Zajc to succeed Yelen as head of Healing Warriors

FORT COLLINS – Chase Zajc has been appointed to succeed the retiring Anna Pallés Yelen as executive director of the Fort Collins-based Healing Warriors Program, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides no-cost, non-narcotic care to service members and their families.

Yelen has worked with the program since its inception in 2012.

Zajc was named to the position on March 3 and also will join the board. He has worked in the behavioral health and nonprofit industry since 2009 including as clinical director of Turning Point Center for Youth and Family Development in Fort Collins and of Nexus Indian Oaks Family Healing in Manteno, Illinois. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, then received a doctorate in philosophy and a Ph.D. in professional psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

“On behalf of the board of directors, staff, and donors, we want to thank Ana for her dedication and leadership, and wish her well in her retirement,” said Nadine Trujillo-Rogers, the program’s board president, in a prepared statement. “Although Ana will truly be missed, we believe that Chase is the right person to lead the organization forward and build on the success that has been developed over the last decade.”

Yelen was a 2021 BizWest Women of Distinction honoree.

The program has a standalone clinic in Fort Collins and monthly pop-up clinics in Longmont, Denver and Colorado Springs. Suicide prevention is among its focuses, using healing-touch therapy, acupuncture and craniosacral therapy.

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