Welcome Denise Fase
Posted by: DVULI | March 26, 2021
By Gerald Bell (Kansas City 2003)
The DVULI staff is thrilled to welcome Denise Fase (Grand Rapids 1998) to our family of part-time staff liaisons. Denise has been assigned to alumni relations and follow-up efforts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she’s resided since she enrolled in college as a freshman. With three decades of urban youth worker experience, Denise has been a lead figure with the Grand Rapids Initiative for Leaders (GRIL), working collaboratively alongside her fellow local DVULI alumni.
Denise has found serving and collaborating with urban leaders to be a sweet spot for her. In fact, she has stated that it’s her God-given mission to “be a bridgebuilder and developer of leaders.”
“I love and value people, their purpose, and our purpose together as a city of leaders growing and impacting the kingdom,” she notes.
This new opportunity excites Denise as it will give her a chance to be to others what DVULI has been to her. “God has used DVULI staff, liaisons, and fellow alumni to push and support me to be my best for long-term sustainable change,” reflects Denise, who earned her undergraduate degree at Calvin University and her master’s degree at Cornerstone University. “In this role, I’m hoping that God will allow me to encourage and support others in a similar way so that together we can better carry out what He wants to do in our city.”
The synergy within the Grand Rapids youth worker community is largely due to the achievements of Denise and other DVULI alumni since the launch of GRIL. However, she is convinced there is more to do, and as a liaison, she looks forward to putting in the work.
“I have a bunch of ideas and wishes for us in Grand Rapids wrapped around self-care and a deeper level of interdependence among one other,” she said. “I hope to encourage and create a culture where we, as alumni, care for each other, increase our trust in each other, and unite for kingdom impact that’s bigger than each of us individually.”
You can congratulate Denise on her new role at denisef@dvuli.org.
