Stephen Grace is an accomplished professional with more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit management, broadcast journalism and academia. He holds a Masters in Journalism from the University of Missouri and is a widely respected leader with a contagious enthusiasm that brings communities together.
For more than six years Steve served as President of the Los Angeles Cable Television Access Corporation (501c3) and as General Manager of LA36, the largest educational cable access channel in the United States. During his tenure he helped rebuild LA36 on-air and on the Internet. He raised more than $2 million dollars in grants and production fees, doubled the organization's budget and rebuilt the Board of Directors to include influential business, media and community leaders.
As CEO he established close institutional ties with Los Angeles area colleges and universities, won an Emmy Award for local programming, and a Leadership Award from the League of Women Voters for his efforts to broadcast local election information.
In television, Steve was a Producer with NBC's Today show, traveling around the world to produce segments and programs for NBC News. He was also one of the founding partners of Popular Arts Entertainment, one of the largest independent entertainment news production groups in the United States. Steve began his broadcasting career at WQED-TV in Pittsburgh working on everything from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, to the National Geographic series.
More recently Steve has served as a member of the Adjunct Faculty at California State University Los Angeles in the Communications Studies Department, specializing in New Media & Technology. His background also includes international cultural travel. He has traveled extensively and worked collaboratively with travel suppliers in nearly every corner of the globe. He has recently relocated to the Denver area and has worked with the Orbis Institute as a Strategic Planning Consultant.
He is the father of two daughters, Kate and Perrie, who he likes to say are his real job (and joy) in life.
Angela Thieman-Dino, Ph.D. joined the PLC faculty in the fall of 2007 and now serves as Interim Academic Director. An alumna of PLC, Angela received her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
As a cultural anthropologist her research has focused on human rights and youth in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina and on African-American middle-school girls in urban Denver. She has enjoyed integrating her anthropological and human rights interests in local and international work as an educator and community organizer. She has participated in founding several non-profit organizations and has served on the Board of Directors of local and national human rights, human services, and development organizations, including Amnesty International USA and the Rocky Mountain Survivors Center (serving survivors of torture living in Colorado). Angela lives in Denver with her husband, Brian, and young children, Dante and Lia.
Tiffany Wiley started with PLC in December 2002. She is a 1998 alumna of the program and also served on both the student administrative staff and academic staff. She graduated in May of 2002 Summa Cum Laude from the College of Arts and Science with degrees in Psychology and Communication and was the recipient of the Jacob Van Ek Award for outstanding academic achievement and contributions to the university. Upon graduation she worked for the CU Admissions Office for a short time before coming back to PLC.
Tiffany is originally from a farm in Idalia, Colorado. In her off time Tiffany has served as the Event Board Chair for the Colorado March of Dimes MUDD Volleyball, on the Event Board for the Denver March of Dimes March for Babies as the Volunteer Coordinator since 2002, and as a panelist for the International Ball Corporation Fisher Scholarship for the past five years. Tiffany has also been active in other service committees and organizations, such as the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Walk planning committee and the AVON Two-Day Walk for Breast Cancer.
Julia Kasid graduated from the University of Colorado in May of 2005 with a bachelors in Business Administration, emphasizing in Operations Management. For the majority of her undergraduate career, she worked as an Administrative Assistant in the CU Honors Program Office. In 2005 Julia was given both the University of Colorado and the State of Colorado Student Employee of the Year awards. She continued in the Honors Program after graduation, doing side-work with Spyder Active Sports before coming to PLC in the Fall of 2006.
Born in Minnesota, Julia is the youngest of four and has lived in Boulder since she was three years old. She enjoys many activities including hiking, rock climbing, reading, and traveling, but her passion lies in dance. Once a competitive ballroom and Latin dancer, Julia loves to explore a variety of mainstream and cultural dances. Since 2005, she has devoted much of her energy to Argentine Tango and has had the good fortune to study with world-renowned tango professionals both in and outside of Buenos Aires. Amidst a bit of teaching, she has also co-choreographed for the winners of Dancing with Boulder Stars (a fundraiser for the YWCA) in both 2007 and 2008.
