Telling Our Story Forum 2017

CONNECT, INSPIRE, ACT:

PROGRAM & JOURNAL

Mapping Our Strengths to Power

Latino Community Foundation of Colorado MISSION to influence and engage Latinos and others to be leaders and philanthropic investors to develop strong and vibrant Latino communities in Colorado. We do this through the following three strategic directions:

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Harnessing the community’s human capital to educate, share and disseminate knowledge to influence policy and decisionmaking on critical issues in the Latino community.

COMMUNITY IMPACT Building a philanthropic community that is invested and engaged in the betterment of the Latino community.

PHILANTHROPY Investing human and financial resources with local, state and national partners who are committed to supporting innovative and relevant programs that help people reach their full potential.

Board of Directors Debora Ortega, Ph.D, Chair of the Board Adrianna Abarca Raydean Acevedo Luis Colón Gay Cook Mitchell Gonzales Gary Poling Gloria M. Schoch

Staff Diana Aldapa-Fonseca, Program Assistant Mayra Gonzáles, Program Assistant Rachel Griego, Project Director Carlos Martinez, Executive Director Priscilla Montoya Vitello, Project Manager Daniela Young, Program Manager

Program Advisors and Consultants Aguilar Public Relations Aurelio Avalos Maria Coronado Rosario Mendoza Cec Ortiz Tony Tapia Angela Tzul

Rose Community Foundation Advisors Therese Ellery, Senior Program Officer, Aging Elsa Holguín, Senior Program Officer, Child and Family Development Janet Lopez, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, Education

agenda 8:00 - 8:50 a.m.

Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:50 - 9:00 a.m.

Opening Program Carlos Martinez, Executive Director, Latino Community Foundation of Colorado Andrea Kaliva Fulton, Deputy Director / Chief Marketing Officer, Denver Art Museum

9:00 - 10:15 a.m.

Morning Session Artist Naomi Ayala, Author and Poet Keynote Raúl Pérez, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Denver

10:15 - 10:25 a.m.

Break

10:25 - 11:45 a.m.

Mapping Our Strengths to Power Moderator Antonio Parés, Partner, The Donnell-Kay Foundation Panelists Aaron A. Abeyta, Mayor of Antonito, Colorado and Professor of English, Adams State University Mary Dolo Young, Council Member, City of Boulder Julie Gonzales, Policy Director, Meyer Law Office, PC

12:00 - 1:30 p.m.

Luncheon SOL Award Presentation to Rosemary Rodriguez and Trini Rodriguez Keynote Ruben Navarrette, Columnist, The Washington Post Writers Group

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Dessert Reception

morning session

Reinventing the Sacred: Power of the Arts to Build and Strengthen Community Naomi Ayala, Author and Poet Latina/o Power in the US: Past, Present and Future Raúl Pérez, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Denver

CONNECT

INSPIRE

How are you rooted in your own power?

ACT

What is your own personal call to power?

Moderator Antonio Parés, Partner, The Donnell-Kay Foundation Panelists Aaron A. Abeyta, Mayor of Antonito, Colorado and Professor of English, Adams State University Mary Dolo Young, Council Member, City of Boulder Julie Gonzales, Policy Director, Meyer Law Office, PC

expert panel Mapping Our Strengths to Power

CONNECT

INSPIRE

ACT

speaker Aaron A. Abeyta is a Colorado native and professor of English at Adams State University and the Mayor of Antonito, Colorado, his hometown. He is the author of four collections of poetry and one novel. For his book, Colcha, Abeyta received an American Book Award and the Colorado Book Award. In addition, his novel, Rise, Do Not be Afraid, was a finalist for the 2007 Colorado Book Award and El Premio Aztlan. Mr. Abeyta was awarded a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship for poetry, and he was recently named the Poet Laureate of Colorado’s Western Slope by the Karen Chamberlain Poetry Festival. Mr. Abeyta received his Master's degree from Colorado State University. He lives in Antonito, Colorado, where he remains close to his family and culture, both of which greatly influence his work.

