our mission
Building long-term, life-changing relationships with urban youth, equipping them to thrive and contribute to their community.
our history
1982
Dr. Kent Hutcheson, Founder
Dr. Kent Hutcheson founded Colorado UpLift in 1982 as a summer jobs program for urban, at-risk youth. Dr. Hutcheson’s passion was to help urban young people find hope in hopeless circumstances.
1987
Colorado UpLift
Colorado UpLift quickly changed its strategy in 1987 to teach character qualities and life skills needed for long-term success. Elevate staff members began providing leadership and character instruction in the Public School system for students from 4th grade through college. Along with the in-school program, Colorado UpLift regularly mentored students after school and throughout the summer, improving the odds for urban youth to emerge as successful, productive young adults.
2008
Model Replication Pilot Programs
After seeing the success of the UpLift model, Colorado UpLift launched the Model Replication Program, aimed at helping new cities launch. In 2008, the first affiliate, Elevate Orlando, launched, followed by Elevate Phoenix in 2009 and Elevate New York in 2010.
2014
Elevate USA Formed
In 2014, Elevate USA was formed by Colorado UpLift advocates, allowing Colorado UpLift to focus on the city of Denver and release Elevate USA to replicate the Colorado UpLift program in cities throughout the US.
2015
Elevate Indianapolis Launched
In 2015, Elevate Indianapolis was formed and began working with students from Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, IN.
2016
Elevate New England Launched
In 2016, Elevate New England was formed and began working with students from Lowell High School in Lowell, MA.
2018
Elevate St. Louis
In 2018, Elevate St. Louis was formed and began working with students from McCluer High School.
2018
Elevate Jacksonville Launched
In 2018, Elevate Jacksonville was formed and began working with students from Raines High School
2018
Elevate Dallas
In 2018, Elevate Dallas was formed and began working with students from Thomas Jefferson High School.
2019
Elevate Metro KC Launched
In 2019, Elevate Metro KC was formed and will start serving students at Southeast High School.
2019
Elevate Savannah
In 2019, Elevate Savannah was formed and started serving students at Beach High School.
2020
Elevate New Jersey Launched
In 2020, Elevate New Jersey was formed and started serving students at Eastside High School in Paterson, NJ.
2021
Elevate Birmingham
In 2021, Elevate Birmingham was formed and started serving students at Huffman High School.
our history
1982
Dr. Kent Hutcheson, Founder
Dr. Kent Hutcheson founded Colorado UpLift in 1982 as a summer jobs program for urban, at-risk youth. Dr. Hutcheson’s passion was to help urban young people find hope in hopeless circumstances.
1987
Colorado UpLift
Colorado UpLift quickly changed its strategy in 1987 to teach character qualities and life skills needed for long-term success. Elevate staff members began providing leadership and character instruction in the Public School system for students from 2nd grade through college. Along with the in-school program, Colorado UpLift regularly mentored students after school and throughout the summer, improving the odds for urban youth to emerge as successful, productive young adults.
2008
Model Replication Pilot Programs
After seeing the success of the UpLift model, Colorado UpLift launched the Model Replication Program, aimed at helping new Elevate cities launch. In 2008, the first affiliate, Elevate Orlando, launched, followed by Elevate Phoenix in 2009 and Elevate New York in 2010.
2014
Elevate USA Formed
In January 2014, Elevate USA was formed by Colorado UpLift advocates, allowing Colorado UpLift to focus on the city of Denver and release Elevate USA to replicate the Colorado UpLift program in cities through the US.
2015
Elevate Indianapolis Launched
In the summer of 2015, Elevate Indianapolis was formed and began working with students from Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, IN.
2016
Elevate New England Launched
In the summer of 2016, Elevate New England was formed and began working with students from Lowell High School in Lowell, MA.
2017
Elevate Las Vegas Launched
In the summer of 2017, Elevate Las Vegas was formed and began working with students from Mojave High School in Clark County.
2018
Elevate St. Louis Launched
In 2018, Elevate St. Louis was formed and began working with students from McCluer High School.
2018
Elevate Jacksonville Launched Launched
In 2018, Elevate Jacksonville was formed and began working with students from Raines High School.
2018
Elevate Dallas Launched
In 2018, Elevate Dallas was formed and began working with students from Thomas Jefferson High School.
2019
Elevate Metro KC Launched
In 2019, Elevate Metro KC was formed and will start serving students at Southeast High School.
2019
Elevate Savannah Launched
In 2019, Elevate Savannah was formed and started serving students at Beach High School.
2020
Elevate New Jersey Launched
In 2020, Elevate New Jersey was formed and started serving students at Eastside High School in Paterson, NJ.
2021
Elevate Birmingham Launched
In 2021, Elevate Birmingham was formed and started serving students at Huffman High School.
help us reach more cities
our team

