Board of Directors
Liz Oster
Liz is the visionary and co-founder of the non-profit Courage is Change and serves as Chair on the Board of Directors. Liz is responsible for building alliances with like-minded organizations and foundations, providing overall direction and vision, administration, curriculum direction and fund raising. Liz is a dynamic and creative individual with more than 20 years experience in sales, marketing and business. In 1998 Liz founded the Superior Chamber of Commerce and grew the organization to over 150 members. As an entrepreneur herself, Liz started and managed two successful small businesses. Her areas of expertise include new business development, event planning, creative sales techniques, networking, promotions and campaigns, product launches, advertising communications, client relations, fund raising benefits and public relations. She is also a Certified Professional Coach. Elizabeth Oster obtained her BBA in Marketing from the University of Miami School of Business.
Brandy A. Mello
Brandy Mello is co-founder of the non-profit Courage is Change and serves as Co-Chair on the Board of Directors. Brandy is responsible for operations, community relations and fund raising. Previously, Brandy served as Deputy Campaign Manager on a successful State Legislative campaign in 2006. Subsequently, she served as a Legislative Aide. Brandy's diverse background also includes working as an event planning consultant, an administrator, and an educator. In her career as an educator, Brandy taught elementary school, middle school Reading and a high school English for at risk teens. She started her career in education as a facilitator for struggling community college students striving to transfer to a four-year university. Brandy is very involved in her community, often volunteering for town events and local political causes, focusing efforts on fund-raising, volunteer organizing, and event planning. Currently she serves on the Angel Eyes, Claws for a Cause (Louisville) steering committee to benefit SIDS education and research. Brandy has a BA in English Education from California State University, Long Beach and performed some graduate work at Johns Hopkins University in Elementary Education.
Ruth Aten
Ruth currently works as a Criminal Investigator with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado. Her responsibilities include trial case preparation, victim and witness location and investigations. Ruth has worked in law enforcement since 1994. Over the past 14 years she has worked as a Trooper with the Colorado State Patrol and a School Resource Officer with the Broomfield Police Department. As a Resource Officer she has had the opportunity to work with children in the community, witnessing first hand many of the issues that we are addressing. Ruth's expertise makes her an exceptional asset to the Courage is Change Board of Directors. Ruth has a BA in Criminal Justice from Columbia University.
Diane DeBella
Diane DeBella received her Bachelor’s degree in English, with an emphasis in American Literature, from James Madison University, and her Master’s degree in English, with an emphasis in the Teaching of Writing, at San Diego State University. She has taught writing at the college level for twenty years, and is a full-time faculty member at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
"As a teacher of writing and literature, I have spent twenty years studying women writers. What has always interested me, even more than their writing, is the story of their lives, not because their lives were incredibly extraordinary - although some of them were - but because I recognized so many of their personal struggles in my own life. Issues that Mary Wollstonecraft was facing in eighteenth century England, Charlotte Perkins Gilman in late nineteenth century/early twentieth century America, and Adrienne Rich and Anne Sexton in the mid to late twentieth century—are issues I face today, and my daughter will likely face tomorrow.
Why, after all this time, are women still trying to cope with the same issues? And why haven’t we been able to resolve them? We need to realize that there are only different versions of one collective story, and women will continue to face the same issues until we find the strength and solidarity to confront them. If we discover what is necessary to break the cycle the next generation of women, including my own daughter, might never have to visit those dark places of self-doubt and loathing, and instead can spread their newly sprouted wings and soar."
Eric Brunette
Eric Brunette first met Courage is Change founder, Liz Oster, in 2007 and joined the Courage is Change board in late 2008. A father of two teenagers, Eric shares personally the vision of Courage is Change that his son and daughter will grow up equipped with the skills and understanding to develop and share healthy, violence-free relationships. Eric is a 2006 MBA graduate from the University of Colorado, and an alumnus of Marquette University’s College of Engineering. Eric has spent over twenty years in the electronics design industry as an electronics engineer and project manager, and currently manages the Embedded Systems Engineering department and the Medical Devices Center of Excellence at Syncroness, Inc. in Westminster, CO.
Terri Dimond
A passionate educator for Boulder Valley Schools since 1995, Terri is currently a licensed elementary 4th grade Teacher at Emerald Elementary School in Broomfield, Colorado. Endorsed as a K-12 literacy specialist, she is also ESL certified. Her desire to end domestic violence began many years ago. She began work in victims witness advocacy and as a paraprofessional therapist for families recovering from domestic violence in Virginia and then Colorado. Terri is Secretary on the Courage is Change Board of Directors. Terri Dimond has received a BA in Political Science and Psychology from James Madison University in Harrisburg, Virginia, an MA of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and an MA of Education in Multicultural Education both from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Christopher M. Hanson
Chris Hanson is President of Trevian Financial, LLC, a registered investment adviser specializing in asset management and comprehensive financial planning. Trevian Financial consults with individuals, families, and small businesses to identify and prioritize financial goals and objectives, tailoring strategies to help them reach their goals.
Chris also offers financial planning workshops, including one that is specific to women. As a financial planner, Chris understands that it is essential for all women to be adequately prepared for whatever financial challenges confront them, especially women who are single, divorced, or widowed. Chris' skills and background provide a vital resource to the entire Courage Is Change family and is in direct correlation with the Courage Is Change mission and philosophy.
Prior to founding Trevian Financial in 2008, Chris worked in the hair care industry for over 12 years, most recently for American Crew in Denver, where he was Vice President of Sales. Chris received a B.A. in Communications from Loyola Marymount University, an M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Regis University, and a P.F.P. certificate from UCLA. He is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary.
Courage is Change Facebook Page