In December of 2021, Paul Lhevine ’90 began serving as the President and CEO of the Colorado Nonprofit Association, a statewide membership organization that strengthens Colorado nonprofits through education, connection, and advocacy.
“It’s incredibly rich, rewarding work,” Lhevine says. “Along the way I spent time in civic engagement nonprofits, in emergency preparedness, in youth and human services, and in arts and culture. So I really do bring to this role a wide perspective of everything the nonprofit sector brings to the table.”
A Political Economy major at CC, Lhevine was also President of CCCA, the student government organization at the time. “I just remember how interesting and fun it was to work with the student council as we engaged the administration in constantly trying to tweak and make improvements to student life,” he says.
Lhevine admits he didn’t have the best grades at CC. “They were good enough to get me into law school,” he says. “For me, academics was part of the mix. But the entire college experience, the CC experience, really was fundamental. It was foundational for developing me as a person, as a leader, as a professional.”
“CC was instrumental in providing all of the building blocks for everything I’ve accomplished. Whether that was critical thought or developing the power of the written word. Every professor we interacted with pushed us to think about the world in a different way. And that curious learning stays with me in everything I do.”
Paul Lhevine ’90
After earning his degree from Vermont Law School, Lhevine moved to Denver and began networking and building a career in politics and campaign management. “I served as general counsel for the Young Democrats of America, which put me into the heart of the Democratic National Committee,” he says. He managed John Hickenlooper’s Denver mayoral race in 2003, taking the now U.S. Senator’s seven percent general poll rating to success. In 2008, he served as the CEO for the Democratic National Convention when Barack Obama was nominated as a presidential candidate. “All of those political experiences were so enriching and rewarding,” he says. During this time, he also did legislative affairs work and policy work for the National Civic League and the American Red Cross Mile-High chapter.
Lhevine’s political career culminated in 2008. He then turned his attention to the nonprofit sector, serving as CEO for the Mile High United Way, ED for Aurora Public Schools Foundation, and then CEO of Swallow Hill Music, before taking his current position. His passion for politics still fuels the advocacy side of his position at the Colorado Nonprofit Association, and he utilizes the relationships he’s built to leverage the voice of the nonprofit sector.
Lhevine’s nonprofit work returned to CC as he served on the board of the Public Interest Fellowship Program (PIFP) for 11 years, helping place students into summer and year-long fellowships with nonprofits that are doing systemic change work. “I wish I could convey how meaningful that period of my life was,” he says.
“CC was instrumental in providing all of the building blocks for everything I’ve accomplished,” he says. “Whether that was critical thought or developing the power of the written word. Every professor we interacted with pushed us to think about the world in a different way. And that curious learning stays with me in everything I do.”