Kevin Byerley
CEO

Debbi Speck
President Emeritus

Adam Roybal
Director of Affiliate Development

Krista Wallace
Director of Learning Innovation

Jack McGill
Senior VP of Leadership Development

Jim Pocock
Sr. Vice President of Leadership Development

Dr. Rhonda Richmond
Director of Programs

kbyerley@elevatetheusa.org
Kevin joined Colorado UpLift in 2002, first as a teacher-mentor working with the youth of Southwest Denver. His passion for helping kids lead him to develop the Adventure program, where students use the outdoor classroom to build resiliency. He later served as Director of Staff Operation, utilizing his experience building high-functioning teams to bring the staff together in collaboration. Kevin now serves as CEO of Elevate USA where he helps ensure that we build a national culture of “best practice” innovation and mission alignment with the affiliates we serve. Kevin has a Bachelor of Science degree from Huntington University.

dspeck@elevatetheusa.org
Debbi joins Elevate USA after working for decades among inner-city children, at-risk youth and adjudicated young adults in downtown Phoenix and across the country. Debbi has spent her career designing and implementing comprehensive academic achievement programs for young people between kindergarten and 12th grades, healthy family and marriage programs, early childhood education, youth development, mentoring and readiness for work programs. Following this extensive effort in our lower resources communities, she served with a large international nonprofit, working with major donors in the area of development. Debbi has a Bachelor of Science degree in the Education of the Hard of Hearing from Texas Christian University as well as a Masters degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.

aroybal@elevatetheusa.org
Adam Roybal has 20 years of experience working in the world of positive youth development as a mentor, advocate and role model. He worked for Colorado UpLift for nine years as Director of Post-Secondary, preparing students for college and career options while increasing student enrollment and college retention/graduation rate. Prior to UpLift, Adam worked for Mi Casa Resource Center where he managed after school programs with a focus on academic, social, arts, behavioral, athletic and leadership activities. Adam was appointed to a six-year term to the Mayor’s Youth Commission for the City and County of Denver and became a Kellogg Fellow on a national initiative which focused on Leadership for Community Change. Adam has been a trainer on Search Institute’s 40 Development Assets framework and helped coordinate the Youth Leadership Institute for the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition and La Raza Youth Leadership Conferences for many years, all of which earned him the Swanee Hunt Youth Leadership Award. He was also a recipient of the Heavy Lifters Award from the Mayor’s Office.

kwallace@elevatetheusa.org
Krista’s desire to equip and educate children led her to launch an international Christian school in the Dominican Republic and serve as both Executive Director and Headmaster of the Doulos Discovery School. Doulos was the first international school to implement the innovative teaching methods of Expeditionary Learning. Prior to that, she helped launch Pico Escondido, a Young Life camp in the DR. She has also served in leadership roles in schools and nonprofits. Krista holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Outdoor Education from Texas A&M University, a Master’s in Education Degree from Framingham State University, and a Certificate in Educational Leadership from SUNY Buffalo.

JACK MCGILL
jmcgill@elevatetheusa.org
Jack McGill has spent over forty years serving the nonprofit world. In 2008, he founded ELEVATE Orlando with the mission to equip urban youth to graduate with a plan for the future.
Before launching ELEVATE Orlando, Jack worked with the Christian ministry Cru and served as a campus minister for Auburn and Mississippi State, discipling college students. Jack also worked for Priority Associates, which is Cru’s ministry to develop the personal, professional, and spiritual life of professionals in the marketplace.
Jack graduated from Samford University and holds a Masters of Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Sheri, have three adult children and nine grandchildren. Today, Jack serves on the Board of Directors for ELEVATE Orlando and helps launch ELEVATE programs across the country.

jpocock@elevatetheusa.org
Jim Pocock comes to Elevate USA as the next step in his distinguished career in relationship development. As the President and Co-Founder of Elevate New England, Jim has firsthand experience seeing the impact Elevate can make in a community, which has inspired him to help bring Elevate to new cities. Throughout his career, Jim’s work has been helping professional executives develop personally and join together to work toward redeeming their communities. Most recently, Jim served as a major gift officer for a private liberal arts college. He has also served as a senior pastor in Connecticut, California and Massachusetts. Jim has degrees from Bucknell University and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and lives in America’s oldest fishing port, Gloucester, MA.

