Staff

Executive Director

Hilary Simmons, MPH

Hilary Simmons has nearly fifteen years of experience as a director for various organizations and small businesses, including six and a half years as the Program Director with A Little Help. She has honed skills in servant leadership, strategic, fiscal, and operational planning, fundraising and investor relations, program development and implementation, community and relationship building, and business analytics consulting. In addition to her professional experience, Hilary founded her own LLC to perform financial analytics services, has served as a board treasurer for several organizations, and has been active in her local, and larger, community.

At A Little Help, Hilary began as the part-time Administrative Assistant and, within a year, earned and built her role as the Program Director. As a growing organization, she and former Executive Director Dr. Paul Ramsey grew A Little Help’s staff from a two- to ten-person team and expanded ALH’s impact from four neighborhoods to ten counties throughout Colorado, while maintaining a hyper-local focus in each community.

Hilary earned her bachelor’s degree from Duke University in Psychology and English and earned her Master of Public Health degree (emphasis: Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, certificate: Global Health) from the University of Pittsburgh. She serves as the Vice President of the national Village to Village Network board and on the Denver and Jefferson County Local Coordinating Councils.

Hilary exemplifies an unqualified and resolute focus on being better tomorrow than we are today.

Metro Denver Director

Jake Dresden

720-817-4578 | Jake@alittlehelp.org

Jake Dresden is A Little Help's full-time Metro Denver Director. Jake comes to A Little Help with close to two decades of experience at Graland Country Day School, where he most recently served as the Dean of Students and the Secondary School Counselor. Prior to those roles, he taught history and political science, chaired the History department, ran a civil rights trip to the South, coached, and co-chaired the Service Learning program. In his work at Graland, Jake was most driven to help kids grow and find their voices as members of a community. Jake will be reaching out in the community and building relationships with A Little Help’s supporters of all kinds.

Originally from Philadelphia and having lived in Colorado for the past thirty years, Jake is also an outdoorsman, starting a backpacking guide service that takes kids into the Colorado backcountry each summer. He has also coached soccer, lacrosse, and volleyball, and he and his family have volunteered with A Little Help for Service Saturdays! and as snow shovelers for the past seven years. Jake received his B.A. in History and International Affairs at Colorado College and his master's degree in Education and History from University of Colorado Boulder.

People know Jake for his immovable and steady commitment, oh, and, also the whole height thing (6'5").

Program Director

Tanya Matthias

720-817-4744 | Tanya@alittlehelp.org

Tanya Matthias is a wife and mother of two who has lived in the Denver area since 1999. Tanya worked as the Marketing Director for an international company out of Oxford, England prior to taking a few years off to raise her two children. She spent those four years volunteering and running various fundraising events and participating in a number of boards at her children’s school. Tanya has worn many hats with A Little Help, she first joined us just part-time helping in the office with our member calls then quickly moved to full time and working on events and fundraisers as our Community Outreach Director and then as our Metro Denver Director to her current positon as Program Director for A Little Help. She is thrilled to be part of such an enthusiastic group of people at A Little Help and couldn't ask for a more rewarding job.

Tanya is known for her equal opportunity approach to snarkiness, choice of unusual headwear, and unconditional professionalism.

Northern Colorado Director

Colleen Meyer

970-829-8525 | Colleen@alittlehelp.org

Colleen brings more than 20 years of experience in donor and volunteer relations where she served as the Executive Director of the Alumni Association and Managing Director of Donor Relations for CSU-Fort Collins. Colleen is a Colorado native, born and raised in Pueblo, CO and has lived in Fort Collins for 28 years. She has been an active volunteer with National Charity League, Larimer Humane Society, and other northern Colorado non-profits. For fun, she enjoys spending time in the mountains and on the beaches with her husband, daughter (a CSU Ram), and their dog Buddy.

Colleen is a graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in Speech Communication as well as the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce Leadership Fort Collins program. She is also a professionally trained leadership coach.

