About Us

Tina Martinez has dedicated her career to collaborative efforts that foster a future in which all children and families thrive. In her role as Vice President of Learning and Community Engagement at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, she brings together diverse stakeholders to create meaningful experiences that connect people across Colorado with the wonders of nature and science.

Tina takes pride in serving on the boards of Scholars Unlimited and Clayton Early Learning, actively supporting their impactful initiatives for children and families in the metro Denver area.

Together with her husband, Jason, and their daughters, Santiana and J Senia, Tina shares a deep commitment to out-of-school programs, having experienced their transformative power as participants, staff, and volunteers.

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Nikki is a Colorado native who is currently the Business Manager for Jefferson County Open Space in Golden, Colorado. She has been a proud public servant for more than twelve years and is dedicated to the betterment of our state by helping citizens succeed on all levels. Nikki works with regional leaders and partners, community members, and several non-profit organizations to ensure that she is doing all she can to expand the range of what’s possible in Denver’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. She has a truly keen ability to listen to others and to connect with a diversity of groups and individuals by meeting them where they are and she does so to make a difference and, ultimately, motivate future generations.

Nikki graduated Magna Cum Laude from CU Denver with a BFA in wood sculpture and a focus on business management. She has worked in operations and finance for over 20 years and brings a unique perspective to the world of numbers. She loves volunteering, gardening, and spending time with her wife and daughter, and would rather ride her bike more than any other mode of transportation on the planet!

Kristin currently serves as the Secretary for the Scholars Unlimited Board. She has loved serving on the Board since 2018 and is continually impressed by the Scholars and the Scholars Unlimited leadership.
Kristin is the Division Director for the Board of Assessment Appeals in the Department of Local Affairs. Prior to this position she has served the state as an Assistant Attorney General, Administrative Law Judge and Chief Operating Officer. In her free time she loves traveling, visiting friends, reading and knitting. She is married to Allen, an estate planning attorney, and the proud parent of two grown children both of whom are teachers! Kristin has read all 100 of Penguin’s top 100 classics.

Angela Choi joined Precious Metals Summit Conferences as Vice President, Operations
in 2022. Angela is a seasoned Project and Event Manager with nearly 20 years of
experience working directly with the Executive staff across a wide range of sectors,
spanning financial institutions and banking, oil & gas, tech, public administration, and
non-profit entities. Prior to joining the Precious Metals Summit, Angela was most
recently Administrative Manager Regional Commercial Coordinator at UMB Bank in Denver, Colorado where she led her division’s planning & events initiatives for the bank’s top commercial and retail clients. A Denver native, Angela enjoys camping,
fishing, and enjoying the local music scene. She brings a unique perspective to any
organization.

Dr. Rosanne Fulton has 38 years of experience in public education. She served as chief equity and engagement officer in Aurora Public Schools; executive director of Curriculum and Instruction in the Denver Public Schools; director of schools in the Douglas County School District, and; K-8 principal in the Mapleton School District.
At the beginning of her career, she taught middle and high school mathematics for 11 years. Additionally, she taught mathematics and teacher preparation courses at four different universities and colleges in Colorado. She currently serves as the director of the Center for Urban Education with UNC. Dr. Fulton has devoted her career to addressing educational equity and meeting the needs of all students. In each of these leadership roles, she has taught people of all ages and supervised central office leaders, principals, content specialists, school-based instructional coaches, teachers and classified staff.

Olga has served people across the Denver Metro Area in various capacities throughout her professional career. Currently she is with Denver Human Rights and Community Partnerships Office of Aging. She manages the Denver Connect mobile unit that provides resources and information to assist older adults – regardless of ability, health or income – to age in place.
Prior experience includes Denver Health Medical Center Government and Community Affairs. She was honored in September 2017 with the Denver Latino Library Lena Archuleta Community Service Award. Other notable honors include the Athena Award from the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Businesswoman of the Year and Corporate Advocate of the Year from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver, Latin American Educational Foundation Corporate Advocate of the Year and the Latina Leadership Foundation’s Unsung Heroine award.
She resides in Denver with her husband and son.

Alexandra Liscia Lansing was born and raised in the historic Park Hill neighborhood in Denver, Colorado. She continued her studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Design and certificates in Community Leadership and Conflict Resolution. She has an eclectic career background in Architecture, Interior Design, Marketing, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, and Education. She currently runs her own business doing Architecture and Interior Design and is involved in numerous passion projects to combine arts and social justice and equity. She will also be teaching at Metropolitan State University of Denver this coming Fall 2022, in which she is creating a curriculum based on Upcycling materials into furniture and home goods, and how designers can make an impact on the world through product design. She is delighted to be a part of the Scholars Unlimited program as it influenced who she is today and will continue to have an impact on her role in the world.

Sal is VP, Client Account Manager, Jacobs Engineering and an accomplished professional with more than 18 years of experience in the transportation and infrastructure industry. His expertise encompasses client account management, program and project management, bridge design, and construction quality assurance.

Currently serving as Vice President and Client Account Manager for Utah Transportation at Jacobs, Sal excels in cultivating strategic business relationships and positioning Jacobs as a trusted and preferred partner. Beyond his professional duties, Sal is actively involved in leading STEM activities as a volunteer, demonstrating his passion for inspiring and empowering others. He has participated several years in the Scholars Unlimited/Jacobs Next Generation City Builders summer volunteer day. In his leisure time, he finds joy in being active and participating in outdoor activities including mountain biking and snowboarding. Sal has been married for 21 years and is a proud parent to three teenagers.

