Anna joins the PEAK team as Communications Special Project Assistant and first became aware of PEAK through the Colorado College Public Interest Fellowship Program. Anna experienced first-hand the impact that nonprofit organizations have on real citizens and knew she wanted to continue to directly help people in the community.

Tony Darren serves the PEAK staff as a Technical Assistance Specialist for the Region D Parent Technical Assistance Project (Region D PTAC) providing technical assistance to Parent Centers in the western United States. Tony states that PEAK has helped him broaden his scope and introduced him to different ways of thinking. Tony does this work to see all children succeed in life. He is passionate about music and fluently speaks Italian. When asked what he is grateful for, he responded, “Everything!”

Nora Thompson works as the Co-Director for the Region D Technical Assistance Project which provides technical assistance to parent centers in the western United States. Nora formally joined the PEAK staff in 2019, but has been collaborating with PEAK since 2008. As a result of her work with PEAK, she has been able to widen her lens and grow her network.

In 2019 Sherrell attended a screening of the film King Gimp that PEAK co-hosted. She later joined the PEAK staff team as Assistant Director of the RSA Shift Transition Project as well as a  Youth Trainer/Mentor. She strongly believes that everyone deserves an opportunity to be the best version of themselves and to be treated with dignity and respect. She notes that PEAK promotes advocacy, inclusion, and hope for those that have long felt excluded and downtrodden.

Amber joined PEAK Parent Center’s staff team in 2019 as Conference Coordinator. She wanted a career where she could make a difference and utilize her background and skills in event planning. Amber looks forward to learning all about PEAK’s work. In her spare time she loves to hike and each year she attempts to climb a fourteener. She is grateful for her sense of adventure!

Myrna Martin joins the PEAK staff as a Spanish Outreach Facilitator.  She first became involved with PEAK in 2017 by receiving support from a Parent Advisor after moving to Colorado and then attending the Annual Conference on Inclusive Education. For Myrna, family comes first. She likes to encourage and expose her son, who has autism, to new things and looks forward to him being in a general education class as he transitions from preschool to elementary school.

Sami Peterson is a Transition Connector on PEAK’s RSA SHIFT transition project. Sami became involved with PEAK in 1995 through the early childhood intervention initiatives in Larimer County. Sami found the PEAK community to be a natural fit, and Sami says that PEAK in turn helped her find her way in becoming a polite, yet persistent advocate for her family. Sami says that her son’s disability helped prepare her for her husband’s disability, knowing the possibility of living a full life with a disability.

Leann Springer first becoming involved with PEAK in 2008 when she became aware that there was a whole lot of information on disability that she did not have, but PEAK had the information to help her on her learning journey.  As a result of working at PEAK, Leann has become a persistent, sometimes fierce, advocate as well as a great cheerleader! In regard to matters of disability and inclusion in our world, Leann notes that a neuropsychologist once told her that our society needs people who think differently in order for there to be progress in this world.

Ann first learned about PEAK when she attended the 2011 Conference on Inclusive Education, an event that she has attended several times since then. Ann initially decided to attend the conference because she wanted to learn more about inclusion. When her son, who had developmental delays, transitioned from the early intervention program to preschool, there were limited opportunities for inclusion. As he moved forward in the public education system, Ann wanted to become more informed and not just accept what she was being told about educational placement and resources.

Danae first learned about PEAK while working in Oregon for another Parent Center like PEAK. So, when she and her family moved to Colorado, Danae already knew about PEAK's great work and it was the first place she called. Danae felt much less anxious about her family’s move after connecting with PEAK - it was like having a ready-made support team! Danae’s wish for her husband and her first child was that he would make them a family. Her wish for their second child was that she would be extraordinary. Both wishes came true, though it didn’t always feel that way.