
Advocate – Early Childhood, Adult, and LGBTQIA+
she/they
Whitley is a Colorado native who grew up in the Thornton area. She played semi-professional women’s tackle football for 5 years in the WNFC for the Denver Bandits. She continues to volunteer with the team to show women and the next generation of youth girls what they can achieve through sports, even in tackle football.
Prior to working at The Arc Arapahoe, Douglas & Elbert Counties, Whitley was an Early Intervention Specialist for a pediatric home health care company. She helped families get connected with their Case Management Agencies to receive therapies for their kiddos that were birth to 3 years old. She has been passionate about helping within the IDD community since a very young age and has learned a lot through her mother, who was a Speech Language Pathologist for an elementary school. Since age 15, Whitley has provided direct care for individuals with I/DD. She earned an associate’s degree in physical therapy assistance and is EMT trained. She also recently became a certified Reiki Master. Whitley commits to attending continuing education opportunities so that she can enhance her advocacy skills.
Since Whitley identifies within the LGBTQIA+ community as Queer, her passion is also to serve the intersection of individuals with I/DD who also identify in the LGBTQIA+ community.