Welcome to the
Board of Education
Board Members
Happy Haynes - At-Large - Vice President
A native Denverite, Allegra attended Denver Public Schools and received a BA degree with honors from Barnard College at Columbia University in New York City. Her nickname, Happy, is derived from the Spanish translation of her first name, Allegra.
She was elected to the Board of Education in November 2011 and before that, served as the Chief Community Engagement Officer for five and a half years for two superintendents. In that role at DPS, she was responsible for leading the district’s parent and community engagement efforts, creating collaborative partnerships and managing legislative and governmental affairs. She is currently the Director of Civic and Community Engagement at CRL Associates, a business and public affairs firm.
She was the first African American woman elected to the Denver City Council in 1990 where she served for 13 years including two years as President of the Council from 1998 - 2000. Happy’s experience in state and local government also includes 17 years in the executive branches of government. She served as an administrative aide for two Denver mayors, a former councilman and a former Lt. Governor. Happy worked for several years as a facilitator with the National Civic League serving various communities in Colorado and throughout the United States.
Her civic involvement includes serving on the boards of the Colorado Children’s Campaign, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, City Park Jazz and the Stapleton Development Corporation. She was a founding board member of the Mile High Youth Corps and the Foundation for Educational Excellence and has served on numerous other non-profit boards. Happy completed two years of law school at the University of Denver and received a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is also a graduate of Leadership Denver, the Denver Community Leadership Forum, the Rocky Mountain Program and the State and Local Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
