LPYS's new board president, Steve Brittain, is not new to LPYS, in fact, he was involved with the board when LPYS first formed in the early 90's. At that time, Brittain was the youngest Chief Probation Officer in Colorado, at age 34, overseeing the 6th and 22nd judicial districts. Brittain's expertise and community involvement were really helpful to LPYS in those early days because he was able to leverage their programs through the many personal connections he had.

"The staff at LPYS had a change-the-world attitude which was inspiring so I wanted to help where I could and that included mentoring staff and building relationships, " said Brittain.

After Brittain retired from his position as Chief Probation Officer he continued to work within the community as a Division Head for Social Services for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. In 2012 he took on a part-time role at LPYS as the Program Coordinator, focused on building partnerships, and in December 2013 became the Executive Director of the organization. Steve retired from this work as an employee at LPYS in December 2018.

"Working with LPYS has been one of the most rewarding times of my life. It was exciting to see how LPYS was building new partnerships with the mental health and judicial systems to better serve our local youth," said Brittain.

Brittain never really lost his connection with LPYS because after retiring from his role with LPYS in 2018, he joined the LPYS board again in 2020 as a Community Board Member. Now as Board President his goal is to build up the board with a combination of partner agency representatives and engaged community members who can support the organization in fundraising, community events, outreach, and advocacy. Currently, most Board members are appointed from various partnership organizations.

"My goal is to build an active Board that takes ownership and pride in the organization, and really gives the youth in our community the support they deserve, " said Brittain.

LPYS currently works with 700-800 youth per year in La Plata County and offers many opportunities to engage interested community members. We are also recruiting 2 community board members who are ready to roll up their sleeves and help with fundraising, community events, and mentoring volunteers!

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