Larry McCleary MD - President
Larry McCleary, MD, has worked with the Shining Stars and similar recreational programs for over 20 years. He was the Chief of Neurosurgery at Denver Children's Hospital and currently does medical research, writes books on timely health topics for the lay public, and is Director of Research for a high-end nutritional supplement company. Dr. McCleary is the co-author of a 2-volume set of books called Bald is Beautiful: A Guide for Living with Childhood Cancer based on his interviews with hundreds of family members of afflicted children.
Marty Roberts - Vice President
Marty is a North Carolina native, but spent most of her youth growing up in sunny Florida. Although her feet were firmly planted in the sandy beaches, she took to the air- earning a pilot license and eventually had a career as a flight attendant with United Airlines. Initially based in New York City, she transferred to Denver where she quickly learned that most of the action was in the mountains. There she discovered her new passion - skiing. A volunteer ski instructor with the NSCD since 1979, she was introduced to the Shining Stars where a deep bond and long term commitment was formed.
John LaSalle - Treasurer
John received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and graduated from the Fordham University School of Law in 1969. He has since served as a Captain in the Army and been an attorney at the Wall Street Law Firm in New York, before moving to Aspen to practice law in 1973. John is married and has one son. His interests include skiing, hiking, mountain and road biking, and tennis. He has served on the Board of Directors of RESPONSE and the Kids Stuff Foundation. He has been a volunteer with the Shining Stars Foundation since 2000 and became a member of the Board of Directors in 2011.
Reilly Gallagher - Secretary
Reilly is an Aspen, Colorado native and currently resides in Denver. She is the Project Director for The Agency Development Group | The Agency. Prior to this, she was the Vice President of Marketing & Communications for Forte Aspen and held a position at 21st Century Fox as a Publicity Coordinator based in Los Angeles. She lived and worked in New York City after graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Political Science and Spanish. In June 2016, she earned her MBA, graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. As part of her MBA program, Reilly and a group of her fellow students partnered with the Shining Stars Foundation on the Capstone Project. The opportunity to collaborate was an incredible experience that has left a lasting impression.
Reilly is a marathon runner, fluent in Spanish, and loves spending time with her family and friends. She serves on the Daniels College of Business’ Alumni Advisory Board’s Ambassador Committee. Reilly is dedicated to service and aims to positively influence, inspire, and serve others. She is honored and thrilled to be a member of the Shining Stars Board.
Kevin Moore
Kevin is the owner of Moore Holdings, Inc. in Boulder Colorado. Moore Holdings specializes in business and real estate investments . Over the years, Kevin has held various Board positions and looks forward to positively impacting the Shining Stars children and Executive Board in the years to come. Kevin resides in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, Patricia. His daughter is a graduate from Colorado State University and currently resides in New York City. His son is currently in school majoring in aviation management and lives in Broomfield, CO. The family has been actively involved in volunteering over the years including student foreign exchange programs, Ronald MacDonald House support, church mission trips, Boulder County Sherriff’s Department, etc. As a graduate of Colorado State University, Kevin is a very active skier and mountain biker.
Tim Cottrell
While attending college at the University of Vermont, Tim decided to move to Aspen in 1971 to go to photography school. Tim has been living and working in the Roaring Fork Valley now for 47 years. He owned several restaurants, including the legendary Smuggler Land Office, and served 25 years for the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department where he was a captain for 10 years. He has been producing and launching the fireworks shows for the Valley's signature holidays since 1974. Tim also coached several teams with Aspen Jr. Hockey over 18 seasons. For the past 21 years Tim has been a real estate broker currently with Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s. In ’08 Tim produced the Shining Stars Golf Tournament for three years in the valley and has been a buddy for the past 7 years. Most importantly he raised a daughter and three sons in Aspen- what a place to grow up! For fun Tim enjoys skiing, fast road motorcycle riding and scuba diving with his significant other and buddy, Judy, golf, tennis, hockey and Lake Powell trips. Catch him in his Ambassador suit for a tour on Aspen Mountain.
Michael Ditchfield
Humanitarian Michael Ditchfield – best-selling author, sought-after speaker, entrepreneur and former professional athlete – originally hails from Lancashire, England. Committed to addressing the humanitarian plight of developing countries, Ditchfield speaks widely on promoting empowerment while inspiring change in different cultures and individuals.
Ditchfield works with orphans of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, establishing a branch of the Sports for Peace Foundation along with promoting the Sonrise School. He also works with the international Nobel Laureate group PeaceJam, and is a consultant to the Born To Be Free Foundation and Mandela Academy in Ghana. He is an advisor to the international sports company, the Aspire Group, which takes individuals, businesses and teams to greatness.
