WHO WE ARE
HUNI represents the Highland community that is home to more than 10,000 people and growing. Highland United Neighbors, Inc, bounded by West 38th Avenue, Federal Boulevard, Speer Boulevard, and the South Platte River. (HUNI) is a Registered Neighborhood Organization comprised of residents, business owners, non-profits and schools. HUNI is supported by volunteers as well as generous individual supporters, families, businesses and corporations - all committed to making our community a better place to live, work and thrive. HUNI strives to collaborate with multiple stakeholders to create a unified voice for our community.
NW DENVER REGISTERED NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS (RNO'S)
HUNI strongly believes in creating a synergistic effort with contiguous Registered Neighborhood Organizations for maximum community results. The NW Denver RNOs reciprocate with the various HUNI committee meetings and both organizations gain by recruiting volunteers through their respective community for a strong and cohesive initiative push.
Annual Meeting
April 16
Thank you for your interest in the annual meeting hosted by Highland United Neighbors, Inc. We greatly value your involvement, comments and vision for your Highland community.
By completing this simple survey you will be entered to win some delicious CURATION beverages. Your responses will help us curate meaningful conversation at our gathering in April.
Pizza will be provided by Tony Ps and beverages will be available for purchase from The Bug. Curation Beverages will be offering some tastings.
Below is the Board Slate that we'll be voting on at the meeting.
CANDIDATES FOR 2024 HUNI BOARD
Lisa Bardwell | Current Member has lived in Highland for over 20 years and is on her 2nd stint with the HUNI Board. She values what a fabulous and varied community we have in Highland and would like to ensure we are engaging that diversity. This coming year, she would like to ensure we have strong partnerships with the schools, explore historic designations within Highland, and maintain the momentum HUNI has with outreach along our business corridors.
Tai Bickham | Current Member is the Marketing and Community Specialist at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. She graduated from the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs with a B.A. in Communications and received her Associate’s in Photography from the Art Institute of Colorado. Tai facilitates the Holiday
Advisory Cabinet committee which is comprised of legacy neighbors of the Northside neighborhood that shares insights on programming and community initiatives at MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater. Colorado born and bred, she enjoys the outdoors but is a city gal at heart. You can find her taking in a concert or enjoying the variety of arts within Denver.
Walt Bradbury | Current Member has been a Highland resident since retiring from the corporate world in 2018. He has served the last 4 years as Treasurer of HUNI, where he has enjoyed seeing HUNI play a key role in community development, and in creating events to bring the community together. Walt hopes to continue with HUNI as Treasurer, engaging productively with Highland businesses, and working with Denver Police Department toward improving safety and security in the neighborhood.
Jacob Kauffman | Current Member has lived in Highland for 5 years. He has a background in urban planning and development, and is passionate about making a difference in the neighborhood we live in. He loves Highland because of its history, location, culture, and walkability. He would like to join the HUNI board of Directors for a couple reasons. First, he feels like it is a great way to give back to the community we live in. Second, he feels like it would be fun to be able to meet other people who live and work in the area, and hear their thoughts and ideas of what could make Highland a better place to call home. And lastly, there is a rich history and culture in the area that he believes needs to be preserved, all while making improvements that create a more sustainable community for future generations.
Michelle Marcu | Current Member has lived in Highland since 2008. She is a retired attorney. She volunteers with MaxFund Animal Adoption Center; the Board of Highland United Neighbors, Inc. (HUNI) and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver Holiday Advisory Cabinet. Michelle helps to organize the Highland 4th of July Parade and
other events and conducts business outreach and quarterly neighborhood cleanups. Michelle wants to continue her efforts to enhance the amazing Highland neighborhood.
Evan Munsing | New Member has lived in Highland since 2019. He is a financial professional specializing in small business development and is excited to help make Highland an even better place to live, work and play. Evan loves living in Highland because it provides a sense of community, walkability, and quiet in the middle of a big city. He would like to join the HUNI Board of Directors to help support the ongoing integration of new residential buildings, restaurants, and businesses into Highland and ensure that our neighborhood retains its character while continuing to adapt to meet the needs of residents.
Brandon C. Smith | Current Member has lived in the Potter Highlands with his family since 2009 and enjoys the walkability and historical context of the neighborhood which gives the area a smaller town feeling. With a formal background in urban and transportation planning, Brandon works to utilize his knowledge and experience to make this neighborhood a better place for residents and visitors alike. This coming year, he would like to be involved through helping out with hands on work at events.
Tom Strobel | Current Member and his partner, Sue moved here six years ago from the Florida Keys. Tom has been on the HUNI Board for five years. He has found the proximity to living near downtown, a diverse neighborhood and the richness of urban living just about intoxicating. Tom's time on the Board has been very rewarding as a result of the projects he has and will work on. Tom most looks forward to enhancing sustainability in the Highland, especially those projects that help people see that sustainability can be woven into urban life and contribute to reversing the dire consequences of our current climate trajectory.
Emily Tucker | New Member has lived in Highland for 6 years and has been raising her young family in the neighborhood. She has a masters degree in Urban Planning and in her professional life she has spent her career working on the public and private sides of economic development, including for the City of New York, the Downtown Denver Partnership, and for a private real estate developer based here in Denver. Throughout her career, her focus has been on promoting good design in cities and in buildings and using real estate development as a tool for economic
development.
She would like to use her professional background and her personal love for Highland as a HUNI Board Member with the broad goal of helping to sustain Highland as a walkable, livable, diverse urban neighborhood. After 6 years in the
neighborhood, she feels like she is in a good place of understanding its assets and challenges to contribute positively to the neighborhood. She looks forward to engaging with even more members and stakeholders of the neighborhood and gaining an even better understanding of its history and challenges going forward. Specifically, she would like to leverage her professional background to engage with the City and private businesses to encourage good design and safe streets and sidewalks, and promote local businesses.
Michael “Pete” Winterscheidt | Current Member is a long time Denver resident who has been living and playing in Highland for a decade. He is passionate about making the Highland community its best self and ensuring it is welcoming to all. Pete is involved in community organizations like Ignite Denver which hosts shows at the Bug Theatre, INC and the Denver Bicycle Lobby. He is most engaged by HUNI’s drive to see a more diverse cross section of the neighborhood and the desire to see more community here. In the next year, Pete would like to support events like our
Halloween parade and to facilitate more discussions around issues raised through the Near Northwest Area Plan.
The HUNI Vision
Highland United Neighbors, Inc. is a Registered Neighborhood Organization comprised of volunteers from the public, private and business sectors, committed to the mission of the Highland community and dedicated to furthering its goals.
The HUNI Mission
The Mission of HUNI is to facilitate consistent and responsible communication among Highland neighbors and the community at-large, to improve the quality of life for its residents, organizations and businesses and to provide advocacy and promotion for our community.
Membership at HUNI
Membership in HUNI shall be open to all persons, eighteen years of age and older who are in one of the following categories:
Resident Member is any person who maintains their residence, owns a business, or who owns real property within the boundary of HUNI,is considered a member when a valid mailing address is provided.Resident members shall be entitled to vote on HUNI matters.
Non-Resident Member (“Friend of HUNI”) may be any individual, business, family, club, association, community organization, church or other entity located outside the boundary of HUNI who is currently a member of HUNI. Non-Resident members shall not be entitled to a vote at HUNI meetings.
HUNI does not require any fees, but welcomes and encourages individual and business donations.
Voting Privileges
Resident Members. All resident members of HUNI, whether free or dues paying, shall be entitled to one collective vote at any authorized meeting of HUNI, where issues of interest to the community at large are to be determined, and one vote in the election of officers at the Annual Meeting of HUNI or upon a question of corporate dissolution. In the event a quorum of membership is not present, such matters may be voted upon by a quorum of the Board of Directors.
Nonresident Members. Shall not be entitled to a vote at HUNI membership meetings.
Proxy. Each member of HUNI is entitled to one vote in the election of officers. Voting by proxy is not permitted.
HISTORY OF HIGHLAND
“She is upon a high eminence, proudly overlooking her smoky neighbor, the city of Denver, her atmosphere untarnished by factory or smelter smoke, but as pure and fresh and sweet as the God of Nature ever gave Man.”
Learn about our storied history here.
Board of Directors
Brandon C. Smith
Michael “Pete” Winterscheidt