Community Partnerships Spotlight

Anne-Marie Braga joined the CDHS team in October 2019 to serve as the Deputy Executive Director for Community Partnerships at CDHS. She and the Community Partnerships team lead the department’s efforts to collaborate with county departments of human services and other external partners to improve outcomes for the people of Colorado. Anne-Marie also provides supervision for the Office of Economic Security and Office of Early Childhood, as well as divisions in the Office of Children, Youth and Families and the Office of Adult, Aging and Disability Services. Over the past year, she has also taken a lead in the department’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiative. A fun fact about Anne-Marie is that she was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised in the Netherlands, New Jersey, and Arkansas.

Sarah Lipscomb started as a County Liaison with the Department in November 2018 and has been the Director of Operations for Community Partnerships since December 2019. In this role, she enjoys working with counties and other partners to support them in our shared work to serve all Coloradans. She oversees the County Services, Boards and Commission, and Family and Community Engagement work for the group. Previous to joining the Department, Sarah was the Program Director for the All-America City Awards and Community Services at the National Civic League and a fellow at the Bell Policy Center, where she conducted focus groups around the cliff effect in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. A fun/strange fact about Sarah is that she never learned how to ride a bike. 

Erin Hayes joined CDHS Spring of 2016 in the Office of Early Childhood and transferred to Community Partnerships in April 2020. Erin supports Sarah Lipscomb, the Director of Operations for Community Partnerships. Erin aids the Community Partnerships Team through scheduling, processing invoices, data entry and staffing a variety of external meetings. She finds joy in her current role as it offers the opportunity to gain knowledge in many areas and collaborate with others to carry out the Department's mission. A fun fact about Erin is that she loves to create intriguing flat lay photos!

Yumiko Dougherty joined CDHS in November 2019 as Director of Strategic Planning and Implementation. She helps provide strategic direction for assigned programs and projects, and promotes effective collaboration across CDHS offices and with external partners, including sister agencies, county departments and community partners. In all of her assignments, Yumiko strives to move us closer to a whole person, whole family, and whole community approach to human services. Yumiko previously served as a Foster America Fellow with the Colorado Human Services Directors Association (CHSDA). A fun fact about Yumiko is that she studied ballet seriously from a young age through college.

Chelsey Hall serves as the Director of Family and Community Engagement and the state’s 2Gen Coordinator and joined CHDS in 2016. She facilitates the CDHS Family Voice Council (FVC) which is made up of  20 community members from across the state with lived human services experience. FVC meets monthly to give feedback and input on CDHS programs and policies and to advocate for equitable and accessible human services for all. Chelsey also serves the Department as a co-chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee and is the CDHS representative on the Equity Alliance Community Engagement Subcommittee. A fun fact about Chelsey is that she was not born in another country, does not have dual citizenship, but does have a geographic tongue. She will also be remembered for applying to be on every reality show, but never being accepted. 

Laura Miller started with CDHS in 2018, working for the Office of Adult, Aging & Disability. She joined Community Partnerships as the County Liaison Supervisor in May of 2020. In this role, Laura facilitates information sharing, relationship building and collaboration between the counties and the office/program staff. A fun fact about Laura is that she has played and/or coached volleyball for 28 years and currently coaches her daughter’s 15U club team out of Thornton. 

Nicole Miera is the County and Tribal Liaison and joined CDHS in March of 2019. Alongside her Community Partnerships team, she works to collaborate and serve Colorado counties, Tribes, and community organizations. As the County and Tribal Liaison, Nicole regularly attends CHSDA Regional Meetings, Facilitates the Annual CDHS Tribal Consultation, and assists to build, maintain and strengthen relationships among county partners, Tribal partners & community organizations.  A fun fact about Nicole is that she used to jingle dance as a young girl. 

Adelaide Naughton joined CDHS in Dec. 2014 working as a program assistant supporting the director in the Food & Energy Division, then later joined Community Partnerships in 2017. She started her position as County and Client Services liaison in October 2019 and is responsible for processing complaints for CDHS and maintaining the new County Portal. A fun fact about Adelaide is that she has never played a team sport growing up since her life was, and still is, consumed with music endeavors.

Jen Hall started with CDHS at the beginning of 2021 as the Technical Manager for Interoperability. This dedicated Joint Agency Interoperability (JAI) position has moved agencies from OIT to CDHS to further root this project in program needs by seeking to improve people’s lives by making the right information from state IT systems available to the right worker, at the right time for improved client outcomes. A fun fact about Jen is that in her free time, she indulges in time with her four kids, swinging the tennis racket or anything in the great, vast outdoors

Suzie Schuckman joined the Community Partnership team September 2020.  In her role as Interoperability Manager, Suzie works with a wide range of stakeholders who have a deeply rerooted interest in supporting Colorado families.  The Interoperability Program’s goal is provide the most accurate information to the right people at the right time for the right purpose.  We want to ensure families have access to the most valuable information across CDHS to help serve them with any of their child care assistance needs, child welfare, child support, and a variety of Federal benefits (Medicaid, TANF, SNAP). Fun fact about Suzie is she has an MLS Championship medal for her role (as a fan) for her favorite MLS soccer team, Sporting Kansas City.

Kyle Zinth started with CDHS in 2018 and is presently the State Board and Boards & Commissions Administrator. In his role as State Board Administrator, Kyle supports the State Board of Human Services, a rule-making body that meets once a month to consider and adopt CDHS rules. In his role as the Boards & Commissions Administrator, Kyle supports CDHS staff assigned to boards and commissions, whether appointed by the Governor or CDHS’ Executive Director. A fun fact about Kyle is that he was born in Germany and has dual US and UK citizenship, as his mother immigrated to the US from Scotland.