MILE HIGH UNITED WAY 

Denver 

News: The theme for the Mile High United Way’s 47^th Women United Luncheon was “Timeless,” and Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, president/CEO Christine Benero and honoree Arlene Hirschfeld thoughtfully and purposefully shared how the actions of today create ripples of change that can last forever. 

“One of the best ways to be outside your comfort zone is to volunteer,” Steenburgen said. “Saying yes to something is where all the adventure is, where all of the growth is, yes is where new things happen. When you choose what you want to do, choose with passion.” 

She recalled growing up in a “great, middle-class family” in North Little Rock, Ark., where her father, a railroad conductor, suffered recurring heart attacks during Steenburgen’s childhood, leaving her mother to support the family by working as a secretary. 

Though it was stressful, Steenburgen said it enabled her to grow up with the sense that women could do anything. 

Benero reminded the 1,000 guests who’d assembled at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center on April 17 that “The values of generosity, courage and integrity are timeless. Our actions and our willingness to create a better world around us will never go out of style.” 

Hirschfeld, recipient of the 2026 Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award, recalled how her parents told her if she wanted to live in a great community, she had to help make it so.  

And that she did. Hirschfeld’s lifelong commitment to building a better community by supporting causes relating to women, children, education and the arts includes serving on the boards of Rose Community Foundation, the Denver Art Museum, the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, Girl Scouts of Colorado and the Allied Jewish Federation. She’s a past president of the Junior League of Denver and a 2006 inductee into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame. 

“The good we do today will go on long after we are here,” Hirschfeld said, a point, Benero noted, that ties directly to Mile High United Way founder Frances Wisebart Jacobs. 

Jacobs understood the importance of education and created the city’s first free kindergarten; today, with funding for childcare and education under “tremendous threat,” Mile High United Way continues to make their support a priority. 

Among the guests were Neil Oberfeld, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig and chairman of the Mile High United Way board; Denver Health’s chief executive, Donna Lynne; philanthropist Ellie Caulkins; Dr. Michael Salem, president/CEO of National Jewish Health; Maureen McDonald, representing Presenting Sponsor HCA HealthONE; Willie Recht, chief development officer for JEWISHColorado; Jean Galloway, a partner at Prosono; Perla Gheiler, Denver’s executive director of Human Rights & Community Partnerships; Mary Nguyen, founder of Denver’s popular Olive & Finch restaurants; Patricia Barela Rivera, former Colorado district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration and a 2022 inductee to the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame; Leanna Clark, CEO of Girl Scouts of Colorado; and Carrie Besnette Hauser, who became president/CEO of the Trust for Public Land. In 2024, after serving as president/CEO of Colorado Mountain College. 

About the organization: Women United is a network of compassionate women dedicated to supporting Mile High United Way in its efforts to create lasting change in advancing women and girls in the Metro Denver area. Membership is open to those who invest $1,000 or more annually to the Women United Initiative and who commit to engaging in various volunteer, mentoring and leadership development programs that inspire women to become agents of change. 

Website: unitedwaydenver.org