Young Americans staff members bring years of banking, financial, educational, fundraising and communications skills together as one team to further the mission of Young Americans.
Dustin Zvonek, President and CEO
Dustin joined Young Americans as President and CEO in the fall of 2023. Prior to joining the Young Americans team, Dustin owned and operated a successful executive management consulting firm where he provided executive oversight, strategic operational support, and business development services to a range of small and medium-sized enterprises. Dustin guided the creation of multiple non-profit entities and was a partner and senior advisor in the early phases of a first to market tech startup that utilizes artificial intelligence to optimize cloud compute usage.
In 2021 Dustin was elected to the Aurora City Council, Colorado’s 3rd largest city, as an at-large member. Dustin has served as chairman of the City’s Management and Finance and Public Safety Committees. He also represents the City of Aurora on the Board of Directors for the Aurora Economic Development Council and the Fitzsimons Innovation Community – the innovative health and life sciences campus located on the Anschutz Medical Campus.
Before starting his own business, and being elected to public office, Dustin was the Vice President of Strategy and Innovation for a national nonprofit where he was responsible for driving continuous improvement and fostering a culture of innovation throughout the organization. He served as the District Director for a Member of Congress, and as the policy director for the Colorado State Senate Minority Leader.
Dustin is a graduate of Colorado State University. He and his wife, Ann, live in Southeast Aurora with their four children.
Gaddi Layden, SVP Strategy, Innovation, & Marketing
Gaddi A Layden, a seasoned professional with a proven track record, joined Young Americans Bank and Young Americans Center for Financial Education as the Senior Vice President of Strategy, Innovation, and Marketing in January 2024. Throughout her career, Gaddi has strived for excellence and remained dedicated to her professional journey. In the role of Grants Impact Manager at Daniels Fund, she fostered strategic partnerships with top-tier organizations like Goldman Sachs, Univision Communications, Cherry Creek North, Amazon, CrestRock Partners, United Airlines and Morgan Stanley, among others. Gaddi’s transformative leadership significantly impacted the Daniels Fund Rapid Response program, achieving unparalleled results within just one year. In addition, she became the official spokesperson in Spanish for the Daniels Fund. As the Principal and Co-Founder of ABOKI Capital, Gaddi showcased her entrepreneurial and leadership skills, by attracting major financial investors. Gaddi’s experience also includes a successful tenure at Morgan Stanley as an International Financial Advisor and Financial Planning Specialist, where partnerships with top-tier advisors resulted in substantial asset management growth. Prior roles at Univision Communications, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, MBIA Asset Management Group, and Citizens Financial Group have honed Gaddi’s skills in marketing, strategic partnerships, business development, client relationship management, investment analysis, and risk assessment.
Business fluent in Spanish and conversational in Italian, Gaddi’s diverse language skills align with a passion for world travel, cooking, and reading. This new chapter at Young Americans further solidifies Gaddi’s commitment to driving positive change in both corporate and community spheres through strategic thinking and innovative approaches.
Victoria Aragon, Vice President/Young Americans Bank
Vicky started her career in bank management in 1999 and has managed several large banks before coming to Young Americans Bank in 2022. She has extensive experience in day-to-day operations, customer service, compliance, security, and employee relations in banking. She came to Young Americans because she is passionate about setting our youth up for financial success at a young age. Both of her adult children had the opportunity to experience Young AmeriTowne and International Towne when they were younger which left a long-lasting, positive impression.
Lauren Brozinski, Vice President/Finance
Lauren joined Young Americans in early 2019 as the Assistant Controller, bringing over 9 years of accounting and operations experience from Vail Resorts, Sage Hospitality and Bank of the West. Lauren transitioned to Controller at the end 2019 and has been leading the accounting & finance functions of the organization since that time. While at YA, Lauren has led the transformation of paper-based workflows to digital processes and is always striving to find more efficient ways to get the job done.
Lauren earned her BA in Economics from University of Colorado, Boulder in 2009. After graduation, she discovered a love for accounting and completed a post-baccalaureate Accounting Certificate at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Lauren recently passed the CPA exams and expects to receive full licensure in 2023. Outside of work, Lauren is a life-long learner who enjoys skiing, rock climbing and generally enjoying the great outdoors with her husband and two young children.
Sue Euser, Vice President/Human Resources
Sue oversees all aspects of human resources for Young Americans including recruitment, policies, benefit and payroll administration, as well as general management in the areas of budgeting and strategic planning as related to human resources.
Prior to joining Young Americans staff in 2006, she served as Director of Administration for the American Indian College Fund. Sue holds a Master of Business Administration through the University of Denver, a certification in Nonprofit Management from Regis University and a PHR Certification from the Human Resource Certification Institute.
Amanda Krische, Vice President/Programs
Amanda joined Young Americans staff in 2008 working in International Towne and Young AmeriTowne as a Programs Assistant. After several years of working in and directing programs, summer camps and other outreach programs, Amanda is now Vice President/Programs.
Prior to working at Young Americans, Amanda attended the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BA in Communication. After graduating in 2005, Amanda worked for the YMCA of metro Denver running the 2nd largest summer camp in the city and largest before and after school program for the YMCA. Amanda is native to Colorado and has first-hand experience working in Young AmeriTowne as a 6th grader at Henry Middle School. She also has two young children that she hopes will be experts on financial literacy and finances some day.
Anna Leer, Vice President/YouthBiz
Anna joined YouthBiz in the fall of 2013 as an enthusiastic advocate of all students’ access to quality education.
Anna attended Elon University with a double major in Spanish and Business Administration with a concentration in marketing. After graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2007, she transitioned into her role as a Teach For America corps member in Miami-Dade, Florida as a third grade general education teacher. During this experience, she accomplished significant achievement gains with her students, designed state level mathematics curriculum for TFA, and conducted several seminars around the state on effectively teaching upper elementary literacy.
After completing her corps commitment, Anna moved to San Diego, CA where she transitioned into the higher education sector with Bridgepoint Education, collecting and analyzing student data to more effectively prepare incoming students for the rigors of college life. With Bridgepoint she relocated to Denver in 2012, where she now happily resides.
Tobin Truslow, Vice President/Business Partnerships and Development
Tobin joined the Young Americans team in the fall of 2021 with 18 years’ experience in non-profit fundraising, business operations and management. Most recently, Tobin managed record-breaking fundraising efforts in 2020/2021 for Firefly Autism where he also implemented a new marketing and brand campaign which won the GDUSA 2021 Health + Wellness Design Award.
Prior to working for Firefly Autism, Tobin managed 70+ special events (over 9 years), fundraising campaigns, volunteer development and recruitment for the Boy Scouts of America in the Denver area.
Tobin has degrees in both economics and music from University of Virginia where he participated in NCAA athletics all four years. Tobin is also a Lamplighter Award recipient.
Contact Tobin: 303-320-3208 or ttruslow@yacenter.org.