Stacey Burns
Stacey Burns is thrilled to be a native of Colorado, living in various regions of the state all of her life, but has spent a majority of her career in Colorado Springs. She has been a strong advocate for Social Impact Businesses, veterans’ transition programs, as well as healing through the arts. She started the Spotlight on Hope event to increase behavioral health awareness and was one of the creators of the Military Creative Expressions program in conjunction with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Stacey’s absolute favorite part of any opportunity is to develop mutually beneficial partnerships and to help people find their potential.
Stacey is a Cofounder and the Chief Impact Officer of the National Institute for Social Impact (NI4SI). The National Institute for Social Impact seeks to educate organizations on the power of the emerging Fourth Sector of the economy using entrepreneurial strategies to solve social issues in our community. Stacey is working to increase the understanding and measurement of Social Return on Investment (SROI) through NI4SI, a process she has been developing since 2009. Stacey is also the VP of Social Impact for Adam and Son Auto Repair, as well as a social entrepreneur coach through her own company, SDB Social Impact LLC. Stacey was chosen in 2015 to become a Beanstalk Foundation Leader and is Chair of the El Paso County Community Services Block Grant Advisory Board. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and English from CU-Boulder and a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education from CU-Denver Health Sciences. Stacey loves reading, movies, and water skiing.
Rachel Fagnant-Fassler
Rachel is President and Co-Owner of CFW Careers, a boutique executive search and talent advisory firm based in New York City. At CFW, she manages a team of talent consultants, co-leads strategy and operations of the firm, and plays an active role with clients in a consulting and account management capacity. As a part of her work at CFW, Rachel also co-founded a women’s leadership initiative called Changing the Conversation, with the mission of advancing women towards leadership and helping to achieve the ultimate goal of gender equality in the highest ranks of the corporate world.
Earlier in her career, Rachel worked as a personal and career counselor in the nonprofit sector. She has a B.A. from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and an M.A. in Counseling from New York University.
Hunter Elspas
Hunter Elspas is a senior in college attending the Metropolitan State University of Denver and is working towards finishing his degree in Advanced Manufacturing Sciences with a concentration in Industrial Design. Hunter has been working on campus as a Peer Mentor to provide support to other students for the last three years and after graduating wants to go into the design industry and work for a company that has an ecological and inclusive mindset.
Hunter wanted to be on the board for Blue Star Recyclers because he is also Autistic and was approached by a professor who is a supporter and researcher for Autism about the opportunity. Hunter thought it would be a great way to get into something he believes in; A company that is inclusive of neurological diversity and focuses on helping save the planet from global warming, toxic waste, and supporting those in need of technology. So he decided to apply and here we are!
John Griffith
As president of Alpine Waste & Recycling, John Griffith has built a company with consistently growing revenues and increasingly influential presence in the Denver area's waste and recycling industries. John founded Alpine in 1999 in his Washington Park bungalow as a one truck operation. Today Alpine employs over 200 employees with annual revenues in excess of $33 million.
John was a finalist for ColoradoBiz Magazine's CEO of the Year award in 2007 and 2008, and a finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2010 and 2012. Alpine received ColoradoBiz Magazine's "Top Company" Award in 2008, was named one of Colorado's Top Companies to Watch by ColoradoBiz for 2010, and was named as one of the Denver Business Journal's Fastest Growing Private Colorado Companies for 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2010.
Originally from Uvalde Texas, John attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he received his degree in business. He has twin sons, one of whom was diagnosed with autism at age 2. John also serves on the board for Firefly Autism.
Mark Hoblitzell
Our history with Mark goes back to 2016 when he served as the Environmental Sustainability Coordinator for the Town of Vail, where he worked on a variety of projects related to waste reduction, energy efficiency, and transportation. In 2019 he became Business Services Coordinator for the Northwest Colorado Workforce Area serving Eagle, Lake, and Summit Counties. In that position Mark works with businesses on understanding labor market issues and how to best attract and retain talent in rural Colorado.
Mark is a certified workforce development professional and received his M.B.A from West Virginia University, and a Graduate Certificate from CU Leeds School of Business in Corporate Social Responsibility. This unique background is a strong match with our mission of recycling electronics to create jobs for people with disAbilities.
Karen Kunstbeck
Karen Kunstbeck received her Bachelor of Science from Concordia University Wisconsin in Business & Accounting. She currently is the Accounting Manager for Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc. (MEAU) based in Vernon Hills, IL. Here she over sees the day-to-day accounting activities and supports global branch offices and operations.
At MEAU, Karen has been a member of the philanthropy committee, VISION, for over 15 years, serving in various roles including Chairperson, Vice-Chair and currently Treasurer. She serves as project lead of Vision’s annual Disability Mentoring Day during National Disability Employment Awareness month. Karen is also actively engaged in the company’s local recycling drives, environmental conservation efforts at an outdoor educational center that supports youths with disabilities, and participates in practice interviews with students with Autism and development disabilities as they prepare for the workforce.
Garrett Mayberry
Garrett Mayberry joined the Boettcher Foundation in 2017 as Special Assistant to the CEO. He supports the foundation’s leadership, communications and grantmaking programs as special projects coordinator.
Prior to joining the Boettcher Foundation, Garrett worked as a fellow at El Pomar Foundation, where he hosted international visitors, launched an environmental stewardship program, and supported grants and communications. He also served as an intern with the grants and scholarship programs at the Boettcher Foundation.
Garrett attended the University of Colorado Boulder as a Boettcher Scholar, where he studied International Affairs and was a Presidents Leadership Class member and class advisor. He was an advisory board member of Beanstalk Foundation and member of Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation.
Adam Melnick
Adam is a Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he teaches a variety of entrepreneurship related courses and works with MSU Denver's Center for Entrepreneurship. His research interests include access to capital for underserved businesses as well as social impact businesses. Prior to joining MSU Denver, Adam worked as Senior Entrepreneurship Officer and In-house Counsel at Colorado Lending Source, where Adam worked with over 125 small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs as the facilitator for their Ice House Entrepreneur Development program. This program helped his organization remain an integral part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem across the Front Range. Adam also co-founded Conscious Capitalism Colorado. CCC inspires, educates, and assists individuals and businesses to implement the pillars of Conscious Capitalism and thrive financially while elevating the quality of life for all stakeholders.
Todd Steffen
Todd is Vice President in Colliers Industrial Real Estate & Supply Chain Practice. Over his 25+ years in the industry, Todd has led global transportation, inventory management, network optimization, and automation & technology teams.
While at Walgreens, Todd worked on development of distribution facilities to employ people with significant cognitive disabilities. From this experience, Todd developed a personal passion for creating large scale employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the distribution industry. In 2017, Todd and his wife, Melody, founded Higher Purpose Gifts, a national gourmet gift set company that employs people with cognitive disabilities.