Bio: Wendy Talley (Doja Peju)

INTERIM PRESIDENT

Wendy Talley

She/Her

Wendy Talley’s career is a rich tapestry of community advocacy and engagement as a highly seasoned professional facilitator, life coach and trainer. Wendy has worked for over 30 years in the field of social issues facing vulnerable populations including health, poverty, housing, homelessness, incarceration, mental health, substance abuse and wages.

Wendy has over 20 years of leadership education, transformational program design and delivery.

Currently, Wendy serves as a Director of Community Engagement for the Latino Coalition for Community Leadership as the lead staff person on the Community Crime Victims Services Grant Program, the Community Voices Grant Program and the Violence Interruption and Community Healing Grant program. The purpose of these grant programs is to address inequity in funding organizations in black and brown communities. Managing a portfolio of eight million to address the impacts of crime victimization and violence.

In her consulting business, she has worked as a lead facilitator for Adams County Social Services, the Center Advancing LGBTQ in Colorado, Civic Canopy, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, CityWild, and Caring for Colorado Foundation trainings on diversity, centering equity and inclusiveness. Her special passion for community engagement led to the opportunity to organize the Aurora Mobile Home Task Force and steward the Transforming Safety Leadership Team in Colorado Springs and Aurora, Colorado. Wendy has presented workshops for the Pretrial Institute, Colorado Collaborative Justice Conference, Mentor Colorado and the Free Her Conference on Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Building Authentic Community Relationships and Navigating Divergent Perspectives.

She graduated from the Family Leadership Team Institute and facilitated the FLTI Five Points youth cohort. She also recently served on the African American Equity Task force for Denver Public Schools. Through Bold Leaders, Wendy designed and managed comprehensive programs for six international leadership education exchange projects working with young people, including leading a delegation in Uganda.

She galvanized to build a new corporate culture, post-merger between The Spot Youth Center and Urban Peak and was the lead in orchestrating a successful $500,000 grant application with five culturally and economically diverse collaborators to address youth employment.

As chairperson for the Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative - a private and public partnership - that received a $4.2 million Housing and Urban Development Shelter Plus Care Grant award.

Wendy also played a principal role collaborating with community service providers, neighborhood associations, the business community and homeless individuals for the City of Santa Monica’s Strategic Plan to address homelessness and oversee the appropriation of $5 million in City funds for the project.