Thank You for an Exceptional Year

Attending our Leadership Foundation board retreat last week was bittersweet—it was my first and last retreat as the Foundation's executive director. I am excited to announce that I have been called to Washington, D.C., as a presidential appointee to serve at the associate administrator of the Office of Entrepreneurial Development at the Small Business Administration, where I will continue my own civic leadership journey. I was moved to tears by our outgoing chair, Dan Lewis, who told me that when he started thinking about my departure he thought about words he felt that defined me: passionate, persistent and purposeful. Then he mentioned one that he felt: proud.

I don't have enough space in this newsletter to share all the memories that have been made in this past year, but I would like to say thank you to each and every alumni or friend of the Foundation who I have had the pleasure to meet and work with over this past year.

To our alumni and friends: You are the Leadership Foundation. You provide the spark and encourage each other to continue to innovate and push forward for the betterment of our community.

To my Leadership Foundation team: You make sure the Foundation doesn't just run—you make sure it sprints. Your commitment, creativity and humor have ensured that we continue to move beyond success as an organization and toward greater significance.

To my colleagues at the Denver Metro Chamber: Thank you for supporting me during my eight years with you. It has been an incredible experience I will not soon forget.

Thank you all for your support, encouragement, ideas, laughter and not being afraid to dance like no one's watching for our Harlem Shake video. I'm excited for the new challenges ahead for myself and for the Foundation, and I look forward to keeping an eye toward Denver to see what exciting new innovations you dream up.

Be inspired!
Tameka Montgomery

Get Involved: Power Lunch

Power Lunch, a program designed and coordinated by Mile High United Way and Denver Public Schools, allows busy professionals to spend one lunch hour a week reading with third-grade children in a DPS classroom. The Chamber and Leadership Foundation are putting together a group to adopt a third grade classroom for the 2013-14 school year, but need your help. Join us; you will be paired with another professional to devote an hour every other week to a third grader's future success. Training is provided.
Please email Mara MacKillop if you're interested in volunteering. Find out more here and watch a short video on the program.

2013 Impact Denver Class Graduates

Congratulations to the 2013 Impact Denver Class, which graduated on June 20. View the graduate list here. Click here to learn more about Impact Denver.

Alumni Spotlight: Ed Wingfield

Ed Wingfield is the owner of Wingfield Management Group, LLC and president of the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation. He is an alumni of Impact Denver.

Leadership Foundation: Why did you want to participate in Impact Denver and how did it impact your civic engagement in the community?

Having gone through my first leadership program in 2010 through the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation, I was eager to continue my professional growth and community involvement. I decided that another leadership program would be a beneficial and formal way to continue that growth. The Impact Denver experience helped me to better understand a number of challenges and opportunities that are present in our community. Not only did it help me to become more aware and engaged, it also allowed me to connect with people that have similar community interests. Through the formal class time and the relationships that I was able to establish, Impact Denver helped me to build a more solid foundation in our state.

Read our full Q&A with Ed.