About

Our Mission

Build women’s economic, social, and cultural capital because powerful women build healthy families and thriving communities.

Meet Our Team

sade cooper

Sade Cooper | sade@chicdenver.org

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Sade, a Denver, Colorado native, was raised in Moreno Valley, California, yet her roots run deep in the Mile-High City. She returned to Colorado in 2000 to complete her high school education and embark on a journey towards a degree in Healthcare Management. From a young age, Sade harbored a relentless curiosity, with aspirations of becoming either a doctor or a financial advisor. Her unwavering passion ultimately guided her to join U.S. Bank in 2004, where she discovered her true calling as a servant leader.

Sade’s unwavering commitment to her community has propelled her into various volunteer opportunities and prominent community leadership roles. Currently, Sade serves as a board member for the Parkhill Pirates and Bell Policy. She previously held positions on the boards of Project Voyce and Second Chance Home Ministries, as well as Nonprofit Board Bound, where she dedicated her time to preparing women for service on nonprofit boards. Additionally, Sade took on a mentoring role in Goodwill’s Summer Bridge Mentor Program and served as an American Heart Ambassador.

Sade is an alumni of the Urban Leadership Foundation, The Rose Foundation Endowment cohort, and the Denver Foundation Landscape cohort.

Continuing her commitment to serve, Sade co-founded and now leads as CEO of the Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities (CHIC). She is also the visionary force behind Justice for Black Coloradans (JBC) and Educational Justice for Black Coloradans (EJBC). Through these initiatives, she empowers women, families and communities to develop economic, social, and cultural capital, recognizing that empowered women play a pivotal role in building healthy families and thriving communities. Sade remains a steadfast steward for her community, dedicated to changing lives one day at a time.

hilari smith

Hilari Smith | hilari@chicdenver.org

Co-Founder
Chief Operations Officer

​Being taught the importance of family and community relations at a young age, I know the positive affects of being surrounded with love and support in your life, and the difference it can make without it. I believe we often forget we have all been blessed with a superpower, which is the ability to Love. My personal commitment to invest back into my community and the women and girls who mirror who I am stems from my inherited responsibility to love.

​”It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” – Audre Lorde

hilari smith

Katherine Casey, ED.L.D. | katherine@chicdenver.org

Chief Stratagy Officer

​All young people are intelligent, creative, and filled with potential. After fifteen years in public education, I believe deeply in the power of our youth and the urgency of the work we must do to make our communities safe, equitable, and sustainable. With faith in children and refusing to accept inequality as a given, I commit to supporting allied efforts that enable educational, social, and economic justice. I believe that WE are the ones we have been waiting for: the change we need will come from the collective passion, wisdom, and capacity that exists within our communities.

​”Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” – Fannie Lou Hamer

katherine casey
Darcie Ezell | darcie@chicdenver.org

Director of Workforce

Every woman has insight and wisdom that needs to be heard. As women, we come from a place of compassion, intelligence and grace AND we are not run by our ego’s. Women have been and continue to be silenced, marginalized and oppressed by men, society and systems. We know our worth and are coming into our power as daughters, mothers, sisters, friends and colleagues. CHIC is changing the narrative and creating power, opportunity and wealth in the lives of girls & women. I could not be more honored to be part of this team of women who are working and living tirelessly to empower and support all of us.

“I raise up my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…..We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”Malala Yousafzai

Michaela’ Lewis  michaela@chicdenver.org

Workforce Coordinator

When I think of all of the constant love, support and positive energy that was poured into my life, especially from women, I know that I have to continue to invest in those around me. There are so many individuals that have not tapped into their full potential, and I believe I am at CHIC to help women tap into the greatness that lives within them. 

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Sheriece Hurd sheriece@chicdenver.org

Lead Youth Service Specialist

Dedication can become transformational when you are willing to follow your passion. I finally have the opportunity to help amend women’s lives from unfortunate circumstances and inequities that have limited their opportunities to success. As a result of following my passion I am happy to be a part of a team that is solution based, giving hope to those who may have lost it, and believing in dreams that with support and resources can easily become real.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”

-Mahatma Gandhi II

Jamarian Evans jamarian@chicdenver.org

Senior Coordinator

I believe that it is my duty as a woman to speak up and share my story to empower, uplift and model self-love to other women.

