Executive Director, Denver's Road Home at City & County of Denver
Greater Denver Area
Executive Director, Denver's Road Home at City & County of Denver
Greater Denver Area
Jamie Van Leeuwen completed his PhD in Public Policy at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver with an emphasis on affordable housing and homelessness. He has a Masters degree in International Public Health and a Masters degree in Sociology from Tulane University. In 2006, Jamie was appointed by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to head up Denver’s Road Home, the city’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. In 2007, Jamie was appointed to chair the Drug Strategy Commission and oversee the Office of Drug Strategy. Prior to his role in the public sector, Jamie directed fundraising, legislative work and research as the Director of Development & Public Affairs at Urban Peak, a non-profit agency serving homeless youth. He is a graduate of Leadership Denver (2002), Emerging Leaders (2003), and Leadership Arts (2004) and has served as an associate faculty member at Metropolitan State College of Denver and the University of Denver. In 2008 he was appointed to the faculty of University of Colorado Denver School of Public Health. Jamie was selected in 2005 as a Livingston Fellow by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and in 2006 was named one of “Forty Under Forty” by the Denver Business Journal. More recently, Jamie was invited by the University of Denver to manage their immersion programs focused on poverty alleviation. Jamie serves on the Colorado Health Institute Board, Capital Hill United Neighborhood Board and the Level One Health Board. He is also active as a national and international researcher and presenter. Recent publications and presentations include an article in American Journal on Addictions, “Correlates of Substance Use among Homeless Youth in Eight Cities.” Jamie has extensive international experience with travel to over 40 countries. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado with his partner Michael Niyompong.
Research and evaluation, fundraising, media and communications, marketing, affordable housing, youth homelessness, international poverty, policy.
(Government Administration industry)
2007 — Present (2 years )
Currently team teach the freshman Pioneeer Leadership Program at the University of Denver with Dr. Linda Olson and Dr. Paul Kosempel.
Also manage the Immersion Programs for the Community Center for Engagement and Service Learning leading both domestic and international trips focussed on innovative solutions to poverty.
(Government Agency; Government Administration industry)
January 2006 — Present (4 years )
In 2006, Jamie was appointed by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to work as the Project Manager for Denver’s Road Home, the city’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.
In the first three years of the initiative, Denver’s Road Home has generated $38 million in new resources for the homeless, reported an 11% reduction in overall homelessness and a 36% reduction in chronic homelessness and was featured in over 60 newspaper, television and radio spots locally, nationally and internationally.
In 2007, he was also appointed by Mayor Hickenlooper to Chair the Drug Strategy Commission and oversee the Office of Drug Strategy.
To date, he heads up the Office of Community Impact, a division of the Denver Department of Human Services that has oversight over Denver's Road Home, Office of Drug Strategy and the Office of Strategic Partnerships.
He is responsible for coordinating fundraising efforts to raise $46 million through public, corporate and foundation support to fund and implement major citywide initiative to end homelessness.
Jamie coordinates foundation and corporate fundraising, grant writing, reporting and evaluation efforts, serving as decision maker in absence of Denver Manager of Human Services and ssists with extensive media coverage that the plan has received.
He is responsibile for budgement management and supervision of a division of approximately 60 persons and oversees implementation, evaluation, funding and oversight of both Denver's Road Home (Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness) the Drug Strategy Plan.
(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
January 2005 — January 2006 (1 year 1 month)
• Initiates, manages, coordinates and supervises fundraising activities for Urban Peak and all its affiliate corporations through an active presence throughout the internal and external communities as the leader of the agency’s development efforts.
• Develops and manages all major, deferred and planned gifts from individuals.
• Works with all Boards and management staff of the parent and all affiliate corporations on fundraising, marketing, research oversight and
coordination, human resource and employee relations matters, budgeting, community and media relations, legislative advocacy, agency collaborations, networking, endowment growth and management as well as on general operating funding needs.
• This position includes: general, and proposal writing; agency collaborations; networking; research; researching, developing, and supporting opportunities for new ventures; event coordination; and public presentations.
(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
November 2003 — January 2005 (1 year 3 months)
• Supervise and manage Urban Peak programs including Outreach,
Education, Employment, Shelter, Case Management and Housing. Directly supervise management team and oversee quality assurance, evaluation and research.
• Work closely with the Executive Director, CEO and board of directors to manage a $2.5 million annual operating budget. Duties include donor cultivation, grant development and public relations.
