Staff
Linda Weinerman, Executive Director
Ms. Weinerman has dedicated her legal career to children’s issues. From 1992 until 1999, she worked as a Guardian ad Litem in Denver County, representing children in dependency and neglect cases. Ms. Weinerman served as a Denver City Attorney from July 1999 through May 2002, representing the Denver Department of Human Services in both the Magistrate and Presiding Judge’s Divisions. In 2002, she served on the first Local Oversight Committee of the Office of the Child’s Representative in Denver County, which was charged with selecting all contract Guardians ad Litem in Denver. Shortly thereafter, in the Fall of 2003, Ms. Weinerman became the OCR’s Staff Attorney. In January 2005 she became the OCR’s Deputy Director, handling, among other matters, all complaints filed against GALs. In December 2009, Ms. Weinerman was selected by the Board of Directors to be the new Executive Director.
Ms. Weinerman attended Colgate University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978. She obtained a Masters of Business Administration Degree from Pace University in 1985. Upon moving to Colorado, she attended the University of Denver School of Law and obtained her law degree in 1991.
Sheree Coates, Billing Administrator
E-Mail: ,
303-860-1517 ext 104
Sheree Coates has worked in the Colorado court system since 1989. Prior to OCR, she was the Division clerk for the Chief Judge Harlan Bockman in the 17th Judicial District. She has bailiffed numerous jury trials and has mangaed a high volume division.
When OCR was created, she left her life-long career in providing direct service in court administration and helped create the OCR. She literally helped set up the first office that started without a pencil, telephone or computer. She was isntrumental in developing a payment system and procedures that are still utilized today. She alone processes over 62,000 payment transactions a year for the OCR. The attorneys she works with throughout the state regularly recognize her dedication and hard work.
In addition to paying the bills, she also decorates the office for the holidays and routinely supplies goodies, burritos and salsa for the OCR staff.
Sheri Danz, Deputy Director
Sheri Danz is a graduate of New York University School of Law, where she received a Root-Tilden-Kern public interest scholarship and served as a member of the New York University Law Review.
Ms. Danz's legal advoacy on behalf of children and youth includes representing adolescents and young adults in child welfare and other civil matters as a Skadden Fellow/staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago; representing juveniles in delinquency proceedings as a staff attorney at the Colorado State Public Defender's Office; and representing youth in public benefits, child welfare, and protective order proceedings as a legal intern at the Door's Legal Services Program, a multidisciplinary youth services center in New York City. Ms. Danz has also worked on issues regarding parents' counsel at the Office of the State Court Administrator in Colorado and served as a law clerk to the Hon. Gene Carter, United States District Court Judge for the District of Maine. Prior to law school, Ms. Danz taught special education in rural North Carolina through the Teach for America Program.
Melanie Jannicelli, Office Manager
Melanie Jannicelli is the Office Manager for the OCR, responsible for all administrative duties and supporting the rest of the staff. Ms. Jannicelli, a Colorado native, graduated from Trinity University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History in May 2006. In addition to her Art History degree, she obtained minors in Business Administration and Communication Management, and is fluent in German. She has been with the OCR since August of 2006. Before coming to the OCR, she interned in the Education Department of the Denver Art Museum and volunteered at the Medical Center of Aurora.
Ande Humphrey, Staff Attorney and Training Coordinator
Email:
303-860-1517 ext. 103
Dorothy Macias, Staff Attorney and Legislative Liaison
Email:
303-860-1517 ext. 106
Ms. Macias’s passion for children’s issues and engagement in political activities brought her to the Office of the Child’s Representative in October 2010. She has been a Guardian ad litem in Arapahoe County since July 2005 after her family’s move to Colorado the previous June. Ms. Macias worked as a GAL in Maricopa County Arizona the six years preceding her move to Colorado. Prior to that, Ms. Macias was a felony prosecutor in the nationally recognized Maricopa County Attorney’s Child Sex Crimes Unit. Ms. Macias has handled countless felony trials involving sexual abuse and assault, physical abuse and child pornography. Ms. Macias served as her unit’s DNA expert, presenting the DNA evidentiary portion of trials for her supervisor and colleagues. Ms. Macias served on the Arizona Governor’s Task Force for Children and helped develop the sex crimes investigator’s protocol. Ms. Macias began her legal career in San Diego, California representing officers and directors in securities fraud litigation.
Ms. Macias is admitted to practice law in Arizona, California and Colorado. She served as a law clerk in the Arizona Court of Appeals for Judges Thomas Kleinschmidt and Sarah Grant. She graduated from the Sandra Day O’Connor Law School at Arizona State University where she was a member of the National Moot Court Team.
Amanda Donnelly, Staff Attorney
Email:
303-860-1517 ext. 110
Elisabeth Dickinson, Controller/Budget Officer
E-mail:
303-860-1517 ext 101
Elisabeth Dickinson is the Controller/Budget Officer for the OCR, responsible for the overall budget and accounting functions. Ms. Dickinson, a Certified Public Accountant since October 1990, graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a Masters in Accounting. In addition to her Masters, she graduated Magna Cum Laude with an undergraduate business degree from the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado in Boulder in 1986. Ms. Dickinson volunteered in the 20th Judicial District as a victim/witness and restitution advocate while attending college.
Ms. Dickinson possesses a diverse finance/accounting background. Prior to coming to the OCR, she worked in two State agencies as Expenditure Accounting Manager for the Department of Revenue, and as a Controller for Colorado State Parks. Ms. Dickinson has taught various Accounting courses at Front Range Community College for over eight years and has extensive cost accounting, budget and SEC reporting experience with local manufacturing firms.