About Us
WELCOME TO WPC
About Women Powering Change
Started by philanthropist Cynda Collins Arsenault as “Women’s Work, Wisdom and Wine” in 2013, Women Powering Change highlights the critical and necessary roles of women in creating a more sustainable, secure, and just world while connecting individuals with social change organizations.
The Convening Partners, who comprise the steering committee, are passionate women leaders from the community dedicated to supporting the advancement of women. Their ultimate goal is to accelerate the social impact of women creating a just world by engaging community members in the inspiring work being done locally and globally by women-centric organizations located in Colorado.
Women Powering Change
Steering Committee
Cynda Collins Arsenault
Founder
Cynda Collins Arsenault, Co-founder, Board Chair and President of Secure World Foundation, an operating foundation working for the secure and sustainable use of outer space for the benefit of humanity. She also co-founded and serves on the Boards of the Arsenault Family Foundation and One Earth Future, an operating foundation working to catalyze systems that eliminate the root causes of war. She has 45+ years of experience in non-profit work including peace and justice, criminal justice, mental health, disability rights and environmental issues.
In her personal philanthropy she focuses on bringing women’s critical skills to the table for solving the difficult problems we face, with a focus on women, peace and security. She helped establish and works with One Earth Future’s initiative Our Secure Future - Women Make the Difference.
She is a member of the Womens Donor Network, Women Moving Millions, and The International Women’s Forum. She is the founder of Women Powering Change, an annual gathering of women working to create a better world.
Ms.Collins Arsenault received her BA in Sociology and Psychology at University of California Berkeley and her MA in Education from Colorado State University.
Fatou Doumbia
Founder, Agile International
Fatou Doumbia, Founder of Agile International a 501 (c) (3) (http://agile-international.org/), based in Boulder, Colorado, works to secure land, water, and energy availability for rural women farmers in Western Africa. We also provide access to market for authentically African made products at https://djimidjama.com.
We have a unique approach to Women Empowerment and rural community Development in particular, our successful focus on land rights for women as a critical component of local sustainable development and self-determination. Our unique program and innovative approach attracts nationwide interns and academia. This year 2016 we have 46 interns helping to expand our mission, while gaining valuable experience in dealing with the current global and local challenges.
Our current project was presented at National Science Foundation Innovation Challenge competition of 2016. We are currently working with local universities to implement our pilot project for rural women farmers in West Africa to purchase land, learn innovative irrigation and farming methods that create sustainability and independence for women in Mali.
Karen Crouch
Instructional Design and Technology Consultant
Karen Crouch is an Instructional Design and Technology Consultant at the University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a Master's in Education with a specialization in International and Comparative Education from Northcentral University and a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs from CU Boulder. She brings 15 years of experience of working in education at international and K-12 levels and has been at CU Boulder for over 8 years designing learning experiences and programs, teaching, and researching technology. She is passionate about supporting students and faculty, exploring new technology, and getting creative! When she is not at work,
Karen enjoys swimming, learning Taekwondo with her son, practicing intuitive meditation, and volunteering in local and global social justice issues.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-crouch/
Colleen LaFontaine
Director of Development
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado.
Colleen LaFontaine has over twenty years of development and management experience. Colleen was the first Executive Director of One World Children’s Fund, in San Francisco. Prior to One World, Colleen was the Director of Fundraising for Sparks, a UK non-profit focused on pediatric and maternal medical research.
Her first role in non-profit was the Managing Director of Step Up Women’s Network. She managed the National, Los Angeles, and New York chapters of this organization dedicated to igniting women and girls to fulfill their potential through innovative programming and partnerships.
Preceding her move into non-profit Colleen held senior management roles with start-up and media companies. She holds a BA from Rutgers University and an MSc in Population and Development from The London School of Economics. Colleen currently lives in Denver, Colorado and is the Director of Development with The Women’s Foundation of Colorado.
Cecile Givelet
Personnal assistant of Cynda Collins Arsenault
Cecile holds a Doctorate Degrees in Organic Chemistry, and spent five years in Post-Doctoral positions in France, US and Czech Republic.
She became involved with riding therapy for kids with disabilities, and Bead for Life, an organization in Uganda designed to help women living in extreme poverty.
She downsized her life in a 40 pounds backpack to travel the world during more than a year. During her travels, she volunteered at numerous organizations in various countries, i.e., help a mother and her two daughters build adobe houses in Patagonia; volunteered at an orphanage in South India housing and nursing children with tuberculosis and AIDS as well as fundraising; assisted with the education of children in the deep bush of Morogoro, region in Tanzania.
She has been eager to help women and to foster networking for women in need.
Kelley Reszetylo
HR Recruiter
One Earth Future
Kelley has worked in the nonprofit sector since 2013 in the fields of disaster response, volunteer management, refugee services, and human services. Prior to making Colorado her home, she spent a year traveling through 19 countries, and helped create Refugee Support Europe's Dignity Centre serving asylum seekers in Nicosia, Cyprus. Currently, Kelley is in HR supporting the critical work of One Earth Future, and is pursuing her Master's in Nonprofit Leadership focused on Mission Driven Operations at the University of Denver.
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Alexis Newton
Director of Education
Museo de las Americas
Alexis Newton is the Director of Education at Museo de las Americas where she focuses on creating arts integrated programming and culturally relevant curriculum infused with social justice activism. She is also the Latin American Representative for the Canadian based social
enterprise Lucky Iron Fish which works to combat iron deficiency anemia around the world.
Alexis has previously worked with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in New York City and in Mexico City on human trafficking prevention and advocacy. As an activist, educator and philanthropist, Alexis spends her time as Co-Founder of Do Gooders, as Vice President of the United Nations Association Denver Chapter, as a Board Member of the Mexican Cultural Center, as Vice Chair of Beyond Our Borders, as a SheEO activator, as an advocate on the
Colorado Network to End Human Trafficking Hotline (CoNEHT), as a mentor for Watson Institute, and as an Advisory Board Member for the Global Fund for Women.
Alexis has lived, worked, and studied in Mexico, Spain, Guatemala, and India, and has native-speaker fluency in Spanish.
Beverly Sloan
Bev Sloan led innovative healthcare organizations for more than 30 years. Sloan was CEO of The Denver Hospice, Colorado’s largest hospice, from 1999-2015, serving over 3000 hospice and palliative care patients annually. Bev was named the 2011 Outstanding Woman in Business in Healthcare by The Denver Business Journal. Bev founded the Life Quality Institute to provide palliative training to medical and clinical students.
Sloan created a partnership with Selian Lutheran Hospice in Tanzania in 2001 and served on the Board of the Foundation for Hospices of Sub-Saharan Africa for 8 years. Bev continues to work with Selian Hospice and helped secure USAID funding to replicate hospices in 16 sites. Bev is active on several boards and with Beyond Our Borders.
She holds a B.S. in biology and an MSPH in health management and public health from the University of Missouri.
Rocío del Pilar Durán
Bilingual and BiCultural
Life Coach and Trainer
Entrepreneur, happiness coach, inventor and a multicultural connector. A bilingual Community Psychologist passionate about connecting cultures and transforming lives. I truly believe that we have to build bridges between communities and promote their connection. If we work together from our similarities instead of our differences we will build a more inclusive and stronger society. I believe in the power of women working together.
Read Rocio's full bio here.