It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 13th S.O.U.P! (Shots Offer Unrivaled Protection) event, hosted by Immunize Colorado. This evening, we celebrate our 33rd year as an organization dedicated to promoting vaccination and keeping Coloradans protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. We also celebrate you our coalition partners, vaccine advocates, and dear friends and your support, hard work, and dedication to Immunize Colorado's mission as we enjoy gourmet soups and network with colleagues and friends both new and old.
As we look back on our past work, especially that of the last four years, we recognize the strides we’ve taken to ensuring everyone – regardless of their ability, income, insurance status, race, ethnicity, or any other factor – has equitable access to and information about life-saving immunizations. Simultaneously, we recognize the obstacles that persist to combat vaccine misinformation, reduce vaccine hesitancy, break down enduring barriers to vaccine access, improve our state’s vaccination rates, and ensure equity in every aspect of public health and healthcare including vaccination. At Immunize Colorado, we continue to heed the call and focus our work around these important goals.
This year, Immunize Colorado deepened our partnerships with organizations, community groups, and individuals. During the fourth year of our AmeriCorps VISTA program, six VISTA members served over 3,000 Coloradans through increased vaccine education and access initiatives. We also continued our Trusted Messenger program; messengers planned 135 educational events and 51 mobile vaccine clinics that provided nearly 5,000 vaccines to individuals in the Latino, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, older adult, unhoused, uninsured, refugee, faith, and disability communities. We hosted the CDC’s Pink Book course, which drew over 300 healthcare professionals for an intensive two-day vaccine curriculum, and we reached over 1,700 additional healthcare providers through our monthly educational webinars. We continued to convene our Policy Committee, helping to successfully support an initiative that added $3.6 million to Colorado’s immunization programs. Finally, we revamped the Immunize For Good websites in English and Spanish, which help caregivers learn the facts about immunization. This summary represents only a fraction of what we've accomplished, but all our work continues to highlight the fact that the impact we make by working together is far greater than any we could make alone.
Tonight, we celebrate everyone who has joined in the effort to tackle vaccination challenges and respond to ongoing and emerging threats to vaccine acceptance, funding, infrastructure, and policy. We recognize the need to remain steadfast in our efforts, but to also celebrate our collective accomplishments and honor the immunization champions in our state who work tirelessly to uphold and advocate for the invaluable impact vaccines have on our communities' health.
So tonight we will honor the recipients of the 2024 S.O.U.P! Awards. The 2024 Big Shot of the Year Award will be presented to Senators Julie Gonzales, Kyle Mullica, Kevin Priola, and Dylan Roberts for their vaccine advocacy in the state legislature and their efforts to pass Senate Bill 20-163: School Entry Immunization, as co-sponsors of the bill. The 2024 SOUPer Hero Award will be presented to Stephanie Wasserman, MSPH, for her leadership as Immunize Colorado’s executive director for over 10 years, during which time she grew the organization’s impact tremendously. And finally, the 2024 Sure Shot Awards will recognize an individual and an organization, both of whom have worked tirelessly on the front lines of their local communities to protect Coloradans through immunization: Joel Tanaka, MD, the Chief Medical Officer at Peak Vista Community Health Centers and a champion for adult immunization access, and The Immunization and Travel Clinic at Denver Health, a full-service, nurse-run vaccination clinic that serves individuals regardless of insurance status, immigration status, or ability to pay.
Finally, we celebrate all of you. Promoting vaccination, especially these days, is a challenging, often frustrating endeavor, but it remains oh-so vital. We could not be more grateful for each of you and your continued dedication to keeping Colorado families, schools, and communities healthy through immunization. We thank you for your many contributions to Immunize Colorado and our mission, and we hope you can take this evening to connect with and celebrate one another for our collective impact.
The Big Shot of the Year Award, Immunize Colorado’s highest honor, is presented to champions of community immunization.
SENADORA JULIE GONZALES
Senadora Julie Gonzales is a progressive Democrat serving north, west, and downtown Denver as the state Senator for Senate District 34 With roots that stretch back generations in Colorado, Julie has dedicated her life to organizing working people, Latinos, and youth around affordable housing, educational justice, and immigrant rights. First elected in
the blue wave of 2018, she allocated millions of dollars towards affordable housing, strengthened protections for immigrant communities from ICE, repealed the death penalty, and streamlined Colorado’s marijuana regulations. She serves as Chair of the Judiciary committee, Vice Chair of the Local Government & Housing Committee, and as a member of the Legal Services and Appropriations committees. She also serves as the Colorado Senate Democrats Majority Whip and the Co-Chair of the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus.
2024 Big Shot of the Year
The Big Shot of the Year Award, Immunize Colorado’s highest honor, is presented to champions of community immunization.
