorees are Rabbi Steven Foster, his wife, Joyce, and their children Daniel, David and Debbie; Colorado State Sen. Regis Groff, his son Peter and his daughter Traci; and Starz Encore Founder John Sie, his wife, Anna, and their children Allison, Debbie, James, Michelle and Susan. The evening includes cocktails and a silent auction followed by dinner and a multi-media award presentation. The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry. Proceeds from the dinner and silent auction benefit ADL’s programs and services in the Mountain States Region of Colorado and Wyoming.

McGuire-Collier Named To Public Relations Post
Long-time media relations manager for Denver Water, Trina McGuire-Collier, has been named their new manager of community affairs. In that position, she will continue to oversee the media relations function. Additional responsibilities will include community outreach, internal and external communications, and educational programs for the local utility. She will continue to field media inquiries until a successor for the media relations position is named. McGuire began working for Denver Water in July of 1992 as media relations coordinator and soon took over management of the function. She holds a bachelors degree in mass communications from Metropolitan State College and is active in a number of community, trade and professional organizations.

RTD Takes Home Top WTS Awards
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) won the top three awards given by the Women’s Transportation Seminar ( WTS ), including the Big Project of the Year award it shared with the Colorado Department of Transportation for the T-REX Project. RTD was also named Employer of the Year and RTD General Counsel Marla Lien was named Woman of the Year. WTS is considered the premier professional transportation organization in Colorado , and the winners of the 2007 WTS awards and scholarships were honored during the annual awards ceremony held at Mile High Station last month.

Denver OED Announces New Director Of Workforce Development
The Denver Office of Economic Development (OED) announces the appointment of Paula Gomez Farrell, Ph.D., as the director of OED’s Division of Workforce Development. Gomez Farrell is formerly of NorTech, a nonprofit technology-based economic development organization serving Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio . Serving as NorTech’s vice president of talent and workforce development, Gomez Farrell led efforts to ensure a diverse and inclusive skilled workforce for the technology economy. She also helped craft an inclusion initiative, designed to increase minority youth populations pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The Denver Office of Economic Development works to create a local environment that stimulates balanced economic growth through job creation, business assistance, housing options and neighborhood redevelopment.

Hickenlooper Announces Boards Of Directors And Advisors
Following the recommendations of the Denver Preschool Program Transition Team, Mayor John Hickenlooper announced the appointment of the seven-member Denver Preschool Program Board of Directors and the 25-member Board of Advisors. Appointments are pending City Council confirmation. The two independent Boards are charged with developing implementation plans for the new Denver Preschool Program, approved by voters in November 2006. The Board of Directors will make governance, programmatic and financial decisions. The Board of Advisors will provide guidance on education and community-based policy issues. Once confirmed, the Board of Directors will file legal documentation, including articles of incorporation and an application for nonprofit status. Members will serve three-year staggered terms.

DOCA Announces 2006 Mayor’s Awards Recipients
Mayor John Hickenlooper, the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) and the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs announce the 2006 recipients of the Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. The 2006 honorees are Fiesta Colorado, PlatteForum and Dianne Perry Vanderlip. The 2006 Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts reception was held Tuesday Feb. 27, sponsored in part by the Denver Urban Spectrum. Mayor Hickenlooper presented the awards to the honorees, and journalist and broadcast personality Tamara Banks was the mistress of ceremonies. Since 1986, the Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts annually recognize individuals and organizations that make significant and lasting contributions to the arts in the City and County of Denver.

Denver Foundation Announces New Board Members
The Denver Foundation announces the election of five new members to its Board of Trustees. They are Pamela Kenney Basey, community leader; Luella Chavez D’Angelo, president of Western Union Foundation; Barbara B. Grogan, founder of Western Industrial Contractors Inc.; Jesse King, founding partner at Fulcrum Advisors; and Darrell B. Watson, community leader. Established in 1925, the Denver Foundation is a community foundation dedicated to improving life in metro Denver through philanthropy, leadership, and strengthening the community.  Community foundations are endowments, permanent pools of money contributed by local donors to benefit a specific geographic area. In 2006, the Denver Foundation gave over $36 million in grants to nonprofit organizations.

Community Shares Wins National Excellence Award
Community Shares of Colorado, a local nonprofit that provides operating funds and raises awareness for more than 120 local charities, has been given the National Alliance for Choice in Giving’s (NACG) 2007 “Innovation and Excellence” award. Community Shares will be presented the award at the 2007 National Workplace Giving Summit in Orlando , Florida . The NACG is a trade association comprised of community of local, state, and national workplace giving funds that are working together to advance social justice, environmental protection, peace, human welfare and human rights. Community Shares of Colorado is a non-profit that provides funding, raises awareness, and marshals resources for over 120 Colorado based charities.

CU Law Dean Earns Hispanic Bar Association Award
The Colorado Hispanic Bar Association awarded Lorenzo Trujillo, assistant dean at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law, the Chris Miranda Outstanding Hispanic Lawyer Award for 2006. Each year the association presents the award to an outstanding Hispanic attorney who has shown a continual commitment to the Hispanic community and the principles of the legal profession. Trujillo received the award Jan. 20 at the association's annual banquet, which was attended by nearly 700 members of the Hispanic legal community.