Emerging Leaders Class of 2016

Denise Walden is a Senior Community Health Worker (Community Outreach & Engagement Coordinator). She has dedicated her life to educating, empowering and uplifting her community on many levels, ranging from advocacy to system reform and policy change. She believes in not talking and complaining about the issues and barriers that plague the community, but being the change she wants to see in the community. “We can no longer lead from a place of ‘Do what I say,’ but a place of ‘I will show you what I can and will do,’” she says. Walden is hoping that through the Emerging Leaders program she will gain skills and tools that will assist her in motivating and empowering the community to a place of recognizing their individual strengths, the strength of unifying, having a voice and taking action on the community issues/barriers they are passionate about.