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Always interested in both foreign service and social work, Sumiko Hennessy attended school in Belgium before receiving a social work degree in New York and a doctorate from the University of Denver. She was a founding board member and executive director of the Asian Pacific Development Center in Denver, which provides outpatient mental health services, information and referrals, drug and alcohol abuse counseling, and domestic abuse assistance to the Asian immigrant and Asian-American population. Sumi also served on the board of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, the Women’s Economic Development Council, the Asian Advisory Council for the Mayor, and the board of governors of Nine Who Care. Internationally recognized for her dedication to Asians living in the United States, Hennessy recently worked in Japan as the associate dean of field instruction at a newly established school of social work. Currently she and her husband founded Crossroads for Social Work, LLC to train mental health professionals both in Japan and the United States. During COVID-19 crisis, Sumiko relies mostly on Zoom for her conference for Japanese groups.

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In 1957, at age 14, Carlotta Walls LaNier and eight other students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This act of courage and defiance became the catalyst for change in the American educational system. The Little Rock Nine, as they would eventually be called, became ‘foot soldiers’ for freedom. In 1968 Lanier earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado and accepted a position at the Denver YWCA. Married with two children, she founded her own real estate company, and worked for 30 years as a real estate broker, currently works for Brokers Guild Homes. In 1999, members of Congress and former President Bill Clinton bestowed upon LaNier and the other members of the Little Rock Nine the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, for their sacrifice and contribution to the cause of equality.

Buy Carlotta’s book “A Mighty Long Way: My Journey at Little Rock Central High School ” at Tattered Cover
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Dottie Lamm is a modern day renaissance woman who wears her many hats with pride. For 12 years she was Colorado’s first lady as wife of Governor Dick Lamm. She has also been a newspaper columnist, co-host of a television show, psychiatric social worker, airline flight attendant, feminist, environmentalist, mountain climber, skier, diver, jogger, a U.S. delegate to two United Nations conferences, and candidate for the United States Senate. Read Full Bio: