We have an incredible team of dedicated staff members whose passion, commitment and excellence ensure that San Miguel Resource Center carries forward its mission of empowering and supporting survivors and promoting prevention education and social change!
Lisa Sebree, Executive Director
she, her, hers
Lisa comes to SMRC after many years in England working to end gender-based violence through her work as Global Executive Director for Media Matters for Women, a US, UK and Sierra Leonean non-profit organization. She also worked with ECPAT International in Switzerland to produce its Global Legal Review on Sexual Exploitation of Children Online, a comprehensive tool for prosecutors and human rights activists worldwide. Lisa holds a law degree from Georgetown University and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Kansas. Her career in law ranged from criminal defense work to commercial matters and import/export law. As in-house counsel for a multinational telecommunications corporation, she held global responsibility for international trade issues. Lisa, her husband and three children adopted Telluride as their home in the US while living abroad for the past 25 years and she is excited to now call Telluride home.
Ellie Greene, Grants Manager
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Ellie’s role at San Miguel Resource Center is to manage SMRC’s extensive grant funding. SMRC is able to offer all of its services for free thanks to critical funding from federal, state, and local governments and foundations. She is grateful that funding from our nation’s capital is making its way to our remote mountain communities and she is proud of the difference our national and local funding has on the lives of our community members. Ellie loves writing about SMRC’s many accomplishments and the positive impact our work has on the safety and wellbeing of the residents of San Miguel County and West Montrose County. Ellie graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.A. in English. She worked in the publishing industry in both Boston and New York City before claiming Telluride as home. She has loved being a part of this community through her work with Mountainfilm, Telluride Film Festival, Telluride AIDS Benefit, and One to One Mentoring. When she’s not working, she spends every minute she can with her husband and their adorable son and daughter.
Destiny Farr, Advocacy Services Manager
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Destiny is excited to be the Advocacy Services Manager at SMRC, as she has dedicated her academic and professional career to serving survivors of gender-based violence. Destiny earned a BA in Criminal Justice and Women’s Studies from UNLV and an MA in Gender and Ethnic Studies from George Washington University. She has worked with victims and survivors in different capacities for many years and is excited to be applying those experiences and knowledge in her role at SMRC. Prior to her work at SMRC, Destiny was an advocate at Victim Outreach Inc (VOI) in Jefferson County, CO, where she provided systems-based victim services to victims of crime and trauma from 8 jurisdictions. Destiny is passionate about providing culturally appropriate, trauma-informed services and is particularly motivated to ensure equitable access to services for everyone; she also loves training and developing and expanding programs.
Destiny was raised in New Orleans and spent summers in Lewistown, MT-- she has moved all over the country as an adult, eventually settling in the Denver Metro area with her partner, Keoni, where they had their daughter Willow. After being offered a position at SMRC, Destiny and family purchased a home on the West End, where Keoni teaches Kindergarten and Willow attends 3rd grade.
When she’s not working, Destiny and family enjoy spending time outdoors-- they love camping, fishing, hiking, paddle boarding and are looking forward to exploring more outdoor winter activities!
Nicole Tatum, Rural Advocate
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Nicole was raised in Naturita, CO until the age of 8 and then moved to Wyoming. She has continued to come back throughout the years to visit family that lives in the area and has always loved the beauty of Colorado. While living in Big Piney, WY she worked as an EMT-Intermediate for 11 years and as an LPN for one year. She thoroughly enjoys helping others and doing her part for the community. Nicole returned to Colorado in 2021 and joined SMRC as the new Rural Victims Advocate where she works primarily in Norwood and the West End. She loves that her role as an advocate allows her to directly support clients and empower those individuals who are survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence. In her free time she enjoys reading, taking her dogs out to explore the area, learning yoga, and spending time with family. She is looking forward to meeting new people and finding new adventures!
Liza Cooney, Prevention Education Coordinator
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Liza Cooney joined San Miguel Resource Center’s Youth Violence Prevention Education Program in November 2020. Liza has lived in Telluride since 2018, where prior to SMRC, she worked for Bright Futures as their program development AmeriCorps VISTA serving families and child care providers in San Miguel, Ouray, Delta, Montrose, and San Juan counties. Liza graduated from Wheaton College (MA) in 2018 with a B.A. in psychology and a special focus on child development. Through her time with Bright Futures, Liza fostered a deep appreciation for upstream intervention and social-emotional education, so she is very grateful to continue this programming with the amazing students in our region!
Sally Harris-Porter, Victim Advocate/Volunteer Coordinator
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Sally Harris Porter joined San Miguel Resource Center’s Victim Advocacy and Volunteer Coordination Program in September of 2024. Originally from Washington DC, Sally has lived in Telluride since 2022 where she has spent time working in the ski industry. Before coming to Telluride, Sally worked as a psychiatric special education teacher within the Massachusetts education system, specifically targeting children with high behavioral needs involved with the Department of Children and Families. Throughout her time working in education and child welfare, Sally gained a passion for advocacy and strength-based empowerment and counseling. She graduated from Bates College in 2021, where she spent four years on the Women’s Rowing team, and left with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Early Childhood Education. In addition to her work at SMRC, Sally enjoys hiking, skiing, and teaching yoga here in Telluride!
Ruth Rivas, Bilingual Advocate
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Ruth was born in Colombia but has lived in Telluride since 2021. Since that time she has worked for the equality of rights in the Latino community. Before coming to Telluride, Ruth worked as a Justice of the Peace in Colombia helping the community in conflict resolution. She has 10 years experience working on family and criminal law matters including domestic violence, child sexual abuse and homicide. In Colombia, Ruth played on the national ping pong team! She loves the snow in Telluride—something she never saw in Colombia!
