Nonprofit Engagement Commission

The Nonprofit Engagement Commission serves as a catalyst for leveraging the best of Denver’s public and nonprofit sectors and their commitment to engaging in innovative and collaborative work. The Commission’s core work is focused on providing support for HRCP Nonprofit Engagement and the implementation of its strategies and goals.

Our commissioners serve a two-year terms and are representatives from the nonprofit, government, and for-profit sectors.

Applications for the Commission are accepted throughout the year. Specific recruitment focus occurs each January and February, with new appointments taking place in April.  


Commission Meetings

Commission meetings are currently in hybrid format. 

Join us virtually:

Join Zoom Meeting https://denvergov-org.zoom.us/j/84363911402

Meeting ID: 843 6391 1402

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Meeting ID: 843 6391 1402

Find your local number: https://denvergov-org.zoom.us/u/kdQzrVi43X

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact Mayra MercadoRamirez at mayra.mercadoramirez@denvergov.org with three (3) business days’ notice.


Commission Members

LeRita Cavness, Chair

LeRita Cavness LeRita Cavness is Director of Adolescent Know Your Rights, a non-profit designed to elevate autonomy, individual accountability, and knowledge of the rights of adolescents through personal reflection. She is currently in pursuit of an Educational Leadership & Policy Studies degree and thrives on shifting mindsets around the concepts of education, bias, and success. As a Nonprofit Engagement Commissioner, she hopes to amplify the realistic needs of the growing grassroots nonprofit base in Colorado, while actively pursuing methods of strengthening nonprofit communities through education and collaborative work.

Dee Dee DeVuyst

Dee Dee DeVuyst Dee Dee DeVuyst serves as Radian’s Executive Director. With Master’s degrees in Architecture and Environmental Engineering, she brings over a decade of management experience in the nonprofit, private, and government sectors and has spent her career leveraging design and community advocacy in the pursuit of equitable outcomes.

At Radian, Dee Dee leads a team of architects, urban planners, and other design professionals to advance social equity in the built environment by co-creating spaces, places, and policies of belonging. She finds joy in building teams and designing tools that inspire radical empathy, increase representation, and support design justice.

Prior to her current role, Dee Dee created and led Radian’s Equitable Development Studio, spearheading community-driven initiatives and managing projects that center the voices, lived experiences, and expertise of under-represented communities in Denver. She developed and implemented multilateral initiatives within the equitable development sector that include equitable development plans, equity toolkits, and equitable policy advocacy.

Dee Dee currently serves on the Denver Commission of Nonprofit Engagement, the Denver Board of Adjustment for Zoning Appeals, and the All In Denver board. She is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) of Peru, an avid globetrotter, a gardening enthusiast, and a bike commuter.

Linda Foster

Linda Foster

Linda Foster has served as President & CEO of Jewish Family Service of Colorado since November 2018, where she brings strategic vision and dynamic leadership to the organization. Under her guidance, JFS has implemented an ambitious Strategic Plan focused on optimizing existing programs and expanding services throughout Colorado. Her proven track record of success spans both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, consistently delivering strong mission impact while ensuring organizational sustainability.

As a committed community leader, Linda currently contributes her expertise as a member of the Denver Nonprofit Engagement Commission. She has also played a key role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives through her service on the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies DEI Committee.

Linda holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College and has enhanced her nonprofit management expertise through executive education at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management Center for Non-Profit Management.

 

Djuana Harvell

Djuana Harvell Djuana Harvell, PhD serves as Director of Special and Innovative Projects within the be well Health and Wellness Initiative at The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities. Djuana delivers project management, strategic planning, and implementation of key projects and programs, which include a focus on health education and advocacy. She leads collaborative efforts with diverse stakeholders, project teams, partners, and volunteers to implement health promotion, and prevention plans to address health disparities experienced by community members in Northeast Denver and Northwest Aurora.

Liane Morrison

Liane Morrison Liane is an economist and nonprofit entrepreneur. She started her career at the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department in Washington D.C. When she had the opportunity to combine policy, politics, and on-the-ground implementation in her native Colorado, she veered to public education. That led to co-founding and leading Great Education Colorado, a thriving nonprofit dedicated to grassroots advocacy to improve education outcomes. After 10 years leading Great Ed, Liane joined Mile High United Way’s United for Schools (UFS) to concentrate on the social and societal factors that impact student outcomes. She developed the program to reduce chronic absenteeism of students from under-resourced neighborhoods by providing wrap-around services to families and strengthening the schools’ abilities to effectively connect with their diverse families. The program improved academic results, reinforced partnerships between parents and schools, and emphasized the importance of community leadership and engagement. Systems change is always in the background of Liane’s work, so she joined Elevated Denver in 2022 to reshape the way we tackle our growing homelessness challenge. Elevated Denver shifts power to those with lived expertise to create viable solutions based on user-experience stories and data. The results are sustainable, community-responsive solutions developed in a new model for social collaboration. Liane enjoys cycling, hiking and cross-country skiing under Colorado’s blue skies. She appreciates dynamic book club discussions, singing in a community choir and good friends.

Dede de Percin

Dede-de-Percin Dede de Percin is a nonprofit executive and strategist with over 20 years in senior management building successful Colorado organizations to effect social change. She is passionate about the independent sector, and is dedicated to innovation, systems change, cross-sector collaboration, and advocacy.

Cori Streetman

Cori Streetman As Co-Founder & CEO of Barefoot PR, Cori Streetman has extensive experience working with local nonprofit organizations and businesses in the areas of communications, brand development, strategic partnership building, public relations, community investment initiatives and strategic message development. She is passionate about community service and has served on a number of nonprofit boards and committees. She also believes strongly in the power of the nonprofit sector to improve quality of life and drive economic development in our local communities.