Lorez Meinhold

Lorez is the founding Executive Director of Caring for Denver Foundation, funded by Denver and created by voters in 2018 to help address Denver’s mental health and substance misuse needs.  The Caring for Denver Foundation funded opportunities totaling over $69 million since its inception to improve the mental of Denver’s youth, reduce their risk of substance misuse, create greater public visibility around those issues to reduce stigma, support initiatives to divert those struggling with mental health and substance misuse away from the justice system and increase access to and use of resources for those struggling with mental health and substance misuse issues. Lorez has more than 20 years of health care policy and fundraising experience as a director of multi-lateral initiatives involving the public, private, and civic sectors, working at the local, state, and national levels and experience with a broad range of stakeholder engagement formats to inform policy. Prior to joining Caring for Denver, Lorez has served as Senior Policy Director at Keystone Policy Center, Senior Policy Director for two Governors in Colorado, Deputy Director for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, and Senior Program Officer for the Colorado Health Foundation as well as founder of a nonprofit.