Staff

The staff of the ACLU of Colorado is comprised of dedicated professionals with years of experience ...

 

Arlette Baer, Membership Coordinator

Arlette Baer  has managed the membership database and donor recognition for well over three decades. In 2006 she was presented with the Radetsky Award, named for Martha Radetsky, is presented to exceptional volunteers who have demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the ACLU and civil rights and freedoms.  Prior to working with the ACLU, Arlette volunteered her time with the United Farm Workers, including walking the picket lines at their boycotts. That activism not only inspired her dedication to the cause of racial justice, it also got her arrested. A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma,  Arlette graduated from Radcliffe College before moving to Chicago where she married her husband, Sylvan, to whom she was married for 60 wonderful years. They raised five sons and one daughter, all of whom share Arlette’s dedication to activism.  
 

 

 

Pat Blumenthal, Development Director

Pat Blumenthal is the Development Director for the ACLU, leading fundraising and donor cultivation strategies. Prior to joining the ACLU, Blumenthal served as Executive Director of Hillel, where she led two successful capital campaigns that raised more than $5 million to complete construction of the Merage & Allon Hillel Center at the University of Denver and the David and Laura Merage Hillel Center at Colorado State University. As Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, she led the state’s pro-choice public education and political advocacy work to ensure the protection of women’s’ reproductive rights. An active community volunteer, Blumenthal provided organizational development support to The Spirituals Project, an effort to preserve African-American spiritual music, and advocated for Gifted and Talented students at Denver Public Schools. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Evergreen State College.

 

 

Patricia DeLuna-Zickefoose, Accountant

Trish is the staff accountant for the ACLU since 2006. She has had her own accounting practice since 1984 and other non-profit clients include the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, The Denver Justice Council, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, and Wedontwaste, as well as for-profit corporations, partnerships and individuals. A California Bay Area native and a graduate of San Jose State University, she has resided in Colorado for twenty-eight years. She is married to Stephen and has a daughter Katie.

 

 
 
 
 

C. Ray Drew, Executive Director 

Ray Drew took the helm at the ACLU of Colorado in March 2010. His long history effective leadership uniquely positions him to continue the organization’s 58-year history of defending and expanding civil liberties and civil rights for all Coloradans. Over the past decade he served as the executive director of two organizations devoted to the advancement of LGBT rights: the Family Equality Council, a nationwide advocacy organization for LGBT parents, and most recently, South Carolina Equality. He also ran a highly successful political and nonprofit consulting firm. Ray is a graduate of Clemson University. He founded and served as Board President for Family Matters of San Diego. He also served on the board of the  San Diego Foundation for Change.

 

 

 

Mark Silverstein, Legal Director

Mark Silverstein is a 1989 graduate of the Illinois College of Law. He served for a year as law clerk to Judge James Moran of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and another year as law clerk for Judge Harry Pregerson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In 1991, he began working as a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California in Los Angeles.  Since 1996, he has worked as Legal Director of the ACLU of Colorado, where he oversees the ACLU’s litigation in a wide variety of cases raising issues of civil liberties and constitutional rights.

 

 

 

Rosemary Harris Lytle, Communications Director

Rosemary Harris Lytle is the ACLU’s primary spokesperson and supervises media relations, publications and website/social media work. An award-winning journalist and media strategist with  20 years experience in journalism and communications, Rosemary helped lead the civic journalism movement at America’s daily newspapers. She specialized in writing about equality and social justice while working as a news columnist for The Orlando Sentinel, the Virginian-Pilot and The Gazette in Colorado Springs.
Rosemary earned a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Ball State University. She is the recipient of numerous honors for newspaper writing, including Colorado AP Reporters and Editors awards, an award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the Award of Excellence in Column Writing from the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors. Reach her at rharrislytle@aclu-co.org.
 

 

Caryn Osterman, Operations Manager

Caryn joined the ACLU of Colorado Development team in January of 2007. As Operations Manager, since April 2010, she oversees the Legal Intake Department, coordinates the Education, Volunteer, IT and Human Resources programs and manages overall office operations. Caryn received her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Colorado, Denver. A New York native, Caryn now lives in Englewood with her husband, David and their two children. She enjoys working on a variety of projects that support the ACLU’s mission and is honored to have the opportunity to work with the many wonderful and committed individuals who volunteer and support the organization. Caryn is a Child Care Health Consultant and the owner of CO2 Designs.
 

 

 

Denise Maes, Public Policy Director.

Former White House Office of Administration General Counsel Denise Maes returned in November 2011 to Denver, her adopted home, to work for the ACLU of Colorado. Pronounced one of the Top Seven Women Lawyers by LAW WEEK Colorado in 2009, Denise left the firm of Berenbaum Weinshienk & Eason, where she was partner, to serve as General Counsel for the White House Office of Administration in the Executive Office of President Barack Obama. Later, she directed Budget and Finance operations for the Office of Vice President Joe Biden. A co-founder and former Director of the Colorado Latina Initiative, Denise served as Chair of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Chair of Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, Director of the Downtown Denver Partnership, and as Director of the Colorado Women’s Bar and Hispanic Bar associations. Celebrated in the legal, business, social justice and Latina/o communities, she was lauded in 2010 as “Barrister of the Year” by The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado (The Center).