SENATOR KYLE MULLICA
Senator Kyle Mullica is a State Senator for the 24th District in Colorado, covering the City of Thornton and Federal Heights Prior to serving in the Senate, he served in the House for four years. Born and raised in Thornton, Colorado, Senator Mullica embodies what it is to work for and with members of his constituency. As an ER Nurse he’s the only active healthcare worker
serving in the Colorado Legislature - making him a go-to advocate for legislation revolving around the healthcare industry. He believes healthcare is a right, not a privilege and is committed to taking care of those who take care of us - healthcare workers! When he’s not in the ER working or down at the Capitol you can find him either spending time with his family or rooting on his Denver Broncos.
2024 Big Shot of the Year
The Big Shot of the Year Award, Immunize Colorado’s highest honor, is presented to champions of community immunization.
SENATOR KEVIN PRIOLA
Kevin Priola serves in the Colorado Senate representing District 13. Prior to his tenure in the State Senate, he served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2009 until his election to the Senate in 2016. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Joint Technology Committee, Chair of the Transportation and Energy Committee, and as a member of the
Appropriations and the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committees.
In 2022, Senator Priola switched parties from Republican to Democrat. He has historically worked across the aisle to sponsor and support bipartisan legislation; he was often the only Republican to vote in favor of some legislation, including a bill to prevent landlords from using or disclosing the immigrant status of their tenants, and another bill to prohibit employers from retaliating against their workers for reporting health and safety concerns. His policy priorities center on small businesses, election security, education, and environmental health.
Senator Priola was born in Brighton, Colorado, and attended the University of Colorado Boulder where he graduated with a BS in finance and accounting. He currently lives in Henderson with his wife Michelle and their four children
2024 Big Shot of the Year
The Big Shot of the Year Award, Immunize Colorado’s highest honor, is presented to champions of community immunization.
SENATOR DYLAN ROBERTS
Dylan Roberts represents Senate District 8 in the Colorado State Senate which encompasses Clear Creek, Eagle, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt, and Summit Counties. Senator Roberts serves as the Chair of the Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee and Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee.
Senator Roberts was elected to the Senate in 2022. From 2018-2022, Senator Roberts served in the State House representing Eagle and Routt Counties. His work at the legislature has focused on lowering the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, protecting our environment and water, funding more affordable housing development, and promoting rural economic development. In 2019, he wrote and passed the law that made Colorado the first state in the nation to cap the cost of insulin and in 2022, he helped pass the largest single-year investment into affordable housing in Colorado history. Prior to and during his service in the legislature, Senator Roberts worked as a Deputy District Attorney for Eagle County. He grew up in Routt County and now lives in Summit County with his wife Sarah and their son Teddy.
2024 SOUPer Hero
The SOUPer Hero Award recognizes individuals for their dedication and commitment to providing expertise, ideas, and collaborative support for Immunize Colorado’s programs.
STEPHANIE WASSERMAN, MSPH
Stephanie Wasserman served as the executive director of Immunize Colorado from 2012-2022. Under her leadership, the organization secured highly competitive grants, launched the Colorado Vaccine Equity Taskforce (which ensured that highly impacted communities had the information and tools they needed to get vaccinated during the pandemic), spearheaded the
passage of regulations and laws to ensure Colorado children and families have the access and information they need to vaccinate, and created actionable data tools to highlight low coverage and high needs communities.
Stephanie has more than 30 years of experience managing public and community health initiatives, including leading all aspects of a $2.5 million statewide initiative to promote school health and wellness. She also managed school-based health centers and community clinics throughout Colorado providing behavioral health, oral health, and primary care services, including immunizations, to medically underserved children. At the National Conference of State Legislatures, Stephanie served as a program director and provided expertise on priority public health issues to state lawmakers across the country. She served as the board chair of the Colorado Association for School-Based Health Care and a member-at-large at Colorado Public Health Association. She is also a founding board member of Academy 360, a public charter school with a core focus on student wellness and health promotion In 2015 Stephanie won the Colorado Public Health Association’s Public Health Champion award and in 2024 she was selected to serve as a Fulbright Scholar.
2024 Regional Sure Shot
The Sure Shots are nominated by friends or colleagues and are selected based on their leadership, collaboration, and advocacy in the field of immunizations.
JOEL TANAKA, MD
Dr. Tanaka is a Board-Certified Family Physician. He completed his undergraduate studies at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and went on to earn his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He has lived in Colorado Springs since 2002 and is the Chief Medical Officer at
Peak Vista Community Health Centers, providing primary care, dental, behavioral health, and psychiatric care to people in 24 locations located in Colorado Springs, Divide, Limon, Strasburg, Fountain, and Flagler. Dr. Tanaka is passionate about his family, clinical leadership, health advocacy, health equity, and serving Coloradans to help them overcome barriers to achieving optimal wellness. He is married to Jackie Tanaka, his lovely bride of 31 years, and they have 3 sons.
