Our CEO, William Sanders Sr., developed a passion for working with individuals with special needs from a young age. He had the privilege of assisting in his stepmother's special education classroom in the inner-city of Chicago during his summers, which ignited a lifelong dedication to this field. This commitment led him to become a special education teacher in Falcon, Colorado. However, his journey didn't end there.

William went on to become an Adjunct Professor at Everest College, where he taught entry-level math students. He also served as the Special Education Director at Florence Federal Prison. After that, he worked as a self-contained special education teacher in Warren, Ohio. He then held various roles at the Thomas Maclaren School, the Zebulon Pike Youth Services Center, and the Griffith Center. Throughout his time at the Griffith Center, he progressed from Vice Principal to Principal and ultimately to Residential Director. Additionally, during his tenure at the Griffith Center, he opened his home as a Host Home Provider for adults with disabilities.

These diverse experiences in different settings have shaped Mr. Sanders into the person he is today. He has gained comprehensive experience across all levels of special education, allowing him to understand the importance of comprehensive and effective care. His firsthand experience with this population has endowed him with deep insight and compassion for the children and adults receiving services, as well as for the dedicated caregivers who support them.

ADWO, which symbolizes calmness, is the embodiment of peace, tranquility, and quiet. The objective of ADWO is to create a safe and consistent environment for every client, enabling them to explore and define their own sense of independence. Through ADWO, we aim to foster the much-needed peace that our clients deserve.

In 2001, Kevin started working with disenfranchised youth as a counselor at a residential treatment center while pursuing his bachelor's degree at Metropolitan State University. This marked the beginning of his lifelong commitment to helping young people from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of issues.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice, Kevin decided to pursue an academic career by enrolling in the Doctoral Program for Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. While completing the coursework for a PhD Kevin was called back to working with youth due to his passion for the work. Kevin graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a master's in Criminology focusing on forensic psychology.

Kevin then started his career in serving youth in earnest as a counselor and supervisor at Jefferson Hills, a residential treatment center. In this position, Kevin supervised a milieu of adolescent males and females with significant behaviors and unaddressed trauma issues. In this position, Kevin was able to have a direct positive influence on youth and young adults. Kevin found that he had a talent for connecting with youth and helping them gain insight into their past trauma so that they could process it and move past it.

For the last 17 years, Kevin has continued to support youth and families by ensuring their safety, accessing resources, repairing relationships, and locating appropriate placements in various roles with Denver Human Services. In his current role, Kevin manages the detention roster for Denver Human Services by identifying appropriate placements. Working with youth, family, and community partners to ensure safe and successful outcomes for all.

Unfortunately, in this role, Kevin has seen a dearth of appropriate and high-quality placements for teens and young adults. This lack of appropriate placements for youth in need prompted Kevin to try to find solutions for this most important issue by creating and supporting placements in both residential and family settings.

Kevin enjoys traveling, spending time with his wife and two daughters, playing basketball, and reading.

With a background in portfolio management, client relationship management, and negotiation, Robert Giunta brings a wealth of expertise to his role as a Business Banking Relationship Manager. His professional skills include the ability to create strong working relationships across all levels of the company, problem-solving acumen, and a seamless transition from strategy to delivery. Robert also excels in consumer and commercial credit analysis, product development, and financial statement analysis.

In his current position, Robert serves as the primary advisor for business clients, focusing on cultivating new and existing relationships by providing tailored financial solutions and expertise. He excels in prospecting and acquiring new client relationships through networking and referrals, while providing valuable insights on credit administration, cash flow management, and business credit underwriting.

Robert's career highlights include driving multi-million dollar credit and deposit portfolio growth, while enhancing performance in several metrics across multi-branch networks. In addition to earning many quarterly and annual awards with the bank, Robert has completed several leadership programs within the bank and externally. He also serves the local community, currently sitting on the board of directors for two local non profit organizations.

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EunYoung Son has been practicing in the Denver metro area since 2008. Beginning her first year of law school through the end of the second year, EunYoung clerked for a personal injury firm in downtown Denver. She was able to participate in every stage of a personal injury case from intake, treatment, demand, negotiations, settlement, and litigation. Although every case is different and does not necessarily go through each of these stages, EunYoung was able to see the many possibilities and outcomes a case can take. During her third year, EunYoung clerked for a trust and estates firm and gained insight into estate planning and the probate process.

After graduating and passing the bar, EunYoung began her career practicing immigration and family law with a firm in Denver. In her five years with this firm, she gained valuable trial experience representing clients in removal proceedings in the Denver Immigration Court and also through representing clients in various family law matters. EunYoung then moved to a firm that specialized in personal injury and spent the next six year focusing exclusively on personal injury before founding Son Law Firm in the fall of 2021.

Dr. Marissa Prince is a Colorado native and spent the majority of her youth in Fountain, Colorado. She is a first-generation American, as well as, a first-generation college graduate. She was a teen mother and acted out violently throughout her youth. As an adult Marissa recognized the gap in culturally inclusive programming. Therefore, her mission became to be the person she needed when she was young.

Marissa has spent her career working in higher education, inpatient facilities, and providing mental health services for foster care children. She is excited to continue her work with Leadership Academy, and hopes to assist our youth and college mentors in their growth, ultimately dismantling the cradle-to-prison pipeline.