Vicki Hagen

I am the Executive Director of the Imagine Project, where I have taken over this nonprofit while working very closely with the founder to help expand the reach and create opportunity for an accessible mental health tool that can be accessed without a prescription, without needing to run through insurance or a doctor's note. The tool helps create connection and camaraderie in any group, whether that's a social group, a classroom, or a team of professionals. I get to do everything, which means I get to do marketing and work on branding, but what I love the most is being able to go into the community and offer workshops and expressive writing experiences that help people connect to themselves, understand themselves more, and then understand those people that they're sitting next to better. Before this role, I was the deputy director of Integrated Community, which serves the immigrant community in northwest Colorado. That was my first foray into the nonprofit sector, and it was almost like an underground world that I had no idea existed. I was in healthcare before that, and the nonprofit sector exists in a way that's trying to support some of the systemic challenges that communities face, which is what drew me to the Imagine Project. The common thread in all of my professional experience is helping people thrive, shine, and see their own value. I've never been just attached to a certain sector. Any sector that helps me create systems and tools that help people thrive is where I want to be.