Naomi Ayala is the author of three books of poetry—Wild Animals on the Moon, This Side of Early , and Calling Home: Praise Songs and Incantations. She is the translator of Luis Alberto Ambroggio’s book The Wind’s Archeology/La arqueología del viento, which won her an International Latino Book Award for Best Nonfiction Book Translation. She’s now worked with countless emerging writers of all levels and across cultures and linguistic ability. She has led workshops on college and university campuses and served as an embedded teacher in public schools across the U.S., grassroots projects housed at community-based organizations, and in women's shelters, museums, and churches. Ms. Ayala lives in Washington, DC. Luis Colón is part of Xcelente Global’s senior team, where he focuses on consulting with clients on international business strategy as well as the firm’s core business offerings in marketing and public relations. He currently serves on the board of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado. He is an advisory board member at Teach for America and U.S. Bank. In addition, he is a commissioner on the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, a trustee of the Iliff School of Theology, and serves as a member of Rose Community Foundation’s Child and Family Development Committee. Throughout his career, Mr. Colón has received several awards, including the National Society of Hispanic MBAs 2000 Brillante Award. In 2006, he was selected as one of the Denver Business Journal’s “Top Forty Under 40”. In 2009, he received the American Diabetes Association Father of the Year award.

Anne Garcia serves as Interim President and CEO of Rose Community Foundation, and as the Foundation’s chief financial and operating officer. Ms. Garcia leads all aspects of the Foundation’s work, including its grantmaking,philanthropic services, and its initiatives, including the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado. She works with the Board of Trustees and Foundation committees to direct the Foundation’s growth and strategy and to manage the Foundation’s endowment. Prior to joining Rose Community Foundation, Ms. Garcia was vice president of administration at Echostar Communications Corporation. She has also worked at Minorco (USA), Inc. and Deloitte & Touche. Ms. Garcia is past president of the board of Girl Scouts – Mile Hi Council and is the recipient of the Colorado Women’s Leadership Coalition Women Leaders of Excellence Award and a former member of the Colorado Nonprofit Loan Fund board.

Julie Gonzales is the policy director for the Meyer Law Office, PC (MLO), where she helps clients, policy makers and the media navigate the intersections of the immigration and criminal justice systems. At the MLO, she supports hundreds of clients and their families to fight back against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's deportation policies, and works to pass and implement proactive policies at the state and local level. For more than a decade, she has built grassroots political power for Latinos, workers, immigrants and students through community based organizations. In 2016, she coordinated the Colorado Democratic Party's efforts to reach undecided voters in the swing sixth congressional district. She received her undergraduate degree in History and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration from Yale University in 2005.

Born on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in San Carlos, Arizona, and raised in the borderlands of south Texas, Ms. Gonzales is proud to call Colorado home.

Andrea Kalivas Fulton is deputy director and chief marketing officer for the Denver Art Museum (DAM). In this role, she is responsible for the Museum’s earned revenue strategies, including marketing and communications, as well as government affairs and strategic partnerships. She oversees the institution’s technology initiatives and was recently tapped to lead a master planning and renovation project for the Museum’s 1971 Gio Ponti-designed North Building. Prior to joining the DAM, Ms. Kalivas Fulton held positions in local and national public relations agencies where she worked with clients in the consumer products and technology sectors.

Carlos Martinez is the executive director of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, an initiative of Rose Community Foundation. In this position, he directs efforts to expand philanthropy by Latinos, supports nonprofit organizations serving the Latino community in Colorado through grantmaking, and oversees special projects. Throughout his 26 years of nonprofit work, he has held various executive director positions and led the transformation of several social service and arts organizations in Colorado, California and Massachusetts. Mr. Martinez has served on numerous local, state and national boards and commissions and has been appointed to special committees by elected officials. He previously served as an adjunct professor at University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he taught nonprofit management courses.

bios Ruben Navarrette is a nationally syndicated columnist with The Washington Post Writers Group whose twice-a-week column appears in more than 100 newspapers. He is a contributor to USA Today and the Daily Beast and a frequent analyst on Fox News Channel. A former commentator on National Public Radio, he has hosted radio shows in Phoenix, Dallas, San Diego, Fresno and Los Angeles. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune and other publications. A graduate of Harvard College and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, he is the author of A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano. He has worked for three newspapers, The Arizona Republic, The Dallas Morning News and The San Diego Union-Tribune. He is a popular speaker on the lecture circuit and the President and CEO of Ruben Navarrette Presents — a unique series of informative live stage interviewstyle conversations with newsmakers. He judged the contest for the Pulitzer Prizes in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Mr. Navarrette lives in the San Diego area with his wife and children.

Antonio Parés is a partner with the Donnell-Kay Foundation where he is focused on both rural and urban communities and how to provide a quality education for all Coloradans. Prior to Donnell-Kay, he served as the education policy director for the City and County of Denver, consulted with multiple national nonprofits focused on educational equity, worked on political campaigns in both Texas and Colorado and supported school turnaround efforts in Denver. Mr. Parés got his start as a social studies teacher in south Texas. In 2016 he was appointed by Governor John Hickenlooper to serve on the Colorado Charter School Institute Board. Mr. Parés is also the board president for Inside the Orchestra, a local music and arts nonprofit.

