Current Fellows

Born abroad in Germany, raised in South Korea and the daughter of a Black Vietnam War veteran father and a South Korean immigrant mother, Benu Amun-Ra (we/our/ours) is a generational farmer, seed-keeper, eco-feminist activist, and one of the communal founders and CEO of the indigenous diaspora non-profit organization, S.A.C.R.Ed (Seeding Ancestral Community Relationships Education) Eco-Center. Our organization is dedicated to re-centering on community healing through indigenous ways of being and knowing. We know as Black and Brown Indigenous diaspora that all of our healing is rooted in belongingness and coming together to heal our wounds, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We emphasize the importance of reciprocity and being in right relationship through reinvigorating indigenous practices of co-existing with nature and each other. We navigate the intersectionality of being identified as a BIPOC, single mother, an LGBTQ+ community member, and an individual living with disabilities.

Our work centers on food security (culturally relevant food pathways), mental health access (spiritual practices through Elder mentorship, ritual and ceremony), and advocacy (creative activism using our voices, art, dance, music, textiles, etc.)—crucial elements that make up our cultural roots that have been threatened or erased by centuries of oppression, inequity, colonialism’s cycle of trauma, the not so far off pandemic as well as the actions of the new incoming government administration. Currently, we are pursuing our Ph.D. in Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies to advance the narrative of ancestral healing through our Indigeneity and reclaiming our Indigenous souls. Ase!

Elisa Aucancela (she/her/ella) is the Co-Executive Director of El Grupo Vida, a Denver non-profit organization that serves immigrants with disabilities and their families through training, resources, advocacy and connection with systems. Elisa was born and raised in Puerto Rico as the oldest of three siblings. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Puerto Rico, a post-bachelor’s degree in Education Administration from Universidad Abierta de Santiago in the Dominican Republic, a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from the Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago in the Dominican Republic and a Master’s of Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado. She completed all-but-dissertation programs in Psychology at Universidad de Granada, Spain, and in Infant and Early Childhood Development at Fielding University, California.

Throughout her career, Elisa has been dedicated to serving diverse communities, particularly BIPOC families. Her bilingual (Spanish-English) and multicultural background have been instrumental in her ability to connect with and support these communities effectively. At El Grupo Vida, she leads initiatives that address the unique challenges faced by immigrants with disabilities and their families, ensuring they have access to culturally competent services and resources. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, 2 dogs, and 8 nephews and nieces. She loves traveling, and mixed media art.

Angie is the proud daughter of immigrants and the Executive Director of Latina SafeHouse, a nonprofit that provides trauma-informed, culturally rooted services for Latiné survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Nonprofit Management at Regis University. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Paraguay, Angie also serves on the board of Colectiva Creando Cambios en Colorado.

Angie leads with corazón, guided by lived experience, deep community love, and a vision for transformative justice. She believes in the power of connection, culture, and collective care to restore what violence tries to take and to break cycles of generational trauma and harm. Under her leadership, Latina SafeHouse has expanded services, centered survivor feedback, and deepened its commitment to uplifting community voices and advancing equity through systems change.

Her leadership runs parallel to her healing. Whether summiting mountains with her dogs Pollo and Luna, running, snowboarding, or completing sprint triathlons, Angie reclaims space in the outdoors and in herself. From days when getting out of bed feels impossible to crossing literal finish lines, she continues to navigate life’s contradictions: softness and strength, grief and joy, fear and resistance.

Fueled by café, carbs, and cariño, Angie is building spaces where survivors are seen as whole people with agency, brilliance, and the right to thrive.

Renée M. Chacon (she/her/ella) is Diné/Xicana/Filipina and is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Womxn from the Mountain, transforming education through justice, art and cultural education as a Sahumadora en Danza Azteca Mexicayotl. She works as a Cultural Educator in several environmental justice initiatives to stop environmental racism in Commerce City/Denver CO with Suncor Sundown. She was Co-Chair on the Equity Analysis subcommittee for the Environmental Justice Action Taskforce and currently serves as Commerce City Council Womxn for Ward 3.

