Leadership

     A fourth-generation Coloradan and Denver native, Vivian has always had a passion for community and education. She graduated with honors from Colorado College in 2001 with a BA in English, then spent four years in San Francisco working and volunteering with nonprofits like Project Open Hand, San Francisco School Volunteers, James S. Brady Therapeutic Riding Program, Junior League, and Arts in Action.

In 2005, she returned to Denver to take on the role of Development Associate at Save Our Youth Mentoring Project, an organization serving over 500 urban youth each year. Two years later, she moved to Telluride, where she spent five years as the Executive Director of One to One San Miguel Mentoring Program. There, she launched the annual Top Chef fundraiser, a multi-day summer camping trip, and helped expand the program to reach more youth than ever before.

Recognizing a need for teen-specific mentorship in the region, Vivian co-founded True North in 2014 alongside Lanier Nelson and Betsy Walker. The three built the organization from the ground up, working as unpaid staff for four years to establish a thriving, grassroots mentoring program. In 2009, Vivian earned a scholarship from the El Pomar Foundation and Telluride Foundation to participate in the Colorado Community Resource Center’s Nonprofit Leadership and Management Program, which she successfully completed.

Vivian is deeply passionate about education and loves helping students find their pathway to college. In her free time, she enjoys cooking for family and friends and exploring and photographing river canyons and other wild places. She also has a deep connection to family history—traveling to China in 2000 and 2001 to visit many of the Sichuan sites associated with her great-grandfather, David Crockett Graham.