• Coordinate major media events and legislative work.
• Member of the Mayor’s Safety Task Force and Drug Strategy Task Force.
• Coordinate on-going research projects with the executive director. Projects include survey and ethnographic data on intravenous drug use, sexually transmitted infections, and trends among street dependent youth.
• Coordinate collaborations with community agencies including the Downtown Denver Partnership, Denver Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor’s Office and the Governor’s Office.
(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
September 2000 — November 2003 (3 years 3 months)
• Supervise and manage Urban Peak programs including Outreach, Education, Employment, Shelter, Case Management and Housing. Directly supervise management team and case management team and oversee program staff of 40 employees.
• Oversee and direct clinical services around youth case plans.
• Coordinate and oversee over 100 units of transitional housing for youth with disabilities including substance dependence and mental illness.
• Member of the Mayor’s Safety Task Force and the Mayor’s Drug Strategy Task Force.
• Coordinate on-going research projects with the executive director. Projects include survey and ethnographic data on intravenous drug use, sexually transmitted infections, and trends among at-risk youth.
• Coordinate collaborations with community agencies including the Downtown Denver Partnership, Denver Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor’s Office and the Governor’s Office.
(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
September 1999 — September 2000 (1 year 1 month)
• Supervised the Urban Peak Street Outreach Team instituting a variety of triage services for homeless and runaway youth including chlamydia testing and HIV testing on the streets.
• Engaged in extensive community outreach linking services and strategies with police departments, business improvement districts, the
mayors office and community centers.
• Authored a training manual and piloted numerous research projects in collaboration with other service providers in Denver including Denver Health Medical Center and Denver Cares.
PhD , Public Policy , 2001 — 2007
Course Work Includes: Seminar on Public Policy, Seminar on Nonprofits and Public Policy, Research Methodology, Intermediate and Advanced Statistics
MA , Sociology , 1998 — 1999
Course Work Includes: Advanced Regression Analysis, Advanced Graduate Statistics, Classical Social Theory, Contemporary Social Theory, Advanced Research Methodology, Group Social Work, Individual Social Work.
Also: Conducted quantitative and qualitative research at inner city youth health clinic on intravenous drug users.
MPH , International Public Health , 1996 — 1997
Course Work Includes: Epidemiologic Methods, Regression and Categorical Analysis, Health and Economic Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Epidemiology of Protein-Energy Malnutrition, Public Nutrition: Policies and Programs, Social Impact of HIV/AIDS, Survey Measurement, Epidemiology of Mental Health, Health Systems Management, Environmental Health, Complex Human Emergencies, Global Trends in Public Health.
BA, Pre-Med , Psychology, German, Pre-Med , 1992 — 1996
Course Work Includes: Emphasis in statistics and research; experimental psychology, introductory statistics, tests and measurements, advanced statistics, and two years of independent research. Broad liberal arts background including strong emphasis in psychology, sociology, chemistry, and German.
High School 1988 — 1992
Travel Experience Amsterdam, Antigua, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, El Salvador, England, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, Jamaica, Japan, Laos, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, Swaziland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam.
American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Member
National Youth Policy Council
• Elected by the Mountain States Region to serve as a member of the National Youth Policy Council in Washington, D.C. for the National Network for Youth.
Leadership Arts
• Selected by the Colorado Business Council for the Arts to participate in the Leadership Arts Class of 2004-05.
Emerging Leadership Program
• Selected by the Downtown Denver Partnership to participate in the Emerging Leadership Program, Class of 2004.
Leadership Denver Alumni
• Selected by the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce to participate in the Leadership Denver class of 2002-03.
Forty Under Forty
• Selected by the Denver Business Journal as one of forty people singled out for their careers and community work. Award is designed to feature a diverse group of young, dynamic business leaders whose efforts in the office and in the community are shaping the future of the Denver area.
Livingston Fellowship (Bonfils-Stanton Foundation)
• Selected by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation as one of five fellows in a new program designed to support and cultivate professional development of non-profit leadership and stewardship in Colorado.
Psychology Student of the Year (1996)
Outstanding Honors Thesis
First Place Research Award
• Recognized for research conducted on religious attitudes in competition at Great Plains Conference in Kansas.
Omicron Delta Kappa (National Honor Society in Academics & Scholarship)
Psi Chi (National Honor Society in Psychology)