Looking forward, AdvocacyDenver will be jointly supervised by Pamela Bisceglia and Scott Utash. Pamela is taking on the role of Interim Director of Advocacy and Scott is taking on the role of Interim Director of Operations.
Together, Pamela and Scott have decades of combined experience working with individuals with disabilities, advocating for better opportunities and outcomes for children and adults, and creating policy and systemic change on a state level with other organizations and government agencies.
Their work, and the work of the other members of the staff of AdvocacyDenver, empowers our clients with confidence and self-respect and strengthens our community of constituents.
Pam Bisceglia, Interim Director of Advocacy
AdvocacyDenver is in the process of launching a series of firsts. For some time we have published the online newsletter, Policy Perspective, which highlights happenings at the Capitol and provides a profile of Colorado leaders.
This summer AdvocacyDenver launched a series of E-Alerts to notify and mobilize our community to take action and oppose Medicaid cuts proposed in health care reform initiatives by the Senate. AdvocacyDenver began to work and collaborate with a long list of advocacy groups, agencies, service providers, businesses, clients, parents and community members when sending a firm message to our Senate representatives to demand, ‘No Caps, No Cuts to Medicaid.’
Other news has been reported in our old-school, paper-only newsletter, The VOICE. This summer we retired The VOICE. Welcome to the twenty-first century and our first edition of the eVOICE.
For the first time, AdvocacyDenver has an Interim Director in charge of Operations (Scott Utash). I will be serving as the interim Director in charge of Advocacy. I have, and will continue my work as a child advocate. In addition, my duties will include overseeing the work of our Communications and Policy Specialist, our Child and Adult Advocates, and our legal staff with the Center for Special Education Law.
I look forward to being a think partner with our extraordinarily gifted staff and drawing upon their talents to: orchestrate individual advocacy, to empower families and clients when navigating different systems and to collaborate with private and public agencies to forward systemic change, and to encourage public (and case) law that demands better outcomes and opportunities for children and adults with disabilities. Together we can, and we will, move mountains!
Scott Utash, Interim Director of Operations
In his capacity of Interim Director of Operations, Scott will be overseeing the organization’s office location move from downtown Denver to 950 South Cherry Street this fall.
A former Board member and veteran advocate, Scott is taking on the additional responsibilities related to the operations of the organization. These include reviewing all collaborations with outside vendors, contractors and partners, as well as managing internal organizational operations.
He says without compromising the integrity and mission of the organization, he is reworking the budget to decrease costs and increase salaries. One way in which he is accomplishing this is with the office move from downtown Denver to its new digs in the South Cherry Street location. Scott believes the move will ultimately result in significant cost savings, which will allow AdvocacyDenver to operate more efficiently with its resources.
As Interim Director of Operations, he is focusing on strengthening the financial foundation of AdvocacyDenver. Although he is taking on this new role, Scott will also continue to coordinate AdvocacyDenver’s Children’s Mental Health Program. In this capacity, his passion and longtime commitment to forwarding educational and social justice issues in the arena of children’s mental health will advance forward.