Ditchfield was instrumental to incorporating sports into Project Mercy’s work in Ethiopia, and served as President of the Sixteenth of May Foundation which helped rebuild villages in South Sudan. Additionally, he participated in the Save Darfur campaign, speaking at the Olympic torch ceremony as the Team Darfur representative for athletes worldwide.
Ditchfield graduated from the University of Bradford before he relocated to the United States, completing graduate coursework while coaching at Penn State University. He resides in Denver, Colorado, where he served as Board President of the Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action. Ditchfield remains dedicated to transforming lives by advocating for human dignity and decency across the globe.
Laura Calabrese Kruger
Laura resides in Aspen, Colorado and is a part time resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her involvement with the Shining Stars Foundation also includes being a volunteer buddy to the children for the last 10 years. She has helped to raise significant funding by chairing events held in Aspen to benefit the Shining Stars. Mrs. Kruger is also a large supporter of other organizations which benefit children.
Bill Kritzik
Bill is the owner and CEO of RE Pro of Colorado, a general contractor. Bill has sat on several non-profit boards and volunteered for various community service organizations over the past several years. Bill has brought a great deal of awareness to the Foundation and has helped raise money for future events and activities. Born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, Bill moved to Colorado in 1993 to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder. An active skier, golfer, rock climber, hiker and cyclist, Bill resides in Denver with his wife, Jennifer and their children Levi and Samantha.
Karen Smith PhD
Karen has been involved with Shining Stars as a volunteer for many years. She is a psychologist in private practice and has also worked in Cherry Creek Schools. Karen’s interest is in the impact of life- threatening diseases and cancer on the mental health of children and young adults. She has been involved in other children’s charities, but feels Shining Stars has had the most positive impact on the children it has served. Karen has been instrumental in the development of the young adult survivor programs and adding mental health support to children in all of the Shining Stars programs. She graduated from Denison University, has a Master’s degree from Wake Forest and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver. She is married to Dr. Tom and they have three children, Garrett, Natalie and Tim. Natalie graduated from Vanderbilt University and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has been and instructor at Shining Stars and is a fellow in neonatology at LA Children’s Hospital. Tim graduated from Denison University and has volunteered as an event planner in the young adult program and is a second year medical student in Oklahoma. Garrett graduated from Xavier University and is a vice president of a podcast company in Los Angeles and has helped develop a series of podcasts with our Shining Stars about the impact of cancer on young adult cancer survivors. Karen enjoys all outdoor activities, fitness, cooking and travel.
Mike Engelbert
Mike has been invovled with the Shining Stars Foundation since inception, volunteered with the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) since 1978, is a retired Denver firefighter, and managing partner in a Denver metro area real estate company. Mike resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife Shawn, who is a flight attendant with United Airlines, and has also volunteered with the Shining Stars Foundation since inception. His son Alex volunteers with the Shining Stars, is a graduate of CSU, and is a Project Manager for commercial developments. Alex lives in Denver along with his wife Robyn, who works at Craig Hospital and they have two sons. Mike’s daughter Shelby is a volunteer with the Shining Stars and a graduate of CU. She works with a non-profit organization that helps young adults transition into the work force with autism. Her husband Kory is a graduate of CU and he works for Victaulic. He too is a volunteer for the Shining Stars and they have a son. Mike enjoys hanging with his grandchildren, is an outdoor enthusiast and likes traveling the world with his wife.
Tom Smith MD
Dr. Tom has been an integral part of Shining Stars (SS) for over 15 years, serving as assistant medical director and recently joining the Board of Directors.. He was a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital of Colorado for over 30 years until retiring in 2020. He continues to work as a locums doctor, including some time at our sister institution, St. Francis in Tulsa. He graduated from Michigan State University, Mayo Medical School and did his training at Wake Forest and the University of Colorado. Tom is passionate about Shining Stars after seeing first hand how the programs can transform the lives of children with cancer. He has helped develop our one of a kind program for young adults who are pediatric cancer survivors, SS All Stars, which helps survivors struggling to transition to adulthood. He is on the Board of several pediatric cancer related charities but has a special place in his heart for Shining Stars. He is married to Dr. Karen Smith, (also on the board) and has 3 children, including Natalie who has been a SS ski instructor for several years. He likes old movies, dances like he is from Detroit (he did live there), can skin griz and prefers sleeping in a quinzee to the Inn at Aspen.