Raúl Pérez, Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Denver, where he teaches courses on racial and ethnic relations, racism and antiracism, social problems and the sociology of humor. His research centers on the intersections of race, racism, and humor and their connections to social inequality and social movements. His research is published in numerous academic journals, and has received scholarly awards from the American Sociological Association.

His works have also been featured in media outlets such as Time magazine, The Grio, Zócalo Public Square, Latino Rebels, and Remezcla. He is currently studying the intersections of comedy, politics, and social movements in Italy.

Roberta Robinette was appointed President of AT&T Colorado in March 2014 and holds more than 20 years of government affairs and telecommunications industry experience in developing and executing government strategies for large corporations, small businesses, and not-profit organizations. Ms. Robinette leads AT&T’s legislative and community affairs in Colorado and supports new technology deployment and infrastructure investment. Representing AT&T’s interests statewide, she collaborates with community leaders, policy makers, and local and regional business professionals to connect people with technology everywhere they live and work. Ms. Robinette was born in Pueblo and has lived in Colorado her entire life. She is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado.

Luis Simbana is a board member of the Young Latino Philanthropists, an initiative of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado. Prior to moving to Denver, Mr. Simbana lived in Ecuador and Minnesota. He studied international business and statistics in universities located in Argentina, Ecuador, France and the USA. Mr. Simbana started his own vacation rental management company, Tr3s Mundos LLC. Currently, he also serves as program director of the Dream Big initiative in Boulder. Mr. Simbana is passionate about serving the Latino community. In his free time he travels the world and has visited 34 countries and counting.

Mary Dolo Young is a Boulder City Council member. She is the eldest of five, first-generation children of Mexican immigrants and brings unique skills, experience and perspective to the Boulder City Council that have been earned and cultivated throughout the course of her life. She holds a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California. Ms. Dolo Young has served on many boards and committees and in 2012 was chosen for a Rose Community Foundation fellowship to develop a transportation project that focuses on the well-being of Latino older adults. Ms. Dolo Young was chair of the City of Boulder Planning Board and a member of that volunteer citizen board for nearly five years until her election to the Boulder City Council. Ms. Dolo Young served as Mayor Pro Tem from November 2015 through November 2016.

Be brave. Take risks.

Nothing can substitute experience.

- Paulo Coelho

keynote Ruben Navarrette, Columnist, The Washington Post Writers Group

Latino 2017: Under Fire Yet Overachieving

KNOW YOUR PATH

KNOW YOUR WORLD

KNOW YOURSELF

“The reimagining of civics as the teaching and learning of power is so necessary . . . If you don’t learn how to practice power, someone else will do it for you—in your name, on your turf, with your voice, and often against your interests.”

- Eric Lui

soul of leadership The Latino Community Foundation of Colorado is pleased to present the 2017 Soul of Leadership (SOL) Award to Rosemary E. Rodriguez and her son, Trinidad Rodriguez. The SOL award celebrates their exemplary leadership and its significant and positive impact in the community.

ROSEMARY RODRIGUEZ Former State Director, US Senator Michael Bennet Rosemary Eloisa Rodriguez is the director of Together We Vote, a civic engagement project promoting census participation and non-partisan redistricting involvement among hard-to-reach communities.

Formerly the state director for Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, Ms. Rodriguez served as a commissioner on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, chairing the commission in 2008. Prior to that, she served on the Denver City Council for three and a half years and was council president from 2005 to 2006. In 2015, Ms. Rodriguez was elected to the Denver Public Schools Board of Education, representing Southwest Denver.

Ms. Rodriguez served on a 15-member panel assembled by former Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper investigating faults within the Denver Election Commission that may have contributed to problems in the 2006 elections, she spearheaded election reform and changes to the city charter, which Denver voters approved. She also chaired the 2001 Colorado Reapportionment Commission, a constitutional body that was responsible for redrawing legislative districts after the 2000 Census.

In November 2006, Ms. Rodriguez was nominated by president George W. Bush to the Election Assistance Commission. The senate confirmed her nomination in February of 2007.

Ms. Rodriguez is a Colorado native and attended Metropolitan State University where she studied Political Science. She has received numerous awards for service to her community and spends much of her free time organizing the Cafecito, a place where Latina professionals gather for friendship, encouragement and mutual support.

