Dr. Ritu Chopra, Ph. D. is the Executive Director of The PAR²A Center and is an Assistant Research Professor at the School of Education and Human Development (SEHD) of the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Chopra has been responsible for grant administration, training, research, and fiscal management at the Center for the last 15 years. She is currently the Principal Investigator and Lead Project Director on six projects funded by various funding agencies: U.S. Department of Education (Office of Innovation and Improvement and Office of Special Education Programs); Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE); and, the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). In addition, Dr. Chopra worked for over 10 years in the capacity of a teacher, trainer, researcher and administrator in various educational institutions in her native country, India. She completed her Ph.D. in the Educational Leadership and Innovation program at the University of Colorado Denver in 2002 with recognition as an outstanding graduate. Dr. Chopra’s research has focused on the roles of teachers and paraeducators, professional development and the supervision of paraeducators and collaboration among paraeducators, teachers, parents, and leadership in inclusive schools. She has published a book, several articles and instructional materials in the U.S. as well as in India.

Geraldine I. DiPalma (Geri) is the Assistant Director of the Center. She oversees the Comprehensive Training Opportunities for Paraprofessionals Early Intervention Services (CO-TOP*EIS) project and the Hybrid CO-TOP*EIS project at The PAR²A Center, University of Colorado Denver. She also shares overall leadership and administrative responsibilities with the Executive Director. She is a current Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado Denver with a concentration on special education and family involvement. Her professional career brings over 25 years of experience working with special education students on all levels from infant to high school. She completed a Ski*Hi home-based education program working with parents, paraprofessionals, and special education teachers. Working on federal grants for over eight years has enhanced Geri’s skills in evaluating programs, attending and participating in conferences, as well as work with institutions of higher education. She possesses the proficiencies required to coordinate and organize programs to form collaborative coalitions throughout Colorado. Her degrees in Communications, Deaf Studies, and Infant Home-Based Programs are valuable assets in her work.

Veronica Marquez-Hepworth is the Training and Career Ladder Projects Coordinator at the PAR²A Center. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Colorado at Denver. Veronica has worked as a special education paraprofessional with Denver Public Schools and was a program coordinator with the College Assistant Migrant Program at Metro State College of Denver. She has also worked at the Community College of Denver for TRIO Scholars which is one of eight federally programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education to provide academic support for low-income, first-generation students and students with disabilities. The program is designed to help students overcome academic, social and cultural barriers to higher education. Besides her research on paraprofessional issues, Veronica has done extensive work on access to health care for children from immigrant families in Colorado. Veronica is responsible for providing the following support services to the participants in our current projects: enrolling; advising; overseeing tuition payments; and, navigating the systems in school districts as well colleges attended by the participants. Veronica also coordinates the PAR²A Center Coalition which includes representatives from community colleges and school districts and acts as a conduit between all organizations represented in the coalition

Willie is the Project Evaluator and Database Manager at the PAR²A Center. His responsibilities as Project Evaluator require implementing the evaluation plans for the PAR²A Center’s diverse projects as required by the funding agencies including collecting project data, conducting analyses of the data and submitting progress reports on project performance and outcome measures. Willie also has management oversight over the Center’s databases and website. Willie holds a Masters of Arts degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver. Willie’s professional experience includes organizational consulting, executive coaching and leadership development, training, curriculum development as well as qualitative and quantitative research. He has taught Applied Statistics Using SPSS at UCD and has published numerous articles in both academic and trade journals on leadership topics.

Mike oversees the recruitment, networking and community outreach efforts for all grant projects and services of the PAR2A Center. Mike has been an educator in Colorado for 31 years and has spent the majority of his career in Southern Colorado as a teacher, coach and administrator. He has a Master of Arts degree in Secondary Education and currently holds a K- 12 Principal License in the state of Colorado. He has been a National, Regional and State Conference presenter on Drop-out Prevention programs. Mike is the former Executive Director of Equity and Minority Student Success for the Mesa County Valley School District #51 in Grand Junction, Colorado. Mike has also worked as an educational consultant implementing an intervention program for at-risk Latino students called the Latino Education Achievement to Graduation (LEAG) Program in various districts and states. It is currently being utilized in five Colorado school districts.

Erin Linenberger came to the PAR²A Center after graduating from the Broomfield High School transition program. Erin has been an integral part of the team at the PAR²A Center for the last seven years. She supports the professional staff in a variety of capacities. In her spare time, Erin enjoys reading, quilting, and spending time with friends and family. Erin also dedicates her time as a volunteer at a nursing home.