Angel K Love Project

CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Michelle is from Aurora, Colorado. She is of Spanish, Mexican-American, Native American and German heritage, and she is proud to be part of the LGBTQ community. She has worked with kids for more than 20 years. After earning her Master’s in Education with an ESL endorsement, she taught for eight years in public schools and two years in Spain. Some of her favorite years were teaching refugee kids from all over the world, at a school where more than 52 languages were spoken.

She first felt called to help kids in need as a teenager, and that grew as she traveled. After seeing orphaned and abandoned children in India, she wanted to help kids who don’t get enough love. She just didn’t know where to start.

In 2012, her girlfriend Karina died in a car accident. Through that loss, Michelle grew closer to Amy. They became best friends, then partners, and then they got married. Together they started Angel K Love Project.

Michelle is a Reiki Master-Teacher and a certified yoga, mindfulness and social emotional learning facilitator. She is CEO of Hendo Care Farm. She loves hiking, gardening, her nieces and nephew, and all the fur and feather babies on the farm.

CO-FOUNDER | PRESIDENT | OFFICER

Amy knows a little care can go a long way. As a kid, she struggled with dyslexia and other learning disabilities that made reading, writing and math hard. She was also bullied from elementary school through high school and often felt alone. She believes those experiences led her to teaching and helping kids.

She has worked with kids for 20 years. Her favorite memories are of working with kids with special needs, who always light up her heart. She believes those kids are often forgotten and deserve just as much love and attention as any child.

In New Zealand, Amy assisted at a horse therapy school for at-risk youth, foster kids and kids with disabilities. Seeing what the horses did for those kids planted her dream of bringing horses into her own work.

Karina was a dear friend. Amy believes meeting Michelle through Karina was “Divine Intervention.” Their shared vision for kids grew into a partnership and a marriage. Amy is proud to be part of the LGBTQ community.

Amy is also an artist and illustrated the children’s book The Magic of Love. She loves art, rugby, cooking, working on the tractor and, yes, vacuuming.

VICE PRESIDENT | OFFICER

Cathy has spent her career working with human energy. Since 1994, she has coached thousands of leaders and entrepreneurs. She created the Get Clarity® Operating System, a method that brings together body, mind and spirit for life and business.

Cathy is the Founding Director of Clarity International®, a coaching and leadership training firm in Colorado. She and her husband, Gary Hawk, wrote the award-winning book Get Clarity®: The Lights-On Guide to Manifesting Success in Life and Work, and SHIFT: A Guidebook to Above-the-Line, Positive Thinking.

She grew up on the East Coast. In 1974 she moved to Washington State and bought 40 acres on the banks of a wild river. That’s where she found her love of organic gardening, growing perennials and vegetables.

Her son was born in 1985, and she calls being his mom the favorite gift of her life. Today she loves growing gardens, spending time with her son and his wife, playing with her twin granddaughters, and building Clarity with her husband.

Cathy joined the Angel K Love Project board in 2017.

TREASURER | OFFICER

Julene has worked in the financial industry since 2011. She has more than 20 years of experience in operations, marketing, event planning, HR, corporate finance, compliance, training and executive support. She also owned a Creative Memories business for 13 years, where she ran events and helped clients with digital software.

She likes organizing, improving processes and keeping track of the details that make long-term goals happen. She cares about helping people and wants to make a real difference. She looks for people and organizations that support positive, natural and healthy change.

Julene is a fourth-generation Coloradan. She says being a mother is her greatest calling and blessing, and she loves watching her kids grow into amazing adults. She loves to laugh, keep learning and find something to be grateful for each day. In her free time she practices yoga, takes photos, scrapbooks, cooks, volunteers and spends time with the people she loves.

Julene joined the Angel K Love Project board in 2017.

GARDEN PROJECT DIRECTOR | DIRECTOR

Judy’s favorite place to be is in nature. She calls herself a flower child. She grew up in Detroit and spent lots of time exploring Northern Michigan with her family. Her dad was a science teacher, so every trip was a chance to learn about rocks, trees and how living things depend on each other.

Travel deepened her love of the outdoors. She has walked the Camino in Spain, traveled solo through Thailand, sailed the Caribbean, dived the Great Barrier Reef and seen mountain gorillas in Uganda.

At home, she gardens. Flowers, herbs, vegetables. She just loves playing in the dirt. After more than 55 years of building gardens, she became an award-winning flower arranger.

Judy earned her Master’s in Business and worked in health promotion and medical businesses. She raised two children. She has volunteered as President of the Cleveland Clinic Auxiliary and as a flower arranger for the Denver Botanic Gardens CSA program.

She loves watching others grow. She believes getting kids out in nature is an essential part of childhood, and that exploring the earth and having fun doing it can help them for life.

BOARD MEMBER

Hillary’s passion is holistic wellness. She is a registered dietitian and yoga instructor, and she loves teaching in a way that makes the health journey fun and lasting. Most of her career has focused on seniors and children.

She grew up in New York City before moving south. Nutrition became her second career as soon as she discovered it. She went back to school for a second bachelor’s degree and a Master’s in Public Health, then became a registered dietitian. Public health and nutrition education are her specialties.

She works as a clinical dietitian for a nutrition consulting company in the Asheville area. She is an avid yogi, loves to move, and calls herself both a simple and complex foodie. She loves to laugh and be around people and animals.

Hillary is thankful to work with Angel K Love Project. She says its mission lines up with what she believes helps kids grow in a positive direction.

BOARD MEMBER

Elizabeth (she/her or they/them) has a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Washington, with a focus on Community-Centered Integrative Practice. She is a licensed Independent Clinical Social Work Associate. She identifies as a queer, neurodivergent, multi-racial woman. She is especially passionate about working with LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC youth who have experienced trauma or are neurodiverse.

She grew up in a small farming town in rural Indiana. She was once a kid in need herself, and she knows how much good connections with people, animals and nature can mean.

Elizabeth has worked with youth and families for 10 years as an educator, therapist, mentor, tutor, group facilitator and coach. Her own experiences of feeling “othered” drive her to create spaces where every young person has a chance to shine.

Her clinical work looks at the whole person and their environment. It is grounded in how trauma and oppression affect the brain and daily life. Her toolkit includes Motivational Interviewing, art therapy, mindfulness, somatic movement, family systems therapy, CBT and DBT skills.