The Denver Alumnae Chapter affiliated four new members at the January chapter meeting!

Keena Day is from Detroit, MI, and eventually received her B.A., and M.A., in English with education credentials from Tennessee State University. She has been an educator for 15 years, completing an educational fellowship situated at Yale University and subsequently opening her own educational consulting company and blog called The Savvy Urban Educators and is currently working for KippColorado Schools as the Director of Secondary Literacy grades 3-12. Keena is also a published author, freelance writer and journalist having written for newspapers and magazines in Nashville, TN and working in media while performing as a poet. Keena was initiated into the Kappa Iota chapter in 2003 at Tennessee State University; she went on to serve as Psi B Province Officer and Region 4 Officer while living in Tennessee. She is the mother of a graduating senior (Jimmy, III), a 6th grader (Jimari) who both play low brass instruments and her partner Jimmy, II is a member of Phi Mu Alpha and is Band Director at East Middle School and Assistant Band Director at Hinkley High School.

Jessica Kneiff graduated from Washburn University  in Topeka, Kansas in May of 2018 where she was a member of Theta Chapter. She plays the bass clarinet and the saxophone and graduated with a degree in public relations and a minor in music. Jessica moved to Denver in June for a marketing job at a software company. Her fondest memories of SAI are when her chapter earned the Katherine Becker National Collegiate Chapter Achievement Award in 2017 and when she attended the 2018 National Convention in Scottsdale, where she met some of her new Denver SAI sisters for the first time. Jessica volunteers with the Aurora Symphony Orchestra and is looking forward to finding new ways to bring music into her life through the SAI Denver Alumnae Chapter sisterhood.

Callie O’Buckley is from North Carolina and has recently moved to Denver, CO. Before moving, she graduated from University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BA in Arts Administration. While in her collegiate chapter of SAI, she served as the Sergeant at Arms, Secretary, and President. Callie plays flute and she is looking for new opportunities in Denver to continue playing. She has recently accepted a position with the Boy Scouts of America, Denver Council as a District Executive.

Tina Phillips is a respected Jazz artist and songwriter based in the Denver region. Influenced most by Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughn, Charlie Parker and her dear friends Sheila Jordan and Art Lande, her style is versatile – including straight ahead, bebop, blues, and Latin Jazz. Her charismatic on-stage performance is the finishing touch. Tina, a Denver native, attended the University of Colorado as a vocal performance major. She is a highly respected vocal coach, clinician, award winning billboard songwriter and performs with internationally known jazz musicians.  Her music is played worldwide and she performs nationally. Respected Internationally known Jazz critic, Scott Yannow, listed Tina in his book The Jazz Singers The Ultimate Guide.