Meet the Staff

Bill Betts,  PhD, is a Senior Instructor for Colorado WIN Partners in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. He serves as program evaluator on a number of grants that serve at risk youth. In addition, Dr. Betts consults on research design, database development and program design. Dr. Betts has more than 10 years of experience in evaluating community based services. His experience ranges from small single site evaluations to evaluations for large managed care companies serving millions of members in multiple states. He has extensive experience designing data collection systems and databases. Prior to working as a program evaluator, Dr Betts was director of intake and community based crisis services for a community mental health center in Chicago, IL. Dr. Betts has worked extensively with children and Adults diagnosed with severe mental illness. Dr. Betts was awarded his BA in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Indiana University. He received his MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology with a specialty in children from DePaul University. Dr. Betts completed his internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Program Evaluation and Administration at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Edie Bridge is a Professional Research Assistant for Colorado WIN Partners in the Department of Pediatrics with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. Ms. Bridge provides field research and evaluation, data entry and transcription across all Colorado WIN Partners projects. She coordinates the logistics for trainings provided by Colorado WIN Partners and arranges for travel and reimbursements for staff. She manages the website and assists with finance and other research projects as necessary. Prior to coming to Colorado WIN Partners she worked for JFK Partners supporting their grants, contracts and other projects. She strives to support all projects for Colorado WIN Partners and contributes in many ways.

Judith Emery, M.A. is a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and the Director for “Colorado WIN Partners”, a collection of initiatives to expand employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities through innovation and collaboration. She is currently the Director for the federal initiative entitled “Colorado Youth Work Incentive Network of Supports (WINS)”, a Social Security Administration youth demonstration project which is looking at ways to maximize economic self-sufficiency for youth with disabilities aged 14-25.  She has been contracted by Colorado’s Office of Workforce Development/Workforce Development Council to provide technical assistance and training and to support the implementation of  two federal initiatives: 1) the “Disability Program Navigator Project” which ensures universal access with Colorado’s Workforce Development Centers, and 2) The “WIRED Initiative through a Disability Perspective” which ensures access to education and training for underrepresented populations through Colorado’s Metro Denver WIRED Initiative.  Both of these were awarded through a cooperative agreement through the US Department of Labor.  Ms. Emery is also the Principal Investigator (PI) for a Demonstration Project in partnership with Assistive Technology Partners and their Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Center and PI for a “Developmental Disabilities Demonstration Project” to determine what types of training and accommodations need to be made by Colorado’s Workforce Centers to serve this population.  She has also been contracted by the Colorado Workforce Development Council to provide statewide technical assistance and training for Colorado’s State Youth Council and for conducting a “Customer Satisfaction” study regarding the Workforce Systems’ accessibility and accommodation services

Ms. Emery has been contracted by the University of Iowa Law, Health, Policy and Research Center to participate on the national evaluation and technical assistance team for the Disability Program Navigator Initiative and has also been contracted to partner with the Lewin Group and Johns Hopkins University in completing a statewide evaluation of the Colorado Works/DHS program.  She is the PI on the national evaluation with Mathmatica Policy Research, Inc. for the SSA Youth Demonstration Project.   She is the PI on an evaluation with the Department of Human Services/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to conduct a statewide needs assessment.  She has also been contracted by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to conduct an evaluation of the WELLS Center, a simulation training project hosted through the Center on Nursing Excellence.  In her previous work, she was the Project Director for “Colorado Project WIN”, a systems change Rehabilitation Services Administration Project and also the Project Coordinator for the “Consortium for the Employment of People With Disabilities”, a project targeted to work with the Workforce Centers within Colorado in designing and implementing Centers that are universally accessible to all populations seeking services.   Prior to her work at the UCHSC, she was the Associate Director of the Rocky Mountain Resource and Training Institute (RMRTI) and also served as the Training Coordinator on the Colorado Assistive Technology Project and the Training Consultant on Colorado’s Systems Change Supported Employment Project.

Ms. Emery has been a leader in the field of disabilities for over 25 years.  She is recognized nationally and within Colorado in the areas of systems change and collaboration, community integrated employment/supported employment, transition from school to work, strategic planning and organizational development.