 
 

 

 

Stephen Meswarb, Director of Administration & Finance

Colorado native Stephen Meswarb returned home to work for the ACLU of Colorado in June 2010, bringing with him nearly 20 years of non-profit fundraising experience, including more than eight years working for the national ACLU. He spent three years managing the ACLU’s $335 million Leading Freedom Forward campaign, the largest campaign on behalf of civil rights and civil liberties in the country’s history. He is now responsible for managing all aspects of operations, finance and administration.

 
 
 

   

                               

Sara J. Rich, Staff Attorney

In October 2011, Sara Rich was hired as staff attorney at the ACLU of Colorado, for the first time in our history bringing our cadre of legal eagles to three. Sara was an Associate Attorney at KILLMER, LANE & NEWMAN, LLP, where she represented clients in civil rights cases involving constitutional law, federal civil rights statues and Colorado State law. A graduate of Indiana University at Indianapolis where she received her Juris Doctorate, Rich is well-known for her defense of detainees at Guantanomo Bay, Cub. That work earned her the Southern Center for Human Rights Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award. She was also a co-recipient of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Access to Justice Award. A former President of the Colorado Plantiff Employment Lawyers Association and a former Vice-Chair of the Civil Rights Committee of the Colorado Bar Association, Rich also was once restaurant general manager at a Keystone, Colorado ski resort.

 

 

Rebecca T. Wallace, Staff Attorney

Rebecca T. Wallace was hired as staff attorney at the ACLU of Colorado in August 2010. Rebecca had previously served on the organization’s Board of Directors and was a member of the Legal Panel. Prior to accepting her position at the ACLU, Rebecca was an attorney at the civil rights law firm of KILLMER, LANE & NEWMAN, LLP, where she devoted her practice to vindicating the rights of the underdog. Rebecca’s work at the firm was twice recognized by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, most recently as co-recipient of the Case of the Year Award for Hall v. Zavaras, holding a prison guard and the Colorado Department of Corrections responsible for the sexual assault of a female prisoner. In September 2010, LAW WEEK recognized Rebecca as one of Colorado’s Up and Coming Lawyers. Rebecca T. Wallace was hired as staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado in August 2010.  Rebecca had previously served on the organization’s Board of Directors and was a member of the Legal Panel.   Prior to accepting her position at the ACLU, Rebecca was an attorney at the civil rights law firm of KILLMER, LANE & NEWMAN, LLP, where she devoted her practice to vindicating the rights of the underdog.  Her practice was divided between plaintiff’s side civil rights, employment law, and criminal defense.  Rebecca’s work at the firm was twice recognized by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, most recently as co-recipient of the Case of the Year Award for Hall v. Zavaras, holding a prison guard and the Colorado Department of Corrections responsible for the sexual assault of a female prisoner.  Rebecca also took on major responsibility in the firm’s case on behalf of Timothy Masters, an innocent man who received settlements totaling $10 million from police and prosecutors responsible for his wrongful conviction and ten years of wrongful incarceration.  Rebecca served as a judicial clerk for the Chief Judge in the Federal District Court of Colorado.  Rebecca graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law, where she was awarded the Rockwell T. Gust Award for excellence in trial advocacy.  She received her undergraduate degree with honors from Brown University in 1999.  Currently, Rebecca devotes significant portions of her professional life and personal time to community service.  She served as Secretary of the Colorado Plaintiffs Employment Lawyers Association, teaches occasionally at the University of Denver School of Law, and provides mentorship to law students pursuing a career in civil rights.  In September 2010, LAW WEEK recognized Rebecca as one of Colorado’s Up and Coming Lawyers.  Before she became an attorney, Rebecca was a white water rafting guide for six years, and she still enjoys hitting the river with her husband Jon, her son Leo, and her dog Henry. 
 

 

Debra Woods, Legal Assistant

Debra has worked as Legal Assistant with the ACLU of Colorado since 2003.  She assists the attorneys and legal staff by managing the administrative duties of the legal department, from tracking case documents and any additional investigations into requests for legal aid, managing correspondence, and increasing  efficiency to ensure that the organization’s limited resources are used as effectively as possible. Debra is a strong writer and organizer, and is fully committed to the ACLU’s mission. The cases she has most enjoyed over the years have been the Denver Spy Files, as well as the current Weise case, involving three people thrown out of a Bush town hall meeting because of a bumper sticker that read “no blood for oil”, and a racial profiling case involving two African American males. Her favorite part of working at the ACLU is receiving requests for legal assistance that she knows the organization will be able to help solve. Debra loves that “everyone believes in the ACLU’s mission, and that is to help anyone and everyone if their Constitutional rights are being violated.” Debra is a Denver native, and now lives in Aurora with her fiancée, Burrell, and their two cats, Midnight and Sassy. She enjoys watching Broncos football, working with youth, reading and writing, and is currently working to complete her MBA in business.

 

Parisa Zohoori, Development Associate

Parisa joined the ACLU team at the end of June 2010. Originally from Oneonta, New York, Parisa attained her undergraduate degree in International Affairs and Philosophy from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and came to Denver in 2008 to study International Human Rights at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. She completed her Masters in March 2010. At the ACLU, As Development Assistant  Parisa works with  Development Director Stephen Meswarb on various fundraising projects including the Whitehead Silent Auction and Dinner and other special events. She manages the donor database and donation processing system, and also supports our Executive Director. She is dedicated to the ACLU’s mission and enjoys meeting all the talented people who are involved with the ACLU of Colorado. In her free time, she enjoys taking advantage of the Colorado’s many parks and trails, running and hiking.