For the past 18 years, Christine has lead programming targeted at ensuring equitable education opportunities to all children and youth-especially those who experience barriers due to disability, racism, socioeconomic status and more. 

Currently, Christine serves as MSU Denver’s Director of the Office of Education Solutions. This Office was created as a community-outreach initiative of the School of Education. The Office of Education Solutions goes beyond teacher preparation to help schools directly by leveraging the expertise and resources of the University to implement strategies cutting edge programming. 

Prior to coming to MSU Denver, Christine was the Director of Culture, Equity and Language for Sheridan Schools. This included family involvement, the McKinney Vento federal program, and the emerging bilingual program. Sheridan is a highly impacted district with 90% free and reduced lunch coupled with a large group of residents with immigration and civil rights needs.

She was thrilled to introduce the Scholars Unlimited program to Sheridan Alice Terry principal, Diego Romero, in 2018. Christine believes in Scholars Unlimited and  supported the vast amount of improvement Diego made within the school. Alice Terry Elementary received the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award for school year 2022. 

Christine is an advocate of extended-day programming, and firmly believes it is a necessary tool for leveling the playing field for all children and youth – especially those who experience barriers due to disability, racism, socioeconomic status and more.

As the first generation in her family to attend and complete college, Melissa understands the importance that education has and its path to lead to successful outcomes.  She earned her bachelor’s in civil engineering from Marquette University and has worked as a transportation engineer for a private consultant working on public sector projects for over 20 years.  She thrives being part of community-based organizations and has had experiences as a board and committee member for numerous local organizations and is passionate about the work that Scholars Unlimited is doing to foster growth of our future and therefore leading them down the path towards successful outcomes. She has proven to be an incredible leader and represents Scholars Unlimited as a Board Member with the awareness of how important it is to provide opportunities and to foster thriving communities.  She resides in North Denver with her husband and two sons.

Stephen lives in Parker, Colorado and enjoys all the outdoor activities this great state offers. A favorite family activity of Steve’s is to cheer on Colorado sports teams. He has been in the software development industry for 20 years managing teams building web and mobile applications. Stephen’s interest in Scholars Unlimited comes from his belief in the value of STEM based learning in a safe, diverse, and inclusive environment. He is married to his wife Ashley, a 2nd grade teacher in the Parker area. He has two children, Ellie, an active competitive dancer and Easton, an avid football and basketball player. As a family they enjoy the outdoors, traveling and experiencing new places.

Kathleen is the President of Western Energy Alliance, which engages in public affairs, federal legislative, public lands, environmental, and regulatory issues on behalf of oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the West. Kathleen has testified before several Congressional Committees on energy and environment topics, and is regularly quoted on western issues in national and international media including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BBC, Fox News, NPR, Washington Post, and National Journal. Prior to joining the Alliance in 2006, she spent eleven years in the Information Technology sector, including establishing the European consulting practice and a German subsidiary for a software company; and three years as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army.
She holds a BS in Political Science/Defense and Arms Control Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MS in Information Technology from Virginia Tech. Prior to serving on the Scholars Unlimited Board, she served on the Denver Asset Building Coalition and Advocates for School Trust Lands board

Jamie Villarreal-Bassett is an experienced leader with fifteen (15) years of leadership
experience, including more than six (6) years leading equity, diversity, and inclusion work. As a Mexican American woman, Jamie has a proven track record of impactful contributions, driven leadership, and passion for ensuring team members feel included, honored, and uplifted
regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, or other social identity markers. Her formal education in Sociology at Colorado College and a Masters of Science in Organizational Leadership at Colorado State University provide foundation to her life’s work to
drive the advancement of a more just, more inclusive, more diverse, and more equitable
experience for all.

Throughout her career, she has set visions for, led and empowered teams to provide a high standard of equity, inclusion, and diversity. Her personal and professional lived experiences have prepared her to excel in her 10+ year tenure in Denver Public Schools, most recently as the Director of Culturally Responsive Education and in her current role as Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Pinnacol Assurance, the largest workers compensation company in Colorado. Jamie partners with multiple stakeholders to guarantee every single team member and community member, especially those who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color and other marginalized identities thrives, not by accident, but by design.

Franita is the CEO of Franita Ware PhD Consulting LLC and committed to improving the experiences of students in American Education. Serving on the board of Scholars Unlimited would allow Franita to remain aligned with an organization that she has a prior working relationship and viewed as a trusted collaborator.

Franita served as a principal of Denver Public Schools and Scholars Unlimited was an organization that supported her students. She knew when the leadership, Site Coordinators and others were in the building, they were all committed to the needs of the students.

Later, Franita was invited to be the Keynote Speaker at the luncheon which allowed her to encourage members of the community to support the organization. Scholars Unlimited has also collaborated with Franita when she  provided Professional Development to the Site Coordinators in 2017 and it was the first time she presented Radical Self-Care, which has proven to be her most impactful work.

As a corporate attorney, Ken brings insights regarding fund raising and business strategy to the Board of Directors at Scholars Unlimited. His professional background, prior to practicing law, involved positions as an educator abroad (Costa Rica), as well as in the Denver area (Metropolitan State University). Being a Denver native, Ken is deeply concerned about providing educational and future vocational opportunities to the underprivileged to the communities in which he was raised and educated. Both his mother and grandmother were also educators for Denver Public Schools and Ken considers their legacy living on through his work at Scholars.