Biography
As Chief Strategy & Development Officer for Mile High United Way, Chelsea oversees both the strategic priorities for the organization and the inclusive and sustainable resource development efforts in order to achieve the community impact goals of the organization. As a fierce advocate for the mission: to unite people, ideas, and resources to advance the common good, she leads all fundraising, grants, events, donor engagement, marketing and volunteerism efforts, raising and deploying more than $25 million dollars annually and connecting more than 7,000 volunteers to opportunities to provide impact throughout the Front Range. In 2021, the organization exceeded $50 million dollars in revenue and was a recipient of Mackenzie Scott’s philanthropy, securing a $20 million dollar gift to create community change.
Having spent the last 18 years of her career at Mile High United Way, Chelsea has been privileged to raise more than $400 million for the Denver metro community. Under her leadership, the organization has been able to launch a planned giving program which has resulted in more than quadrupling the size of their Legacy Fund, securing almost $18 million dollars and creating a more diversified revenue pipeline. A crowning achievement for Chelsea is the newly opened Tamara M. Sparks Early Learning Center- the result of a $25 million capital campaign to holistically support our youngest learners and their families.
Chelsea holds Bachelor’s degrees in Communication and Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Florence Crittenton Services and Colorado Charter Facility Solutions. In 2024, she was awarded National Philanthropy Day’s Outstanding Professional Fundraiser Award for the State of Colorado. Additionally, she is a 2022 Denver Business Journal 40 under 40 Winner, a graduate of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation’s Leadership Denver class of 2023, and a graduate of the 2020 class of the Advanced Leadership Program at United Way Worldwide. Lastly, she serves as a member of the national Major and Planned Giving Leadership Council and as a mentor to several fundraisers in the Denver community. As a mother of 3 children, free time is fleeting; but when it’s possible, she enjoys hiking with her family and playing piano.
