About

Mission

Aspen Youth Center is dedicated to providing a safe and supportive place where youth connect, learn, and grow. We do this by offering daily programs during out of school hours for youth in 4th through 12th grade, free of charge.

Vision

Aspen Youth Center envisions a Roaring Fork Valley where every young person, regardless of background or circumstance, has access to trusted mentorship, enriching experiences, and the support they need to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. We strive to build confident, connected youth who help shape a stronger community for all.

Brian Zubek | Executive Director

Brian is a mission-driven leader with decades of experience guiding youth and family service organizations through growth, transformation, and leadership transitions. He officially joins AYC on August 18.

After nearly fifteen years in government procurement, Brian followed his passion for nonprofit work—launching foundations and guiding organizations nationwide as an interim executive, change management consultant, and leadership coach. He has helped teams navigate complex transitions while strengthening systems, deepening community impact, and driving sustainable growth.

As Executive Director and COO of a community church, Brian increased membership by 20% and donor support by over 80%. He also led a large-scale COVID-19 response with Johns Hopkins Hospital, ensuring thousands in Baltimore City received testing and vaccinations. His experience as a foster parent and youth advocate gives him a deep understanding of the importance of safe, inclusive spaces for kids.

Maddie Walters | Operations Manager

As the Operations Manager at Aspen Youth Center, Maddie is passionate about making sure every young person who walks through AYC’s doors feels safe, supported, and free to be themselves. With a background in behavior-based safety and adaptive care programming, she brings a thoughtful, youth-centered approach to her work and believes some of the most meaningful connections happen when young people simply have a space where they feel heard, valued, and included.

Whether she’s helping create a new program, supporting a young person through a tough moment, or just hanging out and catching up with kids at the AYC, Maddie loves helping youth build confidence, discover their strengths, and feel a sense of belonging in their community. Outside of AYC, Maddie spends time outdoors, practicing mindfulness, and working with local youth through equine therapy. She also volunteers with local mental health initiatives and is always looking for new ways to support young people throughout the valley. At the heart of it all, Maddie believes kids deserve spaces where they can have fun, be themselves, and know there are adults in their corner.

Miriam | Program Manager

Originally from New Hampshire, Miriam moved West in 2020, where the big mountains and desert landscapes instantly felt like home. Miriam has spent her career working with adults with developmental disabilities and youth with mental health challenges. Working with these populations has taught her how to build strong rapport with individuals of all abilities and ages, communicate creatively, and think outside the box when building programs. Miriam strongly believes in the individuality of each human and the importance of celebrating our differences and working hard to mentor each person based on their strengths and support needs. Miriam has worked as a founding member of a new non-profit serving people with disabilities and helped develop a ground-breaking new program at a mental-health program. She is excited to utilize her relational and development skills as a member of the AYC team.

In her spare time, you can find Miriam exploring the outdoors locally or beyond. She is a trail ultramarathoner, snowboarder, and climber, but can also be found enjoying a book in the sun near a body of water. Miriam worked as a professional backpacking guide in Utah, and she thru-hiked across 15 states. She is so thankful for the opportunity to live and work in such a beautiful mountain community! "

Hannah Duffy | Grants & Communications Manager

Hannah hails from the DC Metro area. She earned her Master's in Public Administration & Nonprofit Management in 2019. Prior to coming to Aspen Youth Center, Hannah worked in development for 5 years with Virginia-based nonprofit Opportunities, Alternatives, and Resources(OAR NOVA), which supports justice-involved individuals and their families. She believes strongly that community support can change the future through collective work and care. When children and families have the resources and opportunities they need, they will thrive. Intentional youth activities can make a child's successful future possible. Hannah also believes that playing hard yields a strong work ethic and keeps one's mind nimble.

Hannah enjoys road-tripping, kayaking, hiking, archery, playing pinball, Lego, board games, and watercolor. She's also been known to get pretty competitive around the air hockey table!

Board of Directors

History

**1987 Fall**
**Views of Youth Conference**
In the fall of 1987, Aspen School District held its annual “Views of Youth” conference attended by student representatives, grades 5-12. Their task was to identify the most important issue(s) of concern to students. The consensus issue that emerged was the need for a “teen center.” There was, however, no reason to believe that the results of this conference would be any different than in the prior year when “a lack of school spirit” was the top ranked issue and was quickly forgotten as participants in the conference returned to regular classroom routine. That, however, was not the case with a teen center. The idea caught fire and soon became a priority for student leaders and their peers.

**1988 Spring**
**Needs Assessment and Feasibility Study**
A group of approximately 20 high school students took on the task of developing, distributing and tabulating a survey of Aspen High School (“AHS”) and Aspen Middle School (“AMS”) students. The goal was to determine if the need for a teen center existed and what services it should provide. Completed in the spring of 1988, the survey results were overwhelmingly in support of a teen center. The students involved in the survey then recruited a small group of adults to form a joint committee to further explore the feasibility of such a project.
It is important to note that the idea of a teen center was not new to Aspen. There had been four failed projects in the prior twenty-five years. Community members who had been involved in those efforts shared the lessons that had been learned with the committee.The four locations included: the old Lift One building below Lift 1A; the basement of the Wheeler Opera House; space in the old Aspen Valley Hospital building that had been converted into a Community Center; and the pizza restaurant in the basement of the renovated Hotel Jerome. For a variety of reasons, including inadequate space, space that had to be shared with other functions, and space that was only a temporary use, these prior efforts were very short term and, ultimately, were abandoned.

**October 1991**
**Aspen Youth Center Founded**
As would be expected, since the project began in fall of 1987 and construction was not completed until the fall of 1991, the AHS students originally involved had graduated when the AYC was opened on October 31, 1991. As these students graduated, new students were recruited to fill open seats on the Board and on committees. Several Middle School students participated throughout the four years and were able to enjoy, however briefly, the fruits of their labor.

**April 2003**
**AYC Relocated to REC Center**
In 2003, Aspen Youth Center entered the next phase in its history with a relocation to the new Aspen Recreation Center (“ARC”) facility located at Iselin Park across from the Aspen School District Campus. In April 2003, we opened our doors at our new facility within the ARC. Contrary to popular belief, Aspen Youth Center is not part of the City of Aspen. We raise funds to be able to remain a private, youth nonprofit.

**2010**
**Including Roaring Fork Valley**
In 2010, we furthered our commitment to the youth and families of the Roaring Fork Valley by eliminating the nominal membership fee, making the programs and activities we offer free for all youth in 4th through 12th grade from Aspen to Parachute.

**May 2012**
**Girls to Women**
29 years later, Aspen Youth Center continues to provide after school and all day summer programs to youth in grades 4-12, throughout the valley, for FREE.

**May 2022**
**Still Going**
29 years later, Aspen Youth Center continues to provide after school and all day summer programs to youth in grades 4-12, throughout the valley, for FREE.

2020

Virtual Programs Developed

Aspen Youth Center was forced to close due to Covid-19 on March 13, 2020. We immediately began virtual programs until we were allowed to reopen to in person services on June 8, 2020. We served youth through the pandemic with summer and afterschool programs, supervised learning and academic support.