Working Tirelessly to Build Community and Help Children

Featuring Christine Benero

President & CEO of Mile high United Way

Born in New York City in 1960, Christine Benero moved with her family to Littleton, Colorado when she was only two years old. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Boston University and her graduate degree from Harvard, Christine started as a special education teacher for adjudicated teenagers in rural New Hampshire. Due to her passion for building community and helping children, she then served as director of Vermont’s first employer-supported childcare center. With an increased interest in public policy and non-profit organizations, Christine continued by serving as the Director of the Office of Public Liaison for Corporation of National and Community Service, which oversees Americorps, under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

After returning to Colorado, Christine became CEO of the American Red Cross Mile High chapter and then the President and CEO of Mile High United Way. She has worked tirelessly to help families access affordable, childhood education, and has been instrumental through Mile High United Way in helping community partners create four early childhood education centers from Aurora to West Denver. Under her guidance, United Way Mile High has been active in public policy, advocating for childcare contribution tax credits as well as other key childcare funding. In 2025, Christine Benero was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

Speaking from experience, Christine says, “If I had any advice for anyone, it is to try it: show up, volunteer, engage. It is amazing. People always say, oh, you're volunteering. You're giving so much. The truth is, it's what you get back. You find a career, you find your best friends, you find a passion, and you find joy. Even when things are challenging and families are facing so much, the great hope that I have is there is always someone who raises their hand, says “yes,” says “maybe I can't do it all, but this little bit I can do.” And that's the very point of all of it. If we all do just a little bit united, we can do a lot. And that is what gives me hope.”

Christine’s own inspiration for giving back comes from both her grandmothers and her mother who were ahead of their times in career aspirations. She continues with her promise to assist in times of crisis while building a better landscape for the future of families and children in Colorado.

Developing Strong Role Models for Young Black Men

Featuring LAKAYANA YOTOMA DRURY

Executive Director of Word is Bond

Lakayana Yotoma Drury has a passion for culturally-grounded education, mentorship, and community development. Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Lakayana experienced adversity at a young age. His father was absent for most of his adolescent years so he and his two younger siblings were raised by his hardworking mother. Despite a learning disability diagnosis in sixth grade, Lakayana graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stout and started his career as a teacher in both elementary and high school.

As a young Black man navigating adolescence in the absence of strong male role models, he recognized the decades of data pointing to the underachievement of Black men, as well as the opportunities. Lakayana founded Word is Bond in Portland, Oregon in 2017, a nonprofit leadership incubator that creates a pipeline for young Black men, aged 15-20, to discover their identity and higher purpose. Word is Bond teaches leadership, storytelling, narrative reclamation, collaboration, innovation, self-actualization, and abundance mindset. Youth are served through 3 year leadership training programs, monthly school programs, spring break leadership forums, story telling tours, capstone leadership experiences, and multimedia experiences.

As a storyteller, Lakayana also believes in the power of community engagement to uplift hidden stories and inspire others to collective action. In particular, in 2024, he produced his first film, The Black Stars, a documentary that chronicles the journey of eight young Black men to Ghana as part of a summer leadership program through Word is Bond.

Finally, Lakayana serves in multiple leadership roles throughout the community, such as commissioner to the Oregon Commission of Black Affairs. The OCBA serves to empower the Black community as policy advisors to Oregon state leaders and become a catalyst to address longstanding and emerging issues, such as education, healthcare, policing, housing, environmental justice, and civic engagement.

As an educator, social entrepreneur, community advocate, writer, poet, and filmmaker, Lakayana Drury believes in “building a world based on compassion for all people, where every individual has the resources they need to thrive…in dismantling systems of oppression and replacing them with ecosystems that nurture the innate empathy of humanity.”