For nearly 35 years, Novella Leslie has been a champion for people who want to improve their work skills to make a better life for themselves and their families. The 76-year-old is retiring from her job as a technology and career skills educator at the Center for Work Education and Employment feeling like she contributed her best to the organization and students.

“I think that I’m leaving CWEE (the center) in a really good spot. We have such brilliant young people who are just very visionary and forward-thinking,” Leslie said.

As she got ready for her last day of work on March 28, Leslie reflected on her career. She learned on the job as the technology evolved so she could ensure that her students were well-equipped for the work world.

“It’s been an amazing journey, from teaching typing on an IBM Selectric to learning digital skills and offering that to our most underserved population,” Leslie said. “The digital divide is real. It’s a struggle, particularly for our participants.”

But putting technology in students’ hands is “a game changer,” Leslie said. That includes making sure students have laptops to use at home so they can do things such as help their children with their homework, she added.

The Denver-based Center for Work Education and Employment, or CWEE, opened its doors in 1982. The center’s website says the program was modeled after a national women’s empowerment and anti-poverty program that included skills training, supportive services and employer engagement.

The nonprofit is the case manager of record for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in Denver and Arapahoe counties, said CWEE spokeswoman Katharine Brenton. In 2023, the center served 1,186 students, called “participants” by the staff. Of those, 709 went through the digital skills training and the educational/career pathway programming.

Among Leslie’s contributions to CWEE through the years was her own experience as a working mother, said Kate Horle, the organization’s CEO.

“She understands what it was like to be a working mother with young children. She brings personal experience and the ability to empathize,” said Horle, whose mother worked with Leslie at CWEE 32 years ago.

Leslie’s expansive experience with the changes in technology has been valuable to staff and participants, Horle said. “Novella has been here since computers were large machines in a room and people had to connect to it via an enormous desktop.”

And a major part of Leslie’s legacy at CWEE is the sense of joy she brought to the job, Horle added.

“Novella comes to work every day just joyous. She loves this organization, she loves the people she works with, both her participants and her colleagues,” Horle said. “That joy is both infectious and really creates a cultural environment that’s important when you’re working with folks that are struggling every day to feed their families, to house their families.”

The passion for her work came across as Leslie sat in her classroom on her last day at the CWEE building in west Denver.

“At first I thought I would be more emotional, maybe sadder. But actually I’m in a good place,” Leslie said.

However, she will miss the people and learning and teaching new things.

“CWEE has held my heart for 34 years. I’ve poured myself into this organization,” Leslie said. “I love getting up and coming to work. I want to know what’s happening at CWEE and who I’m going to meet today and what we’re going to do.”

The part of her job Leslie has enjoyed the most is knowing she played a role not only in her students’ lives but the lives of their children and even grandchildren. She hears the success stories of her former participants and their families.

“I hear every time a child graduates from high school or college,” Leslie said.

One of her favorite stories is about Rosita Padilla, who first attended CWEE in the 1990s. Padilla wanted to do something different, so she signed up for computer training. Leslie said Padilla told her she was “just a janitor.” As Leslie talked to her, she learned Padilla operated “massive machines” at work and helped negotiate contracts as a steward for her union.

“This lady had such a wealth of skills that she didn’t even recognize, marketable skills that she could use,” Leslie said.

Padilla, who is now semi-retired, said CWEE helped her find jobs. In one, she started as a mail clerk at US West, a predecessor of CenturyLink, and moved up to being a legal secretary.

“My two older kids remember the struggle of living in the projects and being on public support. The CWEE program was instrumental in helping me get through the obstacles,” Padilla said.

Padilla said she was “getting emotional” after hearing that Leslie remembered so many things about her.

“I look at her as sort of like a mother,” Padilla said. “We’ve taken several pictures throughout the years and we always joke about how our hair used to be dark and now it’s turning white. She’s just amazing.”

Natasha Apodaca got to know Leslie in 2019 during her second stint at CWEE. She said Leslie would always be brutally honest with participants. “If you’re not focused on what you’re supposed to be focused on, she’ll definitely let you know it.”

Leslie was also kind-hearted and did whatever she could to make sure all the participants understood the lessons, Apodaca said. Leslie brought in people to lead special programs for students. Apodaca said participants went through a mini-coding session and learned how to design a webpage.

“It was crazy to just think about the fact that she was so up to date on all the technology because of how much older she is,” Apodaca said. “A lot of us didn’t know all those things about computers and she’s very fluent in all of that.”

Education and learning were always important to her parents, Leslie said. “My mom often said education is the one thing they can’t take away from you.”

Leslie, a Denver native and Manual High School graduate, said she and her eight siblings all had good careers. She went to Colorado Women’s College and became a teacher. As a teacher, she sees her work with her students as a partnership.

“It doesn’t matter what they have faced in their past, what I want them to know is that when they walk through that classroom door, I’m going to meet them where they’re at,” Leslie said.

The makeup of students and their needs have changed from when Leslie started. Students include refugees from war-torn countries seeking better lives, CEO Horle said. People in the program speak about 40 different languages. The center offers parenting and mental health services.

Leslie first retired from CWEE when she was 65, but it didn’t last long. She returned to CWEE when a program manager abruptly quit. She said she wasn’t ready to leave work then, but this time is different. Leslie has classes lined up and has plans with her siblings and husband, a former Marine and a longtime manager in the city of Denver’s solid-waste program.

In December, Leslie went to Hawaii with her family. “I recall sitting on the beach and thinking I could do this every day.”