Lynnette Grey Bull (she/her/hers) is a Húnkpapȟa Lakota, Yanktonai Dakota, and Northern Arapaho leader from the Standing Rock and Wind River Nations. She is the Executive Director of Not Our Native Daughters (NOND), a national nonprofit dedicated to addressing the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR) and combating the human trafficking of Indigenous people.

Lynnette is a nationally recognized advocate, artist, and community builder with over a decade of experience in public speaking, policy work, and grassroots organizing. Her leadership has contributed to the formation of state MMIR task forces, including in Colorado and Wyoming. She is also the founder of Indigenous Youth Voices for Conservation, a land-based healing and employment pathway program that reconnects Native youth to traditional ecological knowledge, environmental stewardship, and mental wellness.

A passionate systems-changer, Lynnette uses storytelling, cultural teachings, and multimedia tools to amplify Indigenous perspectives and challenge systemic injustices. Through her consulting firm, GreyBull Strategies, she supports Tribal capacity building, DEI strategy, and organizational healing. She is also a board member for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and collaborates with the National Park Service on truth-telling efforts.

Lynnette believes that undoing racism starts with building bridges, honoring Indigenous sovereignty, and uplifting Native-led solutions. Her work is rooted in cultural preservation, youth empowerment, and the reclamation of Indigenous narratives.

Jolene (she/her/hers) is a Diné woman who is an enrolled member and citizen of the Navajo Nation. She has worked in anti-violence work for nearly 12 years beginning as a policy analyst for the Navajo Nation Sexual Assault Prevention Subcommittee under the Navajo Legislative Branch, where she worked with the 22nd and 23rd Navajo Nation Councils. Jolene moved into community organizing where she felt she could make the most impact with survivors of violence and families experiencing the missing and murdered crisis on the Navajo Nation. She co-founded the Missing & Murdered Diné Relatives Coalition (MMDRC) in March 2019 with other strong Diné (Navajo) women committed to creating social change, supporting families and communities experiencing the crisis, and providing advocacy efforts that promote sovereignty and agency of Navajo people. While continuing to advocate and volunteer for MMDRC, Jolene joined the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (CSVANW) where she oversaw programs that focused on training, education and victim advocacy for domestic violence, sexual violence, sex trafficking, MMIWR and all forms of gender-based violence in New Mexico urban and tribal communities.

Jolene moved to Colorado to take on the role of Executive Director at the Denver Indian Family Resource Center, shifting her focus to Indian Child Welfare. Her goal is to support and strengthen Native American families while actively promoting and advocating for the Indian Child Welfare Act, ensuring that Native children are protected and remain deeply connected to their culture and community.

Xander (he/they) is Transmasculine, Queer, disabled and is of the Dine’/Navajo Nation. Xander moved from the southeastern Kansas area to Durango, CO to attend Fort Lewis College, graduating in the Winter of 2020 with a Bachelor’s in Gender and Sexuality Studies and a Bachelor’s in Sociology. Xander’s passions lie in social change, advocacy, and education. He is a long term youth facilitator, activist, and leader. Xander started as a college intern at RYC in 2019 and has been with the organization ever since. He has now stepped into the Executive Director role. He lives in Bloomfield, NM with his three cats named Bubbles, Beans, and Bear.

Gladis Ibarra (she/her/hers) immigrated to Colorado from Zacatecas, Mexico, at the age of seven. Like many eldest daughters in immigrant families, her first role was that of an interpreter and translator for both immediate and extended relatives. Growing up undocumented deeply shaped her understanding of the world and sparked a lifelong drive to understand the systems that forced her family to live in constant fear of separation. As a young adult, she found her political home in the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC)—an organization committed to building a world where immigrant families like hers can thrive without fear.