TRINIDAD RODRIGUEZ Senior Vice President, Managing Director, Public Finance at D.A. Davidson & Co. Trinidad (“Trini”) Rodriguez is a senior vice president, managing director of public finance at D.A. Davidson & Co. Mr. Rodriguez has been a public finance investment banker since 1999. In that time, he has structured and underwritten tax-exempt and taxable bonds to finance public and nonprofit issuers’ capital and infrastructure needs. He has financed over $800 million in tax-exempt bonds for independent schools, higher education and nonprofit institutions and has also served as a policy adviser in the Colorado Governor’s Office.

Mr. Rodriguez’s community involvement spans many organizations in Colorado. He currently serves as chairman of the Downtown Denver Partnership’s Denver Civic Ventures board, serves as a Trustee and is a member of the Education Committee at Rose Community Foundation, is on the boards of the Colorado Fiscal Institute and the Winter Park Recreation Association, and has served on the board of Urban Peak and the New American School. Mr. Rodriguez is also past chair and current member of the Denver Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.

He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and resides in Denver with his wife, Sarah, a physician, and daughter, Catalina.

our work CAMBIO PARA EL CAMBIO

LATINO AGE WAVE COLORADO

Cambio para el Cambio (Change for Change) is a grassroots campaign to educate Latinos about the importance of philanthropy and investing in their community. The project encourages families and individuals to save money and then donate those funds to a nonprofit organization of their choice.

Latino Age Wave Colorado supports the well-being of a rapidly growing Latino older adult population in Metro Denver through innovative services and programs. This project also supports investment in local leadership, advocacy building and culturally responsive engagement.

COLORADO IMMIGRANT FUNDERS COLLABORATIVE

LATINOS ENGAGED IN ENTERPRISING PHILANTHROPY

Colorado Immigrant Founders Collaborative is a collaborative to engage and encourage Colorado funders throughout the state to support immigrant issues. Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) has provided matching funds to increase grantmaking across Colorado.

Latinos Engaged in Enterprising Philanthropy seeks to promote healthy communities and support Latino families moving out of poverty. The program builds on the LCFC’s fundraising capacity to leverage and raise additional dollars with corporations, Latino businesses and foundations to help families.

HIP TO COLLEGE: SUMMER MELT

TELLING OUR STORY

HIP to College: Summer Melt invests in the educational success of Latino students in Colorado by addressing the issue of "summer melt," when college-intending students fail to enroll in the fall after high school graduation. To date, over 1000 students have received transition support.

Telling Our Story is an annual forum to elevate and address critical issues in the Latino community in a thought-provoking way. The LCFC believes that by stretching people’s beliefs around an issue they are empowered to act which leads to collective power and social change.

IMPACT EXPLOSION

STRENGTHENING LATINO NONPROFITS

Impact Explosion is an annual convening that brings together donors, grantees and people whose lives have been transformed through the LCFC's investments to learn about the LCFC's work the impact it is having in Latino communities throughout Colorado.

Strengthening Latino Nonprofits invests in the community through grants to organizations focused on the LCFC's priority areas which include health, education, civic engagement, workforce/career development and arts and culture. These grants provide community-based economic empowerment.

LATINAS LEAD

YOUNG LATINO PHILANTHROPISTS

Latinas LEAD is an initiative that catalyzes the power of philanthropy to strengthen the leadership pipeline for Latinas in Colorado. Key strategies include investing through grants or scholarships, providing innovative training opportunities and connecting Latinas in their field of interest.

The Young Latino Philanthropists (YLP) is a philanthropic giving circle comprised of young Latino leaders who want to make a difference in the Latino community by collectively pooling resources. To find out more, contact us at YLP@rcfdenver.org or follow us on Facebook @younglatinophilanthropists.

LATINAS LEAD POWER SUMMIT Latinas LEAD Power Summit is an annual gathering designed to create a culturally relevant shared learning environment where Latinas can share their unique strengths, challenges and opportunities as they shape their professional and personal development. Participants discover powerful strategies to advance their leadership.

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Thank You Today's forum was made possible by the following sponsors:Â

Premium

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Family

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We Are Your Partners in Philanthropy The goal of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado is to engage community members at many levels and create a long-term commitment to community investment by tracking tangible results and impact.

At the LCFC, we believe the long-term vibrancy of the Latino Community depends on Latinos, evolving as philanthropists and understanding their power and potential. We know we can play an important part. To donate, please visit: latinocfc.org/donate.

600 S. Cherry Street, Suite 1200 | Denver, CO 80246 | 303.398.7400 | info@rcfdenver.orgÂ