The hardest part of following the path to success is taking that first step, says Elizabeth Caswell Dyer, owner and CEO of Sopra Communities Inc.
“The most important risk I took was getting started — to actually leave a comfortable job and build a better mousetrap on my values with no signed clients in advance of the jump,” she said.
Caswell Dyer founded her real estate and community management company in 2010. “We are a local company dedicated to providing community management services in the Denver Central Business District and surrounding neighborhoods,” the company said. “Our company mission is to manage the assets entrusted to us by providing service above and beyond your expectations through our industry expertise and pragmatic management practices. This approach builds community and increases property values.”
Caswell Dyer has built Sopra Communities from one client to 42 and two employees to 14 in the past 12 years. During this time, she has changed how condominium management works in the downtown core and surrounding neighborhoods of Denver. She also has created an ecosystem of startups and successful businesses that supports Sopra’s mission and clientele.
“She is dedicated to supporting local businesses and giving them opportunities to succeed,” Caswell Dyer’s team said. “These include plumbers, electricians, HVAC, and others. By putting together this ecosystem, these companies have flourished and grown during their time with Sopra and owe direct growth to the opportunities provided by the connection to Sopra’s clients and clientele, not to mention friends and family. Elizabeth is everyone’s go-to person to connect them to a competent professional they can trust for their various real estate needs.”
Caswell Dyer sits on the LoDo District Urban Design Committee, chairs the House Committee and is a board member at the University Club. She has held leadership roles in the Lower Downtown (LoDo) business district, the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund, the Downtown Denver Partnership housing council and the original Energize Denver Task Force, among numerous other community-based opportunities.
Caswell Dyer said she is most proud of her work as chairperson of the board for Opera Colorado, 2020–2023.
“Leading the organization through the very challenging time of COVID and shuttered venues, she had the foresight to use the quiet time to put together committees and update the 40-year-old governing documents to not only reflect current practices but to position the opera to be ready for the next 40 years,” Caswell Dyer’s team said. “She is so pleased to be the chairperson during the celebrations of Opera Colorado’s 40th season and oversee the return to mainstage productions at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.”