Before stepping into her role as Co-Executive Director, Gladis served CIRC in multiple capacities—including Organizer, Hotline Manager, Campaign Manager, and Deputy Director. In each of these roles, she contributed to major victories: expanding access to driver’s licenses for undocumented Coloradans, defending communities from deportation, and advancing state-funded legal representation for immigrants in removal proceedings. These experiences not only shaped her leadership but also equipped her with the strategic vision and skills necessary to guide the state’s largest immigrant rights organization.

With over seven years of experience, Gladis is now the first immigrant to lead CIRC through a pivotal time, ensuring that Colorado remains a welcoming state for all who dream of calling it home. Under her leadership, the organization champions transformative policies such as Protecting Civil Rights Regardless of Immigration Status, data privacy protections, and access to healthcare. She is also spearheading a statewide campaign to educate every community about their rights, in the language of their heart—particularly in interactions with federal agencies like ICE—while documenting abuses, holding agencies accountable, and expanding deportation defense resources to keep immigrant communities safe and empowered.

Shay Jacobs (she/her/hers) is a powerful voice for healing, justice and community. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Adam’s Purpose, a grief and mental health organization born from the loss of her son, Adam. Rooted in lived experience, Shay’s leadership is driven by a deep commitment to ensure Black and BIPOC families have access to compassionate, relevant, and affirming grief care.

With a fierce dedication to equity and healing, Shay has shaped Adam’s Purpose into a trusted space offering peer-led support groups, expressive arts healing circles and mental health education. Her work centers dignity and the voices of those most impacted, ensuring that services reflect the realities and strengths of the communities they serve. Shay’s work honors her son’s legacy and empowers families to move forward with hope. Through Adam’s Purpose, she is redefining what it means to grieve with grace, build connection, and rise—together.

A devoted wife and mother of three boys, Shay finds profound joy in motherhood and strength in the partnership she shares with her husband. Together, they walk a personal path of healing while lifting others along the way.

Minsun Ji (Ph.D.) (she/her/hers) is a labor-community organizer, activist scholar and popular educator. Currently, Minsun is the Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center (RMEOC), which promotes employee ownership through coop conversion, coop incubation, research and policy. She launched the Drivers Cooperative-Colorado (DCC), which is Colorado’s largest platform worker cooperative that utilizes a pre-scheduled and on-demand app to provide higher wages to rideshare drivers and to provide reliable and affordable transportation service to underserved community members. She is also actively engaged in advocating for the need to create a new cooperative category of “social cooperatives” in the U.S. which define the “public interest” and a “social mission”—such as serving a marginalized community—as their main purpose.

Minsun was the graduate program director of the Center for New Directions in Politics and Public Policy in the Political Science Department at the University of Colorado Denver where she created graduate program tracks in the social economy and community/labor organizing. Minsun organized immigrant janitors, immigrant day laborers and domestic workers and was the founder and executive director of Denver’s first worker center, El Centro Humanitario para los Trabajadores (Humanitarian Center for Workers).

Birdie Johnson (she/her/hers) is the founder of Mama Bird Doula Services and Mama Bird Maternity Wellness Spa — two Colorado-based organizations grounded in culturally rooted care for Black and brown families. A licensed massage therapist and full-spectrum doula with over a decade of experience, Birdie brings a powerful mix of lived experience, professional training and heart-led leadership.

Before birthwork, Birdie spent years in customer service management, recreation, food service, and healthcare — roles that sharpened her ability to serve, connect and hold space for people from all walks of life. Her journey into maternal health began through prenatal massage, where she witnessed how deeply rest and touch could support pregnant bodies. After becoming a doula, her own experience with pregnancy loss illuminated just how common and deeply harmful birth trauma is, especially for Black families.

Birdie’s life work is about offering what she didn’t have in a mother: loving presence, truth-telling and care that doesn’t disappear when things get hard. She now leads a Medicaid-accepting doula agency, mentors doulas of color, and creates pathways for families and birth workers to feel supported, seen, and sustained.

