Nonprofit Engagement Commission

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.

Morrison 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.

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.

Sydney Byer serves as the Director of Advocacy and Strategic Initiatives at Next50. In this role, she leads Next50’s public policy and strategic partnership agenda. She works to deepen relationships with leaders in aging, including federal, state, and local officials, policymakers, nonprofit advocates, and strategic partners who support the foundation's priorities. Sydney holds a B.A. in International Affairs and Spanish from the CU– Boulder and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Colorado – Denver.

Throughout her career, Sydney has spearheaded innovative projects designed to address complex challenges in aging and public policy, often collaborating across sectors to drive impactful solutions. She has held various roles in the nonprofit and public sectors in Denver, gaining experience in direct service, grant management, fundraising, and volunteer management. She is passionate about her work at Next50 and its potential to make a lasting, positive impact on the aging experience in Colorado and beyond. 

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 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.

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.

MaryBeth Lawson is the Vice President of Development at the Denver Public Schools Foundation who has nearly 15 years of experience helping folks accomplish their philanthropic goals while strengthening the support for and awareness of programs, missions, and goals. Over the course of her career, MaryBeth also supported the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work as their Executive Director of Development and was part of several municipal teams and nonprofit organizations, including the American Red Cross.

MaryBeth spends time engaged in community, currently serving on the steering committee for the Institute for Leaders in Development as Volunteer chair, is a member of the Advisory Committee for Community Impact at the Denver Foundation, is an appointed commissioner to both the Denver Women's Commission and Denver Nonprofit Engagement Commission, and is currently part of the 2026 cohort of the Denver Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Denver program.