Colleen Gibley-Reed
Adjunct
What I do
As an adjunct faculty member, I love mentoring and teaching up-and-coming social workers through a social justice lens! My quote to live by is from David Tulin: “We must learn to become comfortable with the uncomfortable and uncomfortable with the too comfortable.”Specialization(s)
child welfare, culturally-responsive practice, social justice
Professional Biography
Colleen Gibley-Reed (she/her) first became familiar with the University of Denver when her father completed his MBA in Management, Applied Statistics and Operations Research when she was a young child.
Colleen returned to the University of Denver in 2008 to pursue her MSW through the Graduate School of Social Work, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a clinical concentration in child welfare in 2010.
Colleen later became an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver's Graduate School of Social Work in 2015. Since that time, she has taught the following courses, teaching one class every quarter:
SOWK 4020: Integrated Social Work Practice for Social Justice (on-campus and online)
SOWK 4132: Power, Privilege and Oppression (online)
SOWK 4299: Advanced Standing Seminar (online)
SOWK 4732: Disrupting Privilege through Anti-Oppressive Practice (on-campus and online)
Colleen also acts as the course coordinator for SOWK 4132: Power, Privilege and Oppression supporting other faculty in their teaching journeys each quarter of the academic year.
In addition to teaching at DU, Colleen also works for a local non-profit. She joined the Illuminate Colorado team in July of 2024 as the Director of Education. In her role, Colleen is responsible for leading the Education Strategies of Illuminate Colorado. From curricula development and implementation, through training promotion and delivery, to revision and continuous quality improvement, Colleen oversees and ensures consistency and high-quality education programming, supports communications and evaluation processes, and engages with partners at the local, state, and national level.
Before joining Illuminate, Colleen spent nearly eleven years with the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect as a Faculty Instructor and Lead County Learning Coordinator for the Colorado Child Welfare Training System. In this position, she was responsible for cultivating and managing effective working relationships with the eleven largest Colorado counties to respond to their professional development needs.
Previous to her work at the Kempe Center, Colleen spent nineteen years with the Larimer County Department of Human Services. Her direct child welfare experience includes work in family preservation, ongoing child protection, foster and kinship care, staff training, and practice coaching.
Colleen believes that all families deserve to thrive, and is passionate about using her skills to help others learn how to support families so they can reach their full potential.
Colleen returned to the University of Denver in 2008 to pursue her MSW through the Graduate School of Social Work, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a clinical concentration in child welfare in 2010.
Colleen later became an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver's Graduate School of Social Work in 2015. Since that time, she has taught the following courses, teaching one class every quarter:
SOWK 4020: Integrated Social Work Practice for Social Justice (on-campus and online)
SOWK 4132: Power, Privilege and Oppression (online)
SOWK 4299: Advanced Standing Seminar (online)
SOWK 4732: Disrupting Privilege through Anti-Oppressive Practice (on-campus and online)
Colleen also acts as the course coordinator for SOWK 4132: Power, Privilege and Oppression supporting other faculty in their teaching journeys each quarter of the academic year.
In addition to teaching at DU, Colleen also works for a local non-profit. She joined the Illuminate Colorado team in July of 2024 as the Director of Education. In her role, Colleen is responsible for leading the Education Strategies of Illuminate Colorado. From curricula development and implementation, through training promotion and delivery, to revision and continuous quality improvement, Colleen oversees and ensures consistency and high-quality education programming, supports communications and evaluation processes, and engages with partners at the local, state, and national level.
Before joining Illuminate, Colleen spent nearly eleven years with the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect as a Faculty Instructor and Lead County Learning Coordinator for the Colorado Child Welfare Training System. In this position, she was responsible for cultivating and managing effective working relationships with the eleven largest Colorado counties to respond to their professional development needs.
Previous to her work at the Kempe Center, Colleen spent nineteen years with the Larimer County Department of Human Services. Her direct child welfare experience includes work in family preservation, ongoing child protection, foster and kinship care, staff training, and practice coaching.
Colleen believes that all families deserve to thrive, and is passionate about using her skills to help others learn how to support families so they can reach their full potential.
Degree(s)
- MSW, Clinical concentration in child welfare, University of Denver, 2010
- BS, Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, 1994
Licensure / Accreditations
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Professional Affiliations
- National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