Colleen's excellent reputation around the office comes from her extravagant energy, humor, and contemporary ideas.

Development Director

Rachel Rotach, LMSW

720-817-3366 | Rachel@alittlehelp.org

Rachel has fourteen years of nonprofit experience working with family caregivers, healthcare professionals, and community stakeholders. Rachel was previously the senior director of programs for the Alzheimer's Association, Western New York Chapter, and led the strategic direction of the program department including the delivery of care consultations, support groups, education and training, respite, early-stage programs, safety services, public policy/advocacy, and outreach efforts. Her passion for strong community engagement and empowering communities to age in place led her to join A Little Help. Rachel holds a bachelor's degree in public relations from Penn State University and a master's degree in social work from the University at Buffalo, where she was a Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education scholar.

Rachel has a spectacular omnipresence, is ready to talk through any problem, and helps to support virtually everything we do.

Program Manager

Emma Johnson

720-817-3652 | Emma@alittlehelp.org

Emma joined A Little Help as the Operations Coordinator in July of 2021. She was born and raised in a small town outside of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and has always been very passionate about helping the older adult population in any possible manner. She graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor’s in Human Sciences and a Minor in Gerontology in the spring of 2021. During her senior year of college, she became an intern at A Little Help, and very quickly fell in love with the mission to connect neighbors across generations to help older adults stay in the comfort of their own homes. Now, Emma is theProgram Manager at A Little Help, and she couldn’t be happier working alongside others whose values line up with her own.

Emma brings a steadfast, reassuring intellect and exhilarating (yet comfortable) infatuation with detail to our team.

Member Manager

Beth Berger

720-829-4356 | Beth@alittlehelp.org

Beth joined A Little Help in March of 2020 as our Operations Coordinator. She could not have asked for a more rewarding position to keep her busy during the beginning of the pandemic. She has enjoyed making connections with our members and volunteers and now serves as our Member Manager. Beth has experience in nonprofit operations and programming working with young families, teens, and older adults. She received her bachelor's degree from Binghamton University in Philosophy, Politics, and Law and her master's degree in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University. A mother of 3, she enjoys spending time with her family hiking, biking, and relaxing at home with puzzles and game nights.

Around the office, Beth is known for her discernable and consistent care and visible empathy.

Office Manager

Gayla Dunning

720-242-9032 | Gayla@alittlehelp.org

Gayla comes to A Little Help with an extensive background in education and non-profits. After working with children either as a teacher or teacher’s aide for nearly 18 years, she felt that it was time to make a career change. Wanting to be of service to others and help with building community, she was excited to see an opportunity to do that with A Little Help. Gayla graduated from the University of Texas Dallas with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Elementary Education. She is a proud Colorado native and a big Denver Broncos fan. Her happy place is the mountains, and she loves to hike, garden, and spend time with her family. Gayla and her husband are the proud parents of 4 adult children and 2 incredible grandchildren.

We all appreciate Gayla's consistency, bright personality, and durable follow-up. Did we mention durable follow-up?

Member Coordinator

Sue Munro

720-242-9032| sue@alittlehelp.org

Sue is thrilled to join A Little Help as the Member Coordinator. She is excited to assist existing members, as well as welcome new members to the program. She has been a social worker for the past 25 years and is passionate about helping others. She loves connecting folks with resources. Sue received her bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania and then her Master's of Social Work from NYU in Manhattan. She and her husband Ken have three teenage daughters and two dogs.

We're so excited to welcome Sue and have already seen her care/ passion for helping others in her conversations with our members.

Volunteer Coordinator

Katherine Osborn

720-242-9032

Katherine is new to Colorado having recently moved from Massachusetts. Her strong love for community and helping others drew her to A Little Help. She received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a double minor in Sociology and Psychology from Colby Sawyer College in New Hampshire. Katherine is excited to work with her first nonprofit organization.

In her free time Katherine loves to hike with her partner Rachel and their dog Kylo, as well as rock climb, read, and play rugby for Denver Black Ice.