James LoPresti, Ph.D. is currently a Senior Instructor in the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder where he teaches courses in leadership and management. Prior to CU, Dr. LoPresti was a Senior Program Manager in Support Services for Sun Microsystems in Broomfield, CO for 6 years. Prior to Sun, Dr. LoPresti worked as a Distance Learning Manager in education and training for Lucent Technologies. Other lives also include owner of a bed and breakfast in Asheville NC, Aviation Administrator for The Port Authority of New York/New Jersey in the World Trade Center, and Newark (New Jersey) City Manager for People Express Airlines.
Dr. LoPresti holds a doctorate in 19th century American literature and co-authored a grammar book for college freshman for the University of Denver. He also teaches various literature courses, including Thoreau, Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, and the poetry of Francesco Petrarca at the University of Denver. Dr. LoPresti is a descendent of Petrarch on his maternal grandmother's side. Dr. LoPresti has a book on Henry David Thoreau and the 9-5 world of work entitled Minding Our Own Business coming out in the spring by Doubleday-Currency.
Alphonse Keasley, Ph.D. has had the great fortune of an interesting and varied career with the University of Colorado, Boulder, working alongside some of the campus's most talented faculty, students, and administrators. He presently serves as the director of the Minority Arts and Sciences Program (MASP). Dr. Keasley loves teaching in a research university setting, having contributed to such campus programs as Honors, the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program (for which he wrote the original grant proposal that brought this unique program to the Boulder campus), the Leadership Certificate Program, and his beloved MASP.
The University of Colorado Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences provided the first destination for Dr. Keasley upon entering as a doctoral student. After a brief stint in private practice, he returned to the university in 1986 where he functioned in several administrative and academic positions. Dr. Keasley became the second director of MASP in 1996. He has since held various leadership responsibilities in CU's Leadership, Excellence, Achievement and Diversity Alliance Management Team (CU LEAD Alliance), the Enhancement for Undergraduate Education, the Honors Program Advisory Committee, and the Boulder Faculty Assembly.
Dr. Keasley has also contributed to several citizen-initiated activities and leadership positions. He served on the stakeholders committee for the Boulder County Healthy Community Initiative and is an active board nmember of the Boulder Valley School District's Impact on Education, the Integrative Health Initiative, the Shakespeare Oratorio Society, and the Boulder County Arts Alliance. Dr. Keasley is also a regular company member with the Denver Center Theatre Company and can be heard over PBS (Public Broadcast Stations) as voice-over talent.
Dr. Keasley received the State of Colorado's Governor's award for top manager in 1995 and several best teacher awards. He treasures three recognitions for his contributions to the community: the Alumni Association's George Norlin Award, highest award to Boulder-based university faculty and staff; the Thomas Jefferson Award; and the Equity and Excellence Award for Leadership.
Gordon Riggle is an accomplished leader in government, business and the military. Today he teaches leadership and strategy at the University of Colorado. Additionally, he has an independent consulting practice in leadership, strategy, and government relations. Mr. Riggle was a member of the Boulder City Council and served three terms from 1997 until 2005.
Throughout the 1990s Mr. Riggle did strategic planning and advanced business development with Ball Aerospace, first in Washington, D.C. and later in their Boulder headquarters. He was also Chairman of Boulder's Community Review Group, a forum for community participation in the review of major development proposals.
Prior to moving to Boulder, Mr. Riggle served at the White House as Deputy Assistant to President and Director of the Office of Administration. The Office of Administration provides round-the-clock support to all agencies within the Executive Office of the President. Before that appointment, he worked as a Professional Staff Member of the United States Senate. He also served on the Presidential Transition Team as Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense.
During his military service, Mr. Riggle was a Captain in the United States Navy, commanding the destroyer USS KINKAID in the Pacific and a "Swift" patrol boat in Vietnam. In shore assignments, he was Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and served in various long range planning roles.
An outdoor enthusiast and distance runner, Mr. Riggle competes in marathons and mountain trail races. He is a member of the Community Affairs Council of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of Boulder Tomorrow.
His education includes a master in public administration from Harvard University, the Program for Senior Executives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelors degree in philosophy from Lafayette College. Mr. Riggle and his wife Marietta, a management consultant, live in Boulder. They are foster parents for infants and toddlers with Boulder County Social Services Division. As a PLC faculty member, Mr. Riggle teaches PRLC 3810 Global Issues in Leadership.
