Board of Directors Bios
Dan Jorgensen, Ph.D.
Board Chair
Dan Jorgensen, Ph.D., currently serves as the Accountability Support Manager within the Colorado Department of Education. He previously served as the Data, Research, and Accountability Officer at Harrison School District 2, the Assistant Director of the Division of Accountability and Research within the Aurora Public Schools, and as a project leader within the Department of Planning and Analysis within the Denver Public Schools. Dr. Jorgensen has earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Policy & Administration from the University of Denver, a Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he was a Rhoden fellowship recipient, and a Bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Dr. Jorgensen previously served as an elected member of the APS Board of Education. During different points of his board tenure he served as the Vice-President, Treasurer, Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee representative, RMSEL board member, and as a member of the Institutional Advisory Committee for Pickens Technical College. As part of his work with the Colorado Department of Education, he was appointed by the Commissioner of Education to serve as a Regional Education Laboratory (Central States) Governing Board member (2013-Present) and as an appointed member of the Central Comprehensive Center (2016-Present). Currently, he serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver where he instructs graduate level Educational Leadership and Policy courses.
Dan has received numerous awards for his work in education including the A+ Game Changer Award from A+ Colorado along with advocacy recognition awards from the Arc of Aurora, YAASPA and RISE Colorado. Also, he is a former recipient of the adjunct teaching award at Johnson & Wales University in Denver.
Natalie Doxey
VCS East Parent Representative
Natalie Doxey is a full-time mom to her four children and also provides daily care for her elderly father in-law & grandfather in-law. She enjoys spending time with family, being spoiled by the beauty of Colorado, volunteering at her local church as an Interfaith Specialist, participating in her community, and going out for long bike rides down the Highline Canal.
Natalie has been a Vanguard Classical School parent for 11 years; all four of her children currently attend Vanguard Classical School East. Natalie runs her own photography business in her spare time.
Kat Ling
Community Representative
Kat Ling (she/they) is a queer, Asian American leader who serves as Interim CEO for Moonshot edVentures, an organization dedicated to surfacing and supporting a diverse pipeline of leaders to launch innovative learning environments in Metro Denver. Prior to her current role, Kat served as Chief Program Officer and Chief of Staff, where she led programming and alumni services for a 68+ alumni network, >80% of whom identity as People of Color and >60% who identify as women or non-binary. Kat began her career as a 4th-grade teacher in rural Mississippi and later worked at Teach For America, launching the Arkansas region, designing and executing diversity, equity & inclusiveness programming for staff and educators, and coaching K-12 teachers to improve their effectiveness and culturally responsive practices. Kat served as the Board Chair of Teach For America’s national Asian American Pacific Islander Resource Group and currently serves on the TFA National LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Kat graduated from Cornell University, where she studied English and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and conducted an honors thesis on cultural responsiveness in the Young Adult fiction genre. She received a Masters through the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, through which she designed a racial equity fellowship for chapter leaders at GLSEN, a national LGBTQ+ educational equity organization.
Ousman Ba
Community Representative
Ousman Ba is originally from Senegal, and was raised in Denver, Colorado. A first generation college graduate at Colorado State University with a degree in political science and international studies. Upon graduation, Ousman committed to a year of service with Americorps City Year, where he worked at Miami Central High School preparing students with the social, emotional, and academic skills and mindsets to succeed in school and in life. After City Year, he moved back to Denver and worked in the banking industry as a treasury management representative with FirstBank. During his time at FirstBank, he volunteered with African Leadership Group(ALG) as the Youth Empowerment Program facilitator. After two years as a volunteer, he joined the ALG team as a Program Coordinator. Past graduate of the Leadership Africa Program with African Leadership Group and currently is part of Leadership Aurora class of 2023. He sits on the Board of Ednium Collective. Ousman is passionate about serving the community, loves sports, reading, traveling and enjoys time with family and friends.
Ryan Gensler
Community Representative
Ryan Gensler is the Executive Vice President of CareerWise USA, working to create a more equitable and inclusive economy by expanding modern youth apprenticeship across the US. His career in workforce began after his time as Marketing Manager and Director of Community Engagement for Intertech Plastics. Ryan was contracted by the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance to build work-based learning programs across Colorado. This led Ryan to manage the startup of CareerWise Colorado, a systemic approach to youth apprenticeships, akin to the Swiss VET System. Additionally, he helped build Governor Hickenlooper’s Business Experiential Learning (BEL) Commission and organized the Governor’s apprenticeship delegation to Switzerland. After helping run a gubernatorial campaign, Ryan went on to consult with various nonprofit and government organizations on workforce development initiatives, including raising
over $4M for the Colorado Workforce Development Council to upskill retail workers and
developing a 20-state network focused on skills in the digital economy, before returning to
CareerWise to lead national growth efforts. Since rejoining CareerWise he has built a technical
assistance and expansion division called CareerWise USA, supported the launch of CareerWise
youth apprenticeship programs in New York City, Buffalo, Indiana, Michigan, and Washington
D.C., and provides technical assistance to communities across the country. He received his bachelor’s in entrepreneurial management and marketing from Creighton University and was the first recipient of the Creighton Entrepreneurial Student Leader of the Year Award. Ryan served on the Boys Hope Girls Hope of Colorado Young Professionals Board from 2013 to 2018 and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Denver CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) ensuring children in the welfare system have a voice. He is also an appointed member of the American Swiss Foundation’s Young Leaders Conference. He enjoys traveling with his family and friends, skiing, cooking, and helping his husband’s family on their farm.