rrichmond@elevatetheusa.org
Dr. Rhonda Richmond specializes in creating an inclusive and diverse work environment, overseeing the operations of programs and services, and evaluating program quality and effectiveness. She served as Special Education Program Director at Fullbloom, LD Teacher and Principal-in-Training at Cherry Creek School District, and ESS Department Chair and Special Education Teacher at Aurora Public Schools.
Rhonda is a gifted educator who was recently recognized as Educator of the Year at Aurora Public Schools and received the University of Denver Robin Morgan Outstanding Woman Award that recognizes women staff, faculty, students, and alumna who have gone to exceptional lengths to promote and support an empowering environment for women at DU.

gmoeckelmann@elevatetheusa.org
Glenn Moeckelmann brings over 20 years of entrepreneurial business and IT experience to Elevate USA. He has worked with international business delegates in conjunction with Fortune 500 companies certifying them to expand globally via the recognized prestigious ISO-9000 Certification process of benchmarking. Since the mid-90s, Glenn has worked with several hundred startup companies, helping many ventures expand globally. He serves on several post-secondary advisory boards and is currently heading up an innovation team that reaches 145 countries and over 100 million people a year. Glenn’s current Ed Tech company is used at major universities. He has also pastored and church-planted with his wife and four kids. Glenn holds an undergraduate degree in computers and a graduate degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.
board members
Shawn McLaughlin
CEO
Emporia Energy
Denver, CO (Chairman)
Jay Cleary, CLU, ChFC
President
Bridge Financial Group, LLC
Denver, CO (Treasurer)
Vice President and Associate General Counsel, The Western Union Company
Castle Rock, CO
Lyn Cook
Secretary/Treasurer
Cook Pest Control
Decatur, AL
Christine Bess
Community Non-profit & Ministry Volunteer/Board Member
Littleton, CO
Jon Jay Seal
Owner/ President
Seal Furniture and Systems
Littleton, CO
Charles E. (Chaz) Mueller, Jr.
President
Progress Residential
Dallas, TX
Robert Griffith, M.D.
Alabama Dermatology Assoc.
Tuscaloosa, AL (Secretary)
Zke Zimmerman
100 Black Men of Savannah
Savannah, GA
Kevin Byerley
CEO
Elevate USA
Arvada, CO
Debbi Speck
President Emeritus
Elevate USA
Denver, CO
Sparrow Charitable Foundation
Dallas, TX
Mark Engstrom
Principal
Meadowstream Advisors
Scottsdale, AZ
Celso White
CO-CEO
Igniting Business Growth LLC
Englewood, Colorado
Owner
Palaura Exploration Company
Dallas, TX
Financial Analyst
Chevron Corporation
San Fransisco, CA
Investment Advisor
Muskegon Angels
Muskegon, M
Executive Director
Janus Labs
Denver, CO
Winter Park, FL
Executive Director
Family Bridges
Chicago, IL
EVP
Trading Technologies
Chicago, IL
Chilton, WI
President/CEO
Lost Valley Ranch Corp
Sedalia, CO
Lyft
Product Marketing Manager
San Francisco, CA
Consultant/President
OptiComp
Muskegon, MI
Realtor
LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
Denver, CO
Asst Professor of Counselling
Denver Seminary
Denver, CO
Principal
Ranslem Capital LP
Houston, TX
Chilton, WI
Principal
Irish Exchange LP
Houston, TX
Founder and Principal Consultant
Beaver and Associates Consultants
Boulder, CO
Owner
Logos Builders SW, LLC
Phoenix, AZ
Principal
Columbia Basin Partners, LLC
Denver,CO
Independent Organizational and Leadership Development Consultant
Atlanta, GA
Entrepreneur
Denver, CO
Owner
Realtor
Senior Advisor
Blackhorn Ventures
Denver, CO
Senior Marketing Director
Janus Capital Group
Denver, CO
- We believe that EVERY CHILD is of great worth and has the desire and potential to succeed.
- We believe that LONG-TERM, 24/7 RELATIONSHIPS with caring adults have proven positive outcomes in the lives of our urban youth.
- We believe that a HOLISTIC approach is essential for a strong and healthy future for our youth.
- We believe that FULL-TIME, SALARIED TEACHER-MENTORS WHO COME FROM SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS as the students can have a positive influence and make all the difference.
- We believe that the SERVANT LEADERSHIP, creating a culture of selflessness and service, is the foundation for leadership.
- We believe in the intrinsic DIGNITY of every person and act accordingly.
- We believe that COLLABORATION yields the best long-term results, acknowledging that the complex work in our urban centers cannot be done single handedly.