Barbara Raynor: helping Denver navigate health care.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: EXECUTIVE edge

ON HER 50TH BIRTHDAY, AMID THE cheerful wishes and celebratory notes, Barbara Raynor's email inbox contained a note that moved her to tike a stab at changing the world.

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The email consisted of a job description for the managing director's position at Boomers Leading Change in Health--a grassroots volunteer organization dedicated to improving health and access to health care for people across a seven-county metro Denver area.

"Our tagline is, 'It's time to change the world again,'" said Raynor, now 53. "I'm proud to be a boomer and like being part or a generation that helped create an incredible amount of change; a generation that was not afraid to say, 'This is not acceptable; we are not going to sit still for this.' From civil rights to rock 'n' roll, women's rights and gay rights, we were right in the middle of all that."

Raynor, a native of McAllen, Texas, majored in advertising at the University of Texas and spent 20 years at ad agencies before doing marketing for the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston. She then ii to Denver in 2007 to become vice president of marketing and public relations for the Allied, Jewish Federation of Colorado.

"I learned a lot from growing up in a small town," said Raynor. "There's a sense that everyone needs to participate and help build the community whether participating in schools, (lunches and synagogues or other nonprofit activities. People got involved because if you weren't going to do it, it wouldn't get done."

At Boomers Leading Change, she heads a small staff of three who recruit, train and place adults 50 years and older, as volunteers. They then navigate health care, serve as community health workers or become policy advocates. Since its rounding in January 2011, Boomers has trained more than 200 volunteers who assisted 26,000 people.

"We primarily work with vulnerable populations, the medically underserved and communities of color who often have...