Board of Directors

John has been scuba diving for more than 42 years. He teaches a full range of students from beginners to those aspiring to become assistant scuba instructors. He is a specialty instructor for most of the courses offered by SSI. He also oversees the technical repair and services department of Denver Divers and leads four to five trips per year. The trips vary in size from small groups to the largest – our annual Adaptive Dive trip May.

Throughout his professional life he specialized in the development of new companies in a variety of roles from salesman to CEO. He has been a scuba instructor for the past ten years. He co-founded DAD with fellow board member Janine Melberg in 2016. His love for scuba diving has been a lifelong passion that brings him great joy. Sharing the experience with those new to the sport makes his life that much richer.

Janine became active in fundraising after graduating from Stanford in 1983 when she co-chaired events for her alma mater. Starting with phone-a-thons for smaller donations, Janine became involved with a variety of auctions. She has worked on auctions from small (a $6,000 auction of items from Olympians in the Bay Area) to very large events (the 100th Anniversary of the Stanford vs. UC Berkeley Big Game Auction which raised over $1.1 million). Community activities in Denver have included the Colorado Children’s Campaign, the Colorado Ballet, the Denver Ballet Guild, Horizons at Colorado Academy, Crestmoor Community Association, Team 180 Lacrosse, and more.

In 2016, she co-founded Denver Adaptive Divers (DAD) with John Sherman. As the DAD fundraising coordinator, she has overseen the annual fundraising dinners beginning with a 57-guest dinner in her home raising $18,000. Most recently a dinner for 125 people, including a silent and live auction, raised more than $100,000.

Wayne Dahlberg is a retired, 30-year medical device industry executive with experience in cardiac surgery, peripheral vascular and orthopedics. His 20-year tenure with Stryker Corporation’s Orthopedics Group included roles as VP Group CFO, VP Group Strategy and Business Development, and President of Stryker Performance Solutions. Additional direct functional responsibilities during this time included warehousing & distribution, compliance, sales operations, M&A, professional affairs, intellectual property and information technology. He received a B.A., Business Administration – Accounting from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, an M.B.A. from New York University, and achieved his C.P.A. certification early in his career.

Wayne became involved in scuba diving in 2002 when he was certified along with his two sons. Continuing his training, he became certified as an Instructor in 2019 in preparation for more diving upon his retirement. His passion for the underwater world evolved into a passion to share the ocean with people living with disabilities and he became a Classified Diving Instructor in 2021.

Despite growing up in landlocked Denver, Colorado, Ali has been scuba certified since the age of 12, falling in love with the oceans at a young age. She has turned her passion for environmental conservation and marine biology into a career as owner and travel director of Denver Divers and the Swim School of Denver. She strives to educate all generations about the importance of protecting the oceans through experiential learning on the many group trips she hosts for the dive shop.

She holds a Master of Business Administration with a focus in entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Redlands. She has worked in the dive industry for most of her career, becoming a scuba assistant instructor in 2005 and freediving instructor in 2013. Since purchasing Denver Divers in 2009, she has built the travel program from one to three trips per year up to 12-14 trips per year. Each trip she builds includes an aspect of environmental ocean education and conservation, fulfilled through partnerships with destination based non-profits around the world.

Dan has been actively engaged with several nonprofits for over 35 years. Dan began his involvement with adaptive sports in 1982 with the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) as a volunteer ski instructor for people with disabilities. He served as an NSCD volunteer and full-time staff member for many years.

Dan also served on the Board of Directors of Adaptive Adventures for many years, most recently as President of the Board.

Dan is an active world traveler, alpine skier, fisherman, sailor, master scuba diver, and water skier. Dan holds a United States Coast Guard 100-ton masters captain’s license, and his dream is to provide sailing and scuba excursions for people with disabilities. He is passionate and committed to helping others with disabilities through adaptive sports opportunities and fundraising events.

Dan is the Owner and Broker of Fowler Property Management founded in 1997. Fowler Property Management provides high-quality property management to over 500 properties throughout Boulder County, Colorado. Dan has held a Colorado Real Estate License since 1985.

Margaret is a partner in the litigation department of Campbell Killin Brittan & Ray, LLC, joining the firm in 2010. Previously, Margaret practiced in San Francisco, California, for over seven years at Landels, Ripley & Diamond, LLP and Jenkins Goodman & Neuman, LLC before she and her husband moved with their family to Margaret’s home state of Colorado. Born and raised in Denver, Margaret attended Christ the King and St. Mary’s Academy for high school, before heading off to Princeton University for college. After college, she took a year off to travel and work and ski at Vail before attending law school at Georgetown University.

It was her husband Dave’s interest in diving that prompted Margaret to learn. She was lucky enough to do her first open water dive on a trip with Dave to Belize. Margaret and Dave then dove together around the world for years, even having gotten engaged while diving at the Great Barrier Reef. Margaret and Dave currently live in Golden with their three daughters. Margaret was grateful to be reintroduced to diving in 2019 through Denver Adaptive Diver’s training program when her husband Dave, who suffers for MS, was chosen as one of DAD’s scholarship recipients. Margaret is thrilled to be a member of DAD’s Board and thankful for the chance to give back to an organization that brought the joy of diving back into her and Dave’s lives.

Tracy is a Managing Director/Practice Leader at Aon Plc, a global risk consulting firm and is based in Denver, Colorado. He has been with Aon for 33 years and his team provides risk consulting services to Insurance and Reinsurance companies in the US, London/Europe and Bermuda with specialization in Directors & Officers Liability, Errors & Omissions/Punitive Damages and related catastrophe risk exposures.  Prior to Aon, he worked for Willis Faber & Dumas, Alexander & Alexander and Aetna Corporation. He currently serves on the Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, ACE Scholarships Colorado Board of Advisors, is Co-Founder of the Colorado Paralysis Foundation and President of the Forst Family Foundation.  

Tracy studied as a Fred McLeod scholar at the University of Hawaii in 1981 and received his BSBA in Finance at the University of Denver in 1984. He attended the Executive Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1999 and is a guest lecturer in the MBA program at the University of Denver. He and his wife Stephanie have four children and reside in Littleton, Colorado.

Tracy was raised in a Navy family and grew up around the water. He started diving 10 years ago with the Craig hospital adaptive diving program after his sister, Elizabeth (EB) was rendered a quadriplegic. She was an accomplished diver before her injury and encouraged Tracy and brother Jon to dive with her. Tracy earned his Classified Dive Buddy certification in August 2024 on the Denver Adaptive Dive trip. He is committed to helping provide this experience to many more.