Who We Are

Lydia Prado, PhD

Executive Director

Dr. Lydia Prado is the Executive Director of Lifespan Local, which activates community-driven solutions to collectively identified challenges by partnering across sectors, breaking barriers and elevating community voices. By maximizing sustainable assets within a neighborhood, Lifespan Local is able to reimagine what is possible, creating community spaces where health and wellness thrive.

Dr. Prado approaches her work from a systems and strengths-based perspective, with an emphasis on diversity, equity and community-based leadership. Dr. Prado is a place-maker, convening partners with a shared commitment to healthy living and social change.

Before starting Lifespan Local, Dr. Prado spent 17 years with the Mental Health Center of Denver as the Vice President of Child & Family Services. She is the project visionary behind the Mental Health Center of Denver’s Dahlia Campus for Health & Well-Being, an innovative community center in Northeast Park Hill that promotes well-being across the lifespan. The site features an inclusive preschool, a full service dental clinic for children, a one acre urban farm, 5,400 sq ft aquaponics greenhouse, horticultural therapy spaces, community gardens, teaching kitchen, community room, gymnasium and a full array of mental health services for all ages.

About Dahlia Campus for Health & Well-Being

Located in Denver’s Northwest Park Hill, Dahlia Campus for Health & Well-Being provides a wholistic approach to well-being that supports mind, body and community. This campus is an open space for community members to connect with each other, learn new skills and find the help they need. Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being began through the act of having conversation — conversations about health, connection, raising children, growing old, hope & despair. As Dr. Lydia Prado dreamed of a new approach to mental health care, she met residents of Denver’s Northeast Park Hill neighborhood who were dreaming, too. These conversations centered around words like food, daycare, jobs, and afterschool activities. As these conversations continued, themes began to emerge, people were looking for a way to connect mind, body, and community. As the Vice President of Child and Family Services at the Mental Health Center of Denver, Dr. Prado was tasked to meet the growing community need for services in limited therapy space. She sensed an opportunity to meet a pragmatic need through an entirely new and innovative approach to mental health care. Rather than addressing each risk factor one-by-one, why not promote community well-being comprehensively — through the built environment, partnerships, and lifespan programming? Her process of listening the community took years, and her commitment to centering a community’s voice took priority over everything during this process.

Grayson Bourke

Operations Support Specialist

Hailing originally from central Wisconsin, Grayson has worked as a fundraiser, a tutor, a mentor, a youth advisor, and a community engagement coordinator in youth-serving nonprofits for the past five years. A two-time AmeriCorps alumnus, Grayson is passionate about serving the community, becoming a civic leader, and cultivating socioeconomic opportunity for at-promise youth in low-income communities.

Prior to moving to Denver, Grayson graduated with a Master of Science in Community and Economic Development from Illinois State University’s Stevenson Center. Before graduate school in Illinois, Grayson received a double major in political science and international studies from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

In his free time, Grayson enjoys reading about our world, hiking/camping, and traveling to new places. When he isn’t learning or doing nonprofit work, you can find Grayson cheering for the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Arizona Coyotes (NHL) or seeing some live music.

Paulina Erices, MS, IBCLC, IMH-E II

Bilingual Project Director

Paulina is the mother of three multicultural Latino children and Project Director for Lifespan Local. She provides direct supervision to the Alma Team and oversees and supports the work of the Public Health Educators Team and Family Leadership Training Institute/Abriendo Puertas programs.

Paulina earned her Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University, a Masters in Organizational Development from the University of Denver, and is completing her PhD in Health and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Colorado - Denver. Paulina has over 18 years of experience working with families with young children. As a Maternal Child Health specialist for Jefferson County Public Health, she developed a NICU follow-up home visitation program and the pediatric emergency preparedness plan, co-founded and coordinated the Conectando Network (former Adelante Jeffco), established community navigation and lactation support groups focused on the Latino Spanish speaking community, and lead other initiatives to support leadership and partnerships among communities and organizations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she managed the new program Whole Community Inclusion to ensure the pandemic response and recovery implementation included health equity practices that recognize the needs and the strengths of priority populations in the county. Her areas of current work include promoting perinatal and infant mental health along the continuum of care; building community capacity to navigate health and education systems; facilitating organizational change to embrace linguistic and culturally responsive practices; and establishing community-placed participatory programs to strengthen communities. She likes to be with people, learn from and with others, and connect passions for meaningful work.

Monique Gallegos

Front Office Coordinator

Monique Gallegos serves as Lifespan Local’s Front Office Coordinator. Originally from the San Luis Valley, where much of her family still lives. Monique relocated to West Denver, where she has resided for most of her life. Before joining Lifespan, Monique worked for more than a decade in Denver’s Home Health Community ensuring the care of our elders’ daily, physical, and nutritional needs at their homes. Monique considers being a part of Lifespan Local an honor because of the positive impact it carries in serving her West Denver Community. She can usually be found taking care of her garden during the summers, visiting and cooking good food (from her garden) with family, being active outdoors, and having a good time with her friends.

Ken Knoblock, MBA

Project Director

Originally from Indiana, Ken moved to Denver 15 years ago to build houses with Habitat for Humanity and fell in love with the city.  He has since continued working in the non-profit sector, serving individuals with disabilities and people experiencing homelessness and poverty.  Most recently, Ken served as Program Director at the St Francis Center where he developed and led comprehensive services for homeless individuals.   

Ken is a passionate advocate for SW Denver where he has led the Athmar Park Neighborhood Association as Board President for the past 2 years.  He is working on capacity building, and creating an inclusive/community driven organization. 

Ken is thrilled to be with Lifespan Local and excited to be part of the team.  Ken graduated with a BA in Psychology from DePauw University and an MBA from Regis University.  

Ariackna Gonzalez

Site Coordinator
Family Leadership Training Institute

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Ariackna is the daughter of Latino immigrants, and knows firsthand the challenges and opportunities families face when coming to the United States. Based on those experiences, she believes in the power of education and the strength found in a united, informed, enriched, community. Through her work serving children, youth, and families in different sectors, Ariackna has developed skills needed to engage and empower people to be leaders, no matter what stage of life they are at. Now, being a wife and a mother of 3 children,  understanding the importance and relevance of family in society, she wants to work towards facilitating bonds and relationships across languages, generations, cultures, and races.

Her goal working with Lifespan Local, is to equip the southwest Denver community with relevant knowledge, skills, and connections, inviting them to embrace and act upon the beauty and power of their potential.   

 "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

-John Quincy Adams

Natalia Sullivan

Director of operations

Natalia joined Lifespan Local as a Program Manager supporting Community Partnerships. She brings 8 years of experience in product and project management after previously serving as a program coordinator at the Mental Health Center of Denver and assistant general manager for a local food company.

Natalia adapts to the task at hand, from organizing a 700-person event to rebranding and reformulating an entire food line, with organization, intention, and grace. She believes in the power of community expertise, sees the inter-relatedness of social drivers and how they affect people and neighborhoods, and values collaboration over competition.  Natalia is a Denver native who attended the University of Colorado and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Evolutionary and Ecology Biology.