She shows up with clarity, humor and deep integrity, always rooted in community, culture and compassion. Outside of work, she’s a proud mama of three (plus one in heaven) who loves the beach, boxing, mocktails and good food with people she loves.

Candace Johnson (she/her/hers) is part of the TLC Leadership Team as a Governing Circle member. She is an honorary fellow this year, accompanying the cohort to witness and experience firsthand the transformation that the TLC Fellowship creates. Please see her picture and bio on our Leadership Page!

Sarah Naomi (they/she/we) is a dedicated parent, creative, educator, healer, community organizer and entrepreneur. Passionate about fostering connection, they believe in the power of coming together to combat loneliness and isolation. By gathering intergenerational communities, they create spaces that cultivate belonging and collective care.

As the founder of Align with Purpose, a social enterprise, Sarah Naomi collaborates with artists, healers, nurturers and activists to strengthen connections among diverse community members. With a focus on resilience, they facilitate song circles, sound healing sessions and trauma-informed yoga support groups. Sarah Naomi is also co-president of Satya Yoga Cooperative—a community-driven organization committed to being a healing force by and for People of Color (POC), using yoga as a tool for both personal liberation and social transformation.

In addition to these endeavors, they are a sustainable fashion designer and advocate, co-owner of WOMB (Weavers of MoonBeams), a BIPOC, queer, and single mother owned home and intentional living community in Denver and an active organizer with Amaranth, a collective supporting BIPOC femmes in building capacity and accessing opportunities for their homes and lives.

Born and raised in southwestern Colorado, Regina (she/her/hers) is an enrolled member and currently resides on the Ute Mountain Ute tribe reservation in a small community named Towaoc. At an early age, she began to advocate for land, air, water and animals, and she strongly believes that the inner core of healing comes from the knowledge of her land and elders.

In 2002, Regina graduated from Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, Montana. In October of 2013, she was elected to serve as a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal council and later as co-chair for the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition. During that time, she had the opportunity to share one of her first essays in the Red Rock Testimony: “Three Generations of Writers Speak on Utah Public Lands.” This was followed by the publication of several op-eds, essays, magazine articles, book introductions and afterwords with respect to the Indigenous voice of the land.

Currently, as a Master of Environmental Management candidate with Western Colorado University, she is working on authoring the Ute Mountain Ute Traditional Harvest Plan. She has also been working for the Montezuma Land Conservancy as the Cross-Cultural Programs Director since the spring of 2021. She has served on a number of boards including: the Telluride Institute, Torrey House Press, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Women of Bears Ears, Telluride Foundation and the Battle Rock Charter School. Former Secretary Haaland appointed her to serve the Bears Ears National Monument Management Advisory Committee.

She has traveled extensively throughout the country sharing the Ute culture through song, dance, presentations, and she is very honored to continue to protect, preserve and serve through education.

Andrea (she/her/ella), a proud daughter of immigrants and an immigrant herself, was born in Mexico City. Her family made the journey to the United States when she was just 3 years old, returning to Mexico in pursuit of establishing a business there, but faced with numerous challenges, they ultimately chose to return and pursue the American dream.

Andrea became the first in her family to attend college, earning a BS from MSU Denver with a minor in Nonprofit Studies. She has been the Executive Director at Casa de Paz for over 3 years. The majority of Andrea’s work experience comes from working hand in hand with people and their personal experiences, fueling her passion for Casa de Paz’s mission of breaking boundaries and borders. As the Executive Director for the past three years, Andrea continues to embody her commitment to serving others while balancing the joys of motherhood with her daughter, a loving husband, and their two dogs.

Thái Nguyen (she/her/hers) is the founder and executive director of Kaizen Food Rescue, a Denver-based nonprofit leading transformative work in food justice and health equity. A former refugee who experienced hunger and housing instability, Thái brings a powerful blend of lived experience, community wisdom and visionary leadership to her work.

