A leader with experience spanning the public, private, and social change sectors, Denise understands the power and possibility of cross-sector collaboration.

Through her consulting practice, CultureThrive, Denise works with foundation, youth development, arts and culture, corporate, and public sector partners and clients. Versatile across functional and subject matter areas, she is skilled at coming into complex spaces, identifying high-leverage knowledge gaps, conducting research and analysis, and developing actionable insights and thoughtful strategy. Her work has spanned briefing federal interagency task forces to participating in restorative justice circles with students, and she brings curiosity, compassion, and a commitment to social justice to all that she does.

Projects range from the National Blueprint to Advance Creative Youth Development; global social impact strategy to support health equity; citywide strategy, partnerships, and programs to build arts vitality, access, and participation; and communications strategy at the intersection of environmental health and human health. Her work has been covered by National Public Radio, The Washington Post, and Youth Today, among other media outlets.

Denise draws on her experience across the public, private, and social change sectors to inform her involvement in cross-sector collaboration, strategy, systems change, advocacy, and policy.

During her tenure as director of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, RAND ranked the agency as one of the top two municipal arts agencies in the United States.

Denise has spent more than two decades working to improve equitable access to and participation in the arts and to out-of-school time programs at both the systems and program levels. She has contributed more than a dozen publications to the field of creative youth development. Among her key influences are the youth and community-based practitioners she has had the privilege of learning from and working with over the years. She is a long-time collaborator with PEAR, Partnerships in Education and Resilience, working at the intersection of youth mental health and wellbeing and youth development.

Denise is guided by the fundamental beliefs that all people deserve to thrive; strengths-based approaches bring out the best in people and in collaborations; and by ways of working that center equity, inclusivity, listening, learning, and creativity.

Denise serves as an advisor to the National Museum of the American Latino, is a board member and Chair of the Education Committee of the New Children’s Museum, a board member of the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition, and a policy advocate with CA3 - California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance of Partnership for Children & Youth. She is active in a number of professional organizations, including the Creative Youth Development Funders Forum, Grantmakers for Thriving Youth, the Grantmakers for Education Out-of-School Time Impact Group, and the C3 Data Alliance. Denise is a founding member of the Global Extended Learning and Youth Development Association. She has volunteered more than 2,500 hours with youth and youth programs in San Diego, California, where she lives with her family.