CCO Management

Effective March 29, 2018, CCO is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity and has operated since January 2017. Cofounder Donna Mae Baukat continues to manage day-to-day operations as Executive Director, creating programs for unmet needs to serve people in homelessness and poverty in our region of La Plata County in Southwest Colorado. 

Baukat Enterprises LLC is contracted to manage CCO's operations and programs on Pro Bono basis in accordance with CCO's Bylaws and a signed written agreement dated August 14, 2018. As one of our founders and minority owner of her company, Donna Mae is the visionary of our organization. Our Board of Directors work closely with her to establish direction and policies. However, she has voluntarily signed and submitted to the board a Conflict of Interest Acknowledgement (A copy is available upon request). 

"Donna Mae" Baukat

Cofounder, President & Executive Director

Background & Experience -- BAUKAT ENTERPRISES, LLC
Donna Mae Baukat, CEO/President

Background
I initiated some projects during the time CCO was a church program (January 2017 to March 2018). We continue to serve people experiencing homelessness and poverty with survival provisions. Some of the activities that were started are:

• Prayers & Handcrafting – stuffed crochet animals for disadvantaged children at the La Plata Family Center
• Day Work Project “Give Us Dirty Work” – finding day jobs for the Homeless
• Project ID – assisting individuals with documentation for Colorado ID or Drivers License
• Critical Supply Bank - winter protection gear (sleeping bags, clothing, coats, tents)
• Collaboration with Fort Lewis College Engineering Design and Practice Class in Spring 2018 to assess commercial shelter options and Humanitarian House International PVC/Insulated Panel Structure
• Forum ENDING HOMELESSNESS: How We Can was initiated by Baukat to educate and inform the Public locally and regionally
• Coordination with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP) to protect the constitutional rights of people experiencing homelessness and poverty

Experiences
After high school (1962-1975) my first job was stenographer at what is now known as Boeing in the Contracts Department. During the years I was raising three children, I moved upward as legal secretary, administrative & executive assistant and office manager with various small businesses and computer manufacturing firms. From 1975-1986, I was the first woman to sell Printed Circuit Boards in the electronics components industry. In 1977, I became the first woman in outside sales & marketing in chemically machined substrates for the Semiconductor and Magnetic Tape Head Industries for Vacco Industries.
After purchasing a new home in 1989, my husband Stephen Baukat and I discovered major defects with rain damage to walls and flooring. I spent three years organizing homeowners (60/80) in a Construction Defects Litigation, the name of the textbook our attorney wrote and taught at a university. 
Between 1999-2005, a civil engineering professor and author of “Seismic Repair and Rehabilitation System (SRRS) for Bridges and Highways“ (Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites) made me a partner. I marketed and promoted the SRRS at various universities across the country. My company, Advanced Structural Overlay, Inc., represented the SRRS product when I introduced it to civil engineering professors, FEMA, DOT, and Public Works.
In addition to the SRRS, we needed an equipment to detect strains during laboratory tests of sample bridge decks. I added a product manufactured in the UK for that purpose. The Smart Fibres Fiber Optical Bragg Sensors and Test Equipment was introduced at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California Irvine Campus. However, the fiber optical sensors were proven to be more efficient in composite materials for aircrafts than on bridge decks. ​

​My husband Steve and I have served meals at Manna Kitchen since the end of 2016. I've been working with ACLU and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty to help the homeless to understand their human rights protection under the Constitution. Although some saw this to be a threat, it helped to educate the public about the criminalization of sleep. Some of the homeless have received citations for not putting down their tents every morning before the City of Durango's temporary overnight camping adjacent to Greenmount Cemetery was closed on August 25th.  Criminal defense attorney Brian Schowalter recently represented the homeless group in court for trespassing citations received in July when they were evicted from the camp for protesting. I am happy to report the case was dismissed by the prosecutor, informing the judge to drop all charges. The defense would have been on the basis of the 8th Amendment for cruel and unusual punishment of people who have no where to go. ACLU and NLCHP wrote a strong letter on August 24th to the City of Durango. As enforcement of the camp ban and destruction of properties have been continuing, ACLU sent another email  to the City of Durango with reference to the Martin vs. City of Boise 9th Circuit Court decision of September 4, 2018, which denied the city's motion to ban sleeping on sidewalks when there is no place for the homeless to legally camp. We are grateful for ACLU and NLCHP for taking on this matter on behalf of Durango's homeless community! 

In the very few spare moments of my time, I will grab one of my crochet hooks and make stuffed animals for disadvantaged children. It is my favorite pastime as artist of wearable fiber art. God blessed me with the talent to create without patterns vests and other crochet items. I am honored to receive  Two 1st and one 2nd place ribbons from the New Mexico Crochet Guild at the Albuquerque FiberArts Fiesta 2017. My first entry in 2015 got 3rd place. I hope to teach crochet at the La Plata Family Center in October/
​Studies
I graduated from Western High School in 1962 in Anaheim, CA. While working as a stenographer, I studied Psychology at Fullerton Junior College. After a divorce, I married Stephen Baukat in 1981; some years later, I studied the effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on memory loss at Saddleback Junior College.  At the age of 65, I enrolled at Hope International University in the bachelors program for Business Management & Marketing (2000-2004). An untimely illness kept me from acquiring a degree. I continue to research subjects Online for knowledge, as I have studied homelessness and poverty for causes, practices and solutions since January 2017 and continuing. I've attended workshops and seminars to continue my education at age 73+. 
Personal
Steve and I will celebrate our 37th anniversary in November 2018. We reside north of Downtown Durango with our six year Miniature Schnauzer, Dolly Tres. I am mother of a son and two daughters from a previous marriage -- grandmother of three boys and four girls, and great grandmother of two lovely girls ages 6 and 5.

Stephen Michael Baukat
Vice President & Quality Assurance Director 
Baukat Enterprises, LLC
Technical Adviser to CCO Board

Steve's career as Director of Quality Assurance, Quality Assurance Manager, Quality Engineer are roles held over 40 years in electronics manufacturing. Because of his capabilities in accomplishing the goals expected by each of the companies he worked for, his peers and senior management teams influenced my promotions.

His career began in the 1970s with Navy Radar Training; power supply manufacturing as receiving inspector; assembly of High Speed Tape Drive Systems; manufacture of VME computers for U.S. military UAV flight hardware; and, Satellite Power Supply computer testing. The past 15 years have been to establish ISO 9000 and AS9100 QMS in several companies. Methods used:

• Typical SPC tools.         
• CAPA investigative technologies to determine root causes.
• Utilizing adequate analyses with thorough understanding of the failure mechanisms that initiate Corrective Action and follow-up to insure effectiveness.
• Manage data using SPC, Gage R&R, Pareto and other tools.
• Write and perform environmental test, using various Thermal Cycle, Thermal Shock, Burn-in, Vibration, and EMI-RFI equipment.
• Thorough knowledge of :
  • ISO 9001:2008 • AS9100:2009 • Mil-Q-9858 • IPC-600-610, 620 • Mil-Std750 •
  • Mil-P 2009 • Mil-Std 810C • Mil-Std 460-461 • UL • ANSI J Std. 001-005.

​
All technical and quality-related matters are the responsibility of 'Steve' Baukat. His expertise in electrical, mechanical, and chemical analysis is enhanced by keeping up with current world economics. 
Education
Computer literate: Microsoft Windows and most Linux distributions.
United States Navy, Surface and Air Search Radar Systems
Bachelor of Arts, Economics:

• University of California, Riverside, California - 1967-1968
• Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan for 3 Years​

Personal
Steve married Donna Mae (Goles) in November 1981.