Since launching Kaizen in 2019, she has mobilized a grassroots movement that has rescued and redistributed over 17 million pounds of nutritious, culturally relevant food. Serving thousands of families each year—including immigrants, refugees, people with disabilities, and veterans—Kaizen ensures that access to healthy food is treated not as charity, but as a basic human right.

Thái’s approach goes beyond food distribution. Under her leadership, Kaizen has built solar-powered cold storage units, cultivated a community garden and food forest, and partnered on sustainability and climate adaptation efforts across the Denver metro area. She is a fierce advocate for systems-level change, centering the voices of those most impacted by food insecurity in shaping solutions. Through storytelling, policy advocacy and cross-sector collaboration, Thái is reimagining what an equitable, resilient food system can look like. Her work inspires not just nourishment, but empowerment—turning everyday acts of sharing food into pathways for justice, dignity and belonging.

Wendolyne Omaña (she/her/ella) was born in Almoloya de Juárez, Mexico, and carries forward a lineage of birthwork and healing arts rooted in her Mazahua, Otomí, and Mixteca ancestries. Her calling to holistic practices began under the gentle guidance of her grandmother Consuelo, teachings from elders, and deepened through a ceremonial blessing in 2019 from Maya elder Don Reginaldo Chayax.

Wendolyne is the founder of Construyendo Poder, a grassroots organization born in 2018 out of the needs of monolingual Spanish-speaking parents and children deeply impacted by systemic oppression and trauma. Built without institutional backing, Construyendo Poder was created by and for the immigrant community to reclaim health through healing practices and support resilience through ancestral methods, therapeutics, herbalism, acupuncture, yoga therapy, movement and culturally rooted mental health workshops.

Wendolyne is a dedicated Director of Construyendo Poder, and Reproductive Justice advocate with Tewa Women United; she is well known in her Durango community for her constant home visits to offer healing arts at no cost to families, free clinics in Spanish, and her program “Nutrition to Reclaim Health after Trauma”. She is a former journalist, a fertility and full-spectrum community doula with the Yiya Vi Kagingdi Doula Program, has more than ten years experience as a certified massage therapist trained and over twenty years as a sobadora tradicional mexicana. She is also currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of New Mexico.

Rooted in prayer, silence, and the sacred, she honors the divine in every being.

Yolanda Richard (she/her/hers) is a seasoned nonprofit executive with over a decade of experience leading systemic change for racial, economic, and climate justice. Her journey began in Miami, Florida, shaped by her family’s dry-cleaning business—a bold act of resilience by migrants facing anti-immigrant, anti-Black and anti-poor barriers. Though she didn’t take over the business, Yolanda’s belief in the transformative power of small enterprises has fueled her career in supporting nonprofits that uplift marginalized communities.

Yolanda has held key leadership roles at organizations including the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver, FPWA (Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies), Yale University and Columbia University. At FPWA, she led several high-impact initiatives: in 2019, she orchestrated NYC’s largest interfaith campaign around the 2020 census, reaching 300,000+ residents in undercounted communities and earning recognition from the U.S. Census Bureau. She also spearheaded the Roll Up Your Sleeves New York vaccine campaign, securing $5.5 million in funding to reach over two million Black and Brown New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her leadership contributed to 70% voter approval of NYC’s racial justice ballot proposals, setting a national precedent.

Yolanda holds a Master of Divinity from Yale and a B.A. in Political Science and Africana Studies from the University of Miami. She also holds certifications in nonprofit leadership and finance. Now Executive Director at GBC, she brings passion and strategic vision to her work. In her free time, Yolanda enjoys backpacking and exploring Colorado’s great outdoors.

From an early age, Christina’s (she/her/hers) parents instilled in her the values of fairness and community. She is the youngest daughter, which means she was always cared for, and she feels so strongly that everyone deserves to be held and nurtured by their community.

