An international leader in autism and native Phoenician, Denise is the founder and president/CEO of First Place® AZ (established in 2012), co-founder of the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC, established in 1997), and founder and CEO of DRA Collective, a marketing/communications firm (established in 1986) that serves clients in a variety of fields, including real estate, economic development, healthcare, education and hospitality.