As a woman of color and mother I am committed and passionate about ending generational trauma and showing young women and their families that trauma can be turned into triumph with the support of community and people who genuinely care.

 “At the end of the day, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished…It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”

-Denzel Washington

Noel Emerson noel@chicdenver.org

Re-Entry Elementary Coordinator

You’ve got a friend in me! After working in education for 12 years I have a strong belief that every child needs someone in their life that will be their biggest cheerleader, supporter and caring person they can depend on. That’s my life long commitment to the families, students and community that I serve.

Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection

-Rita F Pierson

Jalesa Grace jalesa@chicdenver.org

Education Impact Specialist

Self Love, mental wellness and mentorship is important to me, as well as collaborative efforts with community leaders to create safe places of fellowship.  I hope to plant my feet firm in CHIC and offer support and healing to women in Colorado and beyond.

“Passion is Energy.  Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you”

-Oprah Winfrey

tia deville

Tia DeVille tia@chicdenver.org

Judicial Specialist

I truly have a passion for youth, community engagement and sisterhood. I’ve dedicated over 16 years to empowering youth and intentionally showing up as the person I needed in my own life as an adolescent. My personal mission is to “Be Present. Be Mindful. Spread Love.” CHIC provides a safe space for young girls and women to express when they are lost, feel hurt or broken, and own when they just need help. I am honored to have the opportunity to help drive our community forward and to prove just how magical we are.

Sharabia Hayes sharabia@chicdenver.org

Education Coordinator

I know I am truly in my element when I am able to show support, express love and give
encouragement to others. C.H.I.C is empowering me with the opportunity to make an impact on the lives of women, children and people of color. As a mother and a woman of color I know first hand that empowering women is essential to the health and social development of families and communities. When women are living safe, fulfilled and productive lives, they can reach their full potential. I am here to support those efforts in every way possible.

tia deville

Iram Abdullah iram@chicdenver.org

Director of Youth Programs

Iram was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She graduated from East High school in 2003, and went on to Howard University where she played Division 1 lacrosse and studied Communications. After graduating from Howard University in 2007, Iram began working in Education as a Special Education Para for her Alma Mater, East High School. During her sixteen years at DPS, Iram has served as Dean of students and Assistant Principal. In 2015, Iram decided to take a break from school work and became a Case Manager for a child placement agency, working with youth who were serving juvenile prison sentences and working to return children to their families. In July 2023, Iram obtained her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, from The University of Denver. Iram’s passion is serving her community and working with children and families of color, by providing education and mental health services. Currently, Iram serves as the Director of Youth Services at CHIC, where she is honored to be a leader and work alongside powerful women who share her passion. Iram is a mother of two daughters, and she enjoys traveling, reading, dancing and cooking.

Changing lives one woman at a time.

Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities (CHIC) helps families break intergenerational cycles of poverty and violence. We strengthen families and communities by strengthening women and girls. We fill a critical gap in the landscape of institutions and service providers by offering culturally-relevant, whole-family, female-focused supports that directly intervene in the systems that most frequently fail communities: education, workforce, and criminal justice.

How We Work – CHIC Values and Working Commitments

Invest in women – We believe that investing in the health, wealth, and wellbeing of women strengthens families and communities.

Support families – We believe in wrapping supports around the families of the women we serve.

Mentor mind, body, and spirit – We believe in healthy living, health relationships, and healthy decision-making.

Develop positive identity – We believe in personal and collective pride, efficacy, and power.

Cultivate capital – We believe that connections between families, institutions, and service providers strengthens the social fabric in our communities.

Innovate – We believe that we must adapt to fill unmet needs, find unrealized opportunities, and better serve our changing community.

CHIC Denver

CHIC offers a variety of services in intervention and prevention that address economic deprivation, mental health, youth violence and the overall stability of the family.

Address: 10660 E Colfax Ave, Suite A | Aurora, CO 80010
Email: info@chicdenver.org
Phone: 303-993-8511