BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
DENVER INSTITUTE FOR RACE EQUITY, INCLUSION & RECONCILIATION
Wayne E. Vaden,ESQ.
Wayne E. Vaden, Esq. is the managing attorney of City Park Law Group, LLC, focusing on real estate, estate planning, probate, general litigation and commercial transactions. Mr. Vaden has acted as the lead counsel in hundreds of proceedings, from administrative proceedings to complex litigation in state and federal court.
DIREIR, President/Chairman
Mr. Vaden is also the founding member and manager of City Park Food Services, LLC, a food distribution company and concessionaire at Denver International Airport, City Park Realty, LLC, a Denver based real estate company, and Park Hill Qualified Opportunity Fund, LLC, an investment fund dedicated to commercial development in Northeast Denver.
Mr. Vaden was appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper to serve as the Clerk and Recorder / Public Trustee / Election Commissioner for the City and County of Denver from 2003 to 2007.
Mr. Vaden previously worked for the regional and national law firms, Holme Roberts & Owen LLP and Baker & Hostetler LLP. Mr. Vaden began his legal career after receiving his Juris Doctor (JD) from Arizona State University, College of Law. He received his Bachelor’s Degree (BA) from the University of Colorado, Boulder and his Masters of Law in Taxation (LLM) from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law.
Mr. Vaden’s legal experience also includes working as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado (Consumer Protection) and as a Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City and County of Denver (Employment Law).
Mr. Vaden served as the Board Chairman for the Urban League of Metropolitan Denver, and has served as a Board Members for several community organizations. Currently the head track coach at Northfield High School in Denver Public Schools, Mr. Vaden has coached track for over 30 years, winning several team championships and helping numerous student-athletes earn athletic scholarships to major universities.
The Honorable Peter C. Groff
DIREIR, Secretary
The Honorable Peter C. Groff is the Co-Founder, Co-Director, and Senior Visiting Lecturer in the University of Redlands Master of Public Policy and Administration (MPPA) program. He is also the Principal and Chief Strategist at MCG2 Consulting, LLC. Senator Groff is a noted public policy innovator, national policy and political analyst, and leadership lecturer.
Peter has held senior-level positions at all three government levels and has more than 35 years of public service, policy, and political experience.
Before creating the MPPA program and beginning his consulting firm, Senator Groff served as the 47th President of the Colorado State Senate. He was the first and only African American in Colorado to ascend to the post, and only the third, at the time, African American in the nation's history to hold the gavel as State Senate President. President Groff, renowned as the "Conscience of the Senate," served in the Colorado General Assembly for nearly ten years. He passed landmark and visionary legislation in education, criminal justice, and health care during his tenure.
After President Groff's legislative service, he was the Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Education during the first term of President Barack H. Obama. The Center was part of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. During President Obama's second term, the President appointed Senator Groff to the White House Commission on U. S. Presidential Scholars.
Senator Groff served as the first-ever Visiting Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education and has consulted numerous educational, nonprofit, political, and policy entities across the United States of America.
Raised in Denver, Colorado, President Groff was born in Chicago, Illinois. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Redlands (Calif.), a Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver College of Law, and an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Denver.
He is married to the Rev. Dr. Regina C. Groff, and they are proud parents to two adult children.
Erin Brown
Currently, Erin Brown serves as the Vice President of Community Investment and Impact, at The Colorado Health Foundation where she oversees the deployment and impact of grants and community investments across the state of Colorado. The largest foundation in the state of Colorado and one of the largest health philanthropies in the nation, with assets of approximately $2.6 billion to increase the health, health access and health equity for the people of Colorado.
DIREIR, Treasurer
Erin has served as the Deputy Chief of Staff and held an expanded role as Denver’s first Chief Equity Officer for Mayor Michael B. Hancock in the City and County of Denver. As an appointed official for three consecutive administrations under Mayor Hancock, Brown has provided bold and forward-thinking leadership, and has been instrumental in building a system of collaboration among community members and organizations, local municipalities, businesses, and city agencies.
As an advocate for children and families in Denver, Brown previously led the Office of Children’s Affairs, accomplishing Mayor Hancock’s goals for children and youth as they relate to early childhood experiences, grade level reading, re-engaging disconnected youth, completing post-secondary pathways that lead to employment and improving childhood health outcomes. In her capacity as, executive director Brown worked to improve quality and increase access to experiences that will ensure all children and families have resources and opportunities to succeed in school, in the workplace and in a global society, regardless of race, ethnicity, income or disability. With more than 25 years of leadership experience directing civic programs and services, Brown has an endless and unbroken passion for addressing issues concerning children, families, minorities, and elderly communities.
Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office of Children’s Affairs, she served as Deputy Director for Denver Parks and Recreation, the Director of Resident Services for Kappa Management, held the position of Vice President of Programs and Development for the Urban League of Metropolitan Denver and was an Executive Director for the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver.
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Today, her work and leadership are guided by the essence of a quote from President Barack Obama, “No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That's an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up.”
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Erin Brown currently resides in Denver with her husband and four children. As a parent, a community member and advocate, Brown is extremely committed to “being a voice for the voiceless.”