Judith Emery, Director

Colorado WIN Partners

University of Colorado Denver

601 E. 18^th Ave., Suite 130

Denver, Colorado 80203

(303) 315-1272 (phone)

(303) 915-3859 (cell)

(303) 837-1208 (fax)

(303) 837-8964 (TTY)

judy.emery@uchsc.edu (e-mail)

www.cowinpartners.org (web)

Laura Valdez, B.S. is the Grants and Contracts Manager for Colorado WIN Partners in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. Ms. Valdez oversees grants and contracts administration, fiscal and policy analyses, in addition to assisting in grant funded research. She works with the Colorado WIN Partners team to coordinate, analyze, devise or implement activities on a number of initiatives to achieve project objectives within the financial limitations and policy regulations of the grant awards. Laura has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration with and emphasis in Accounting from Colorado State University. 

Peter J. Pike, Associate Director of Colorado WIN Partners in the Department of Pediatrics with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine where he also serves as faculty. Mr. Pike is the Project Coordinator for Colorado Youth WINS, a Social Security Administration (SSA) national demonstration project, generating empirical evidence, based on both process and random-assignment evaluations, on the impacts of SSI waivers and enhanced coordination of services for youth with disabilities. This demonstration is testing a service delivery system to assist youth with disabilities to successfully transition from school, which may include post-secondary education, to employment and economic self-sufficiency based out of a One-Stop Center. Mr. Pike’s experience includes managing day-to-day demonstration activities and coordinating federal, state and local organization partners within the workforce system network. He provides training and technical assistance on job development/employment for youth and young adults with disabilities; SSA Title II (SSDII) and Title XVI (SSI) benefits and work incentives; and, disability sensitivity training. In addition to these duties, Mr. Pike also worked as the Project Coordinator for Project WIN; a U.S. Department of Education systems change grant to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities who receive public support. This project originally tested the feasibility of the Consumer Navigator (Disability Program Navigator). Through Project WIN, Mr. Pike reviewed local, state and federal policy through a statewide Stakeholders Policy Forum and facilitated a statewide Consumer Advisory Committee. He also coordinated and provided training and technical assistance for the piloting of the Disability Program Navigator. Prior to working for Colorado WIN Partners/UCD, Mr. Pike was employed at Adams Community Mental Health Center (ACMHC), where he established employment programs such as School to Work Alliance Program, Mental Health Initiative, ACMHC Summer Youth Employment Program and a psychosocial rehabilitation clubhouse program. Additionally, for six years, he managed the Supported Employment Program for persons with mental illness. Mr. Pike developed and provided presentations on mental health issues related to employment, school and general awareness.

Dr. Yvonne Kellar-Guenther is an Assistant Professor for Colorado WIN Partners in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. She completed her Master’s and Doctoral work in Interpersonal Communication. During her studies, Dr. Kellar-Guenther was trained to do both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Currently, Dr. Kellar-Guenther is the lead internal evaluator on Colorado Youth WINS, a Social Security Administration Youth Transition Demonstration Grant and the Person-Centered Individual Planning Project (PIPP) for Jefferson County. Dr. Kellar-Guenther also specializes in Health Literacy and teaches a course on how to write consent forms at the 4th and 7th grade reading levels. Yvonne is a communication consultant for the Colorado Institutional Review Board. She also is the lead for the Clinical Trials Training for Investigators and Coordinators (CTTIC). Finally, Yvonne has worked on the DPN Maturity Model Local and State Self Inventories. Dr. Kellar-Guenther has also served as the evaluator on several projects including the Innovative State Alignment Grants for Improving Transition Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities; the American Academy of Pediatrics CATCH Planning Grant: Improving Transitions for Youth with Special Health Care Needs; a Rehabilitation Service Administration model demonstration project, Project WIN; and the analyst for the Colorado Part C Data.

CeCe Liang, M.Ed., is a Professional Research Assistant for Colorado WIN Partners in the Department of Pediatrics with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. She has over ten years of experience in conducting literature research, determining research methods and protocols, collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data, and performing data quality assurance. She completed graduate work in engineering and educational psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with training in both qualitative and quantitative research methods.