"Dr. Tanaka is a strong advocate for adult immunization equality especially in our unique non-profit Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers (FQHCs) in Colorado. His perspective is that we have the means to facilitate child vaccines in all populations (either through commercial insurance or VFC), but once they become adults, there are massive populations that no longer have access to ACIP-recommended vaccines. I believe his biggest impact has been requesting that CCHN officially get involved with Medicaid. This is the first significant step forward (of which I am aware) in making adult vaccines more accessible to this population."
- Dr. Katherine Boudreaux, Vice President of Pharmacy Services, Peak Vista Community Helath Centers
2024 Denver Metro Sure Shot
The Sure Shots are nominated by friends or colleagues and are selected based on their leadership, collaboration, and advocacy in the field of immunizations.
THE IMMUNIZATION AND TRAVEL
CLINIC AT DENVER HEALTH
The Immunization and Travel Clinic at Denver Health is a full-service, nurserun vaccination clinic led by a medical director, nurse program manager, and clinic administrator. The team consists of nine registered nurses (RN), three medical assistants (MA), five patient access specialists (PAS), and one program assistant. Vaccinations are
offered at a full-time clinic on the Denver Health campus, as well as at outreach clinics hosted at community based organizations throughout the city and county of Denver. The clinic also offers consultations for international travel to provide patients with prescriptions and travel specific vaccinations.
Throughout 2023, the team served 1,948 patients in community outreach settings and provided 3,502 vaccines. Of those patients served, 1,658 (85.1%) identified as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). Also in 2023, the team served 286 Denver Public Schools students at school vaccination events and provided 941 total vaccines. Of those served, 268 (93.7%) identified as BIPOC. All Clinic staff have training in vaccine hesitancy, and health equity is foundational to their work to increase vaccine uptake. More than a third of the staff are bilingual English/Spanish speakers. The team serves patients regardless of insurance or immigration status or the ability to pay.
The outreach team collaborates with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver Public Schools, Denver Human Services, Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, Vuela for Health, ViVe Wellness, Julissa Soto, and
many other community-based organizations. These strong partnerships have resulted in highly successful vaccine events throughout the community.
"The team goes above and beyond by completing recall campaigns to help patients complete vaccine series for maximum protection. Throughout 2023, the team received survey feedback with an average score of 3.8/4.0 and comments such as, “very nice and welcoming staff”; “very polite and knowledgeable staff”; and “perfect and professional.” The outreach team works to increase vaccination rates in our community in numerous, innovative ways. From hands on vaccine administration, to coordination with community partners, caring for the underserved, and beyond, the team is incredibly deserving of the Denver Metro Sure Shot award."
- Lisa Filipczak, Clinic Administrator, Public Health Institute at Denver Health
2024 Event Sponsors
PRESENTING SPONSOR
TITLE SPONSOR
SUPPORTING SPONSOR
GOURMET SPONSORS
American Academy of Pediatrics, Colorado Chapter
Aponte & Busam Public Affairs Consultants
Caring for Colorado Foundation
Colorado Families for Vaccines
Colorado Hospital Association
The Colorado Trust
Children’s Hospital Colorado, Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
COPIC
Jules Amer Chair in Community Pediatrics
Kaiser Permanente
Thomas W. Bost, MD, PC
2024 Event Sponsors
INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS
Angela Anderson, MS, MA
Aimee Bernard, PhD
Ray Blum, MD, FIDSA
Nathan and Jennifer DeVine
Sara Froelich
Simon Hambidge, MD, PhD
David Higgins, MD, MPS, MS
Stephanie James, PhD, MBA
Martin Pirnat, MD, and Charlotte Pirnat
IN-KIND SPONSORS
Colorado Independent Liquor Stores United
Thank you to our generous sponsors!
Dinner Menu
SMOKED PORK GREEN CHILI (GLUTEN-FREE)
Topped with shredded cheddar and fried tortilla chips (gluten-free)
Served with pickled cauliflower and sweet & sour cabbage crispy taco (vegan & gluten-free)
ROASTED RED PEPPER & JALAPEÑO CREAM SOUP (VEGETARIAN)
Topped with cornbread (vegetarian) and fried shallots (vegetarian)
Served with sweet potato & ricotta-stuffed mushrooms (vegetarian & gluten-free)
BAKED POTATO SOUP (VEGETARIAN & GLUTEN-FREE)
Topped with charcoal sour cream (gluten-free) and sweet & spicy bacon (gluten-free)
Served with Old Bay nitro popcorn (vegetarian & gluten-free)
CURRIED CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
Topped with chopped herbs (gluten-free & vegetarian) and turmeric-filled carrots (gluten-free & vegetarian)
Served with artichoke & freeze-dried tomato bruschetta (vegan)
