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Investing To Improve Early Education
Letty Bass, Executive Director, Chambers Family Fund
Leadership Denver Class of 1992
It’s all about women and kids.
From her early professional experience teaching first grade when she was just 21 years old through her work over the past dozen years as executive director of Chambers Family Fund, Letty Bass has dedicated her life to helping women and children and, through them, our community.
Chambers Family Fund invests in organizations that help women become economically self-sufficient, enhance the early care and education of children, strengthen democratic values and enrich arts and culture. Under Bass’s direction, the foundation has worked to promote expanded opportunities for women and children throughout Colorado and assisted organizations in several Western states.
Bass is a graduate of Leadership Denver’s (LD) 1992 class. “I loved the diversity of my classmates and the quality of the participants,” she recalls. “It is that quality which has allowed me to build lasting relationships with people from all walks of life.”
She noted that her LD experience was even more exciting because it was a time when Denver International Airport and large-scale mass transit were being planned for the metro area. “From Leadership Denver, I received a ‘big picture’ viewpoint about who really makes Denver work,” she said. “That was especially helpful, because Denver is uniquely shaped by its people and the quality of its leadership stemming from the relationships of the public and private sector.”
Among her LD classmates were some individuals who inspired Bass in her own career and volunteer efforts. They included Anne Warhover, former director of the Downtown Denver Partnership and current president of the Colorado Health Foundation, because she brings a dimension of fun to her work, and volunteer Alice Kelly, who inspired Bass with her work with the League of Women Voters and her commitment to the city and its causes.
Today, Bass recognizes that the City of Denver faces significant challenges, such as a lack of fiscal flexibility. She sees promise, however, in early childhood education — a cause in which she believes strongly.
“When I taught, I quickly realized how important the first five years of a child’s life really are,” she said. “Early education is the best investment we can make.”
Interviewer: Gloria Neal, CoLours TV and Denver Woman Magazine, Leadership Denver Class of 2009
July 22nd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Letty
Congratulations on your success. If you focus on the Early Childhood Education they’ll be better prepared when they come to us at Metro State.
Dr. Karen Lollar
Metropolitan State College of Denver
Chair Communication Arts and Sciences
Leadership Denver Class of 1992