We're so glad to welcome Katherine aboard and know that her desire to help people and to build community will be a great asset to A Little Help.

Marketing Coordinator

Gisselle Rovira

970-829-8518 | Gisselle@alittlehelp.org

6 years ago, Gisselle relocated from Mexico to Denver, and soon after she started her journey with A Little Help. She had been in the world of Marketing for more than 18 years. Starting in an agency for the Hispanic Market, at Citibank, she was VP of Marketing Credit Cards for the Affluent Segment, and then she was at HSBC. Initially, she studied Fashion Design, then Marketing caught her attention, but she also obtained degrees in Art. Creativity is something that she always tries to apply not only in her professional life but also in her personal life. Because of this, she is always trying to travel and look for new places to visit. In addition, photography is something that she has recently developed an interest in. She is an animal lover and has 2 dogs and 1 cat. Through an ad on the internet, she found out about an event called "Service Saturday" that she could be a part of, while she learned more about the city and the community. Since then, Gisselle has been ever-present for A Little Help. She has not stopped learning, and this is one of the most important things for her. She is more than grateful for all the support she has received from this organization and community. She couldn't be happier to be here.

Gisselle brings an evident knowledge of fashion, laughter, and genuine demonstrated care for our members and volunteers to our team!

Metro Denver and Marketing Coordinator

Walker Shumock-Bailey

720-817-4727 | Walker@alittlehelp.org

Walker started as an intern for A Little Help in the Fall of 2021 after creating a communications plan for the organization for a class at the University of Denver. He graduated in March of 2022 from DU with degrees in International Studies and Strategic Communications and a Minor in History and came onboard as a full-time employee in May of 2022. He is excited to hit the ground running to help ALH advance its mission throughout Colorado! He is originally from Auburn, Alabama and in his free time, he enjoys watching college football (War Eagle) and hockey (Sko' DU), playing soccer, skiing, and cooking.

Walker contributes evident knowledge, a stunning ability to turn “you all” into one word, and a fine sense of humor to our crew.

Northern Colorado Coordinator

Marc Stewart

Marc@alittlehelp.org

Marc comes to A Little Help as the new Northern Colorado Coordinator, following a 30-year career in the government sector, including 20 years’ service in the U.S. Navy. Marc’s focus has shifted from serving his country to serving his local community. A yard sign in Loveland pointed Marc to A Little Help. After learning about our mission, he couldn’t wait to become part of the team

We are so happy to have Marc onboard and know that he will help us bolster our presence in NoCo.

Data Coordinator

Aaron Zimmerlin

Aaron@alittlehelp.org

Aaron is very excited to join A Little Help as the Data Coordinator. Though his career started in IT support for numerous major universities, he has been working for the last 7 years as a CRM consultant and Business Analyst, primarily for small business and government clients. He is excited to be focusing his years of experience on the fulfilling mission at A Little Help and hopes that he will be able to shed a unique light on the results and impact that the organization provides its members while streamlining business processes and tasks. Aaron has studied a breadth of topics throughout his life and holds numerous certifications in topics from IT support and development, to project and development management, as well as platform certifications for various CRM products. In his free time, he enjoys woodworking, cooking, board gaming, and spending time with his wife and two dogs.

Aaron has hit the ground running whipping our data into shape and already won over the office with his amazing gluten-free oatmeal craisin cookies!

Bookkeeper

Cristie Martin

Grants

ZIM Consulting

We are thrilled to partner with ZIM Consulting for grant writing and research. In 2006, ZIM Consulting was founded because Marty and Shira Zimmerman saw a need. There were (and continue to be) an abundance of nonprofit organizations in Colorado, but many were having difficulty building the organizational capacity to truly support their missions. There also were (and continue to be) many nonprofit consultants who help nonprofits with various projects, but most of them develop plans without assisting with implementation. ZIM Consulting works with nonprofits to develop attainable objectives, set realistic benchmarks, and complete tasks on the path to achieving their goals. Find more by clicking here.