VOC Featured Leader: Ellen Urell
Alex Schupp • October 7, 2014
VOC Featured Leader: Ellen Urell
VOC regularly highlights different VOC leaders, in all capacities, so that we can share with you the inspiring work they do to care for Colorado's outdoors! Here, we'd like to recognize Ellen Urell.
Ellen discovered VOC on a community bulletin board at REI. After attending her first project in 2013, she was instantly hooked.
"VOC combines my enjoyment of the outdoors, volunteerism, and great people. Not much can be better than that," said Ellen. "I also love the fact that our projects provide immediate benefits for the entire community."
Fairly soon after she started volunteering, Ellen became interested in learning more about the process and science behind building trails. She contacted VOC about becoming a Team Lead so that she could hone her technical skills and further contribute on projects.
"Becoming a Team Lead has done just that, and so far it has been an amazing experience! I look forward to getting dirty on many more trails in the years to come," said Ellen.
Learn more about volunteer leadership with VOC.
After three meaningful decades, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) will be saying goodbye to our longtime home at the Dos Chappell Bathhouse in Denver's beloved Washington Park. In the early 1990s, VOC signed a 30-year lease with the City of Denver to transform the historic bathhouse in Washington Park into a headquarters that could support our growing mission. With generous support from our community, we launched a capital campaign and raised $700,000 to complete the initial renovations, which were finalized in 1996. Altogether, including the original renovations, VOC has invested more than $1 million in improvements and ongoing maintenance, creating a space that is enjoyed by our staff, volunteers, and the broader Washington Park community. In 2000, the building was renamed in honor of Dos Chappell, VOC’s former Executive Director (1988–1999), whose vision and leadership left a lasting legacy on our organization and Colorado’s outdoor stewardship movement. This space has been more than just an office—it’s been a gathering place, a launchpad for thousands of volunteers, and a visible symbol of our commitment to caring for Colorado.
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