Tami Slipher was the top Rotary honoree among Englewood nonprofit leaders.
 
The Rotary Club of Englewood honored Tami Slipher of Movement 5280 with its first Non-Profit Leader of the Year Award on Sept. 7.
 
Slipher is Director of Development and Outreach for Movement 5280, whose mission is to provide a “family of support” to homeless youth who have aged out of foster care and to other high-risk young people.
 
Rotary President Shawn Lewis said, “Tami has demonstrated a great collaborative spirit throughout her career at Movement 5280, building relationships with neighboring businesses at 5280’s downtown Englewood location. She has led the organization to greatly expand services, including implementing usage of the Homelessness Management Information System.“
 
A second Spirit of Rotary Award went to LynnAnn Huizingh, director of the Severe Weather Shelter Network. The organization provides emergency winter night shelter for adult individuals and couples. It is known for building relationships with warm meals, conversation, and personal stories. The organization provides important resource connections for clients to help them become stable and self-sustaining.
 
Lewis cited Huizingh’s leadership during the pandemic when the Network was forced to drastically change its business model from offering shelter in churches to providing hotel accommodations. She also worked with the Englewood City Council to modify code to allow sheltering in church basements, as the organization again provides shelter in a church.
 
Lewis is City Manager of Englewood.
 
A Spirit of Rotary Award also went to Jen Engquist, formerly Executive Director of Break Bread in Littleton, but she was not able to attend the presentation. Break Bread provides a free weekly community meal and fosters meaningful relationships among neighbors.
 
Englewood Rotary intends to honor local leaders in various areas of public service through the year – first in the nonprofit world, and later in business, education and among first-responders.