Christina learned the power of organizing when her pastor brought her to a protest to fight for affordable healthcare. It’s where she witnessed how love for community could translate into action. When she graduated from the University of Michigan in 2013, reproductive rights were being stripped away and insurance bans were being enacted across Michigan. She couldn’t sit back and watch, so she joined the Planned Parenthood of Michigan organizing team and got to work.

Christina moved to Colorado in 2019 and worked as the Program Director at America Votes, then as Political Director at COLOR Latina. After having a sweet baby girl at the end of 2022, Christina was ready to jump back into the work as Deputy Director at New Era Colorado, before becoming Executive Director in February of 2025. She joined the New Era team because she knows that young people and people of color are the most creative and visionary people out there and we have the solutions to make Colorado a more just and fair place. Christina knows that we can create a world where everyone has autonomy and fairness, and that as a community, we fight back and build something better.

Bruno Tapia Garcia (they/them) is the Co-Director of GES Coalition. GES Coalition organizes neighbors, builds collective power, and prevents displacement by providing affordable housing in perpetuity. Bruno is the first person in their family to earn a college degree, graduating from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2018 with a Bachelors in Strategic Communication. Though Bruno initially pursued a career in communications, their passion for community organizing and social justice led them to pursue organizing as a career. Bruno has more than eight years of organizing experience in grassroots organizations. As a founding member of Denver Aurora Tenants United, Bruno organized tenants to exercise collective power, helping to advance the tenant rights movement in Denver. This experience led them to organize tenants in the GES neighborhoods, helping to form the Vina and Elisabetta tenant associations alongside GES Coalition as a volunteer before being hired as staff. Bruno is passionate about movement-building and the importance of community power.

Cesiah (she/her/hers) was born in Morelos, Mexico, and moved to Colorado at a young age where she attended Westminster Public Schools. She first became an advocate by helping to pass legislation that granted undocumented and DACA students like herself in-state tuition in Colorado in 2013. She graduated from Metropolitan State University Denver and earned her degree in Political Science with a minor in Women’s Studies. Cesiah is currently the Executive State Director at 9to5 Colorado where she has worked for eight years advancing economic justice for women of color.

Cesiah has been organizing working class and immigrant communities in Colorado for thirteen years and has played a critical role in winning many of the state level housing campaigns for renters and mobile home owners including: eviction reforms and protections, opportunity to purchase for mobile home owners and limiting egregious rental late fees. These policies have paved the way for the purchase of 28 nonprofit, government and home owner cooperative mobile home communities across the state. She has also played a critical leadership role in co-leading the grassroots housing coalition ColoradoHomes for All since 2018. Cesiah currently serves on the c3 board of the Right to the City National Alliance.

Cesiah holds a strong belief in building power with working class people against corporate greed.

She is the eldest of three and her mother is her greatest inspiration. She enjoys spending time with her partner, family and friends and is a huge fan of good food, music and travel.

A former mental health therapist turned spiritual visionary and social entrepreneur, Jamari (he/him/his) was inspired by his own struggles with depression and the heartbreaking loss of two gifted brothers in his community to suicide to found SONS OF SPIRIT. He is on a mission to support millions of Black men in freeing themselves from spiritual bondage and transforming the systems that wound the soul.

Jamari is a gifted prophet, leader, seer, teacher, healer, and artist. A lover of God and descendant of spiritual leaders and healers on both his maternal and paternal sides, he carries a rich legacy of ancestral wisdom encompassing numerous spiritual and healing practices. He is also a certified transformation coach, ancestral medicine practitioner, and ministerial student.

Jamari holds a master’s degree in social work and mental health from Ohio State University and a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Human Development from The University of Chicago, with advanced studies in spirituality, ecology, culture, and ethics at Chicago Theological Seminary.

Recognized as a Dalai Lama Fellow, Forward Promise Fellow, and New Contemplative Fellow, Jamari’s leadership stands out for his devotion, integrity, wisdom, innovation, and service. Above all, his work reflects a deep love for all people and an unshakable faith in the human power to transform the world.