Pre-Session Empowerment Talks
Presenters: Kayla Kutter & Dave Korman
Presenter Bio's:
Kayla Kutter: As the Procurement Service Center Sustainable Procurement Program Manager, Kayla supports both the University of Colorado as a whole and individual campuses in developing, measuring, and achieving a broad spectrum of sustainability and supplier diversity goals. She identifies sustainability and supplier diversity opportunities that intersect with procurement and helps to promote, integrate, and advance sustainability throughout the University's procurement process, including product selection and usage, life cycle cost analysis, awareness campaigns, identification of critical supplier partnerships, and building relationships with key University and supplier stakeholders. She received a Masters of Sustainable Solutions and a Masters of Science and Technology Policy from Arizona State University.
Dave Korman: Dave supports the University’s Small Business Program by developing and executing the supplier diversity programs and processes for small and diverse suppliers within the University’s business community. He works with external organizations and businesses to enhance and grow the diversification of supplier partners to encourage the inclusion of qualified small and disadvantaged businesses. He also performs trainings to educate suppliers on conducting business with the University, counsel, and provides assistance to these businesses with the University procurement processes. His educational background is a Bachelors in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin.
Presentation Description:
Many small, local, and minority-owned businesses have been hit especially hard in this time of COVID. According to the World Economic Forum, approximately 25% of small businesses in the Denver area are expected to close by the end of 2020 and may never reopen. The ones that remain open will need significant support from surrounding communities if they are to avoid shutting down permanently.
Historically, corporate America has made supplier diversity a high priority, heavily investing in efforts to increase opportunities for diverse businesses. But what about higher education, specifically public institutions? When it comes to diversity and inclusion, colleges and universities have largely focused on the diversification of students and faculty, but how much of an emphasis they place on the inclusion of minority-, women-, veteran-, LGBTQ-, and disability-owned businesses?
The University of Colorado is an incredible economic driver for the state and can be the difference between a local business shutting down or being able to weather through times of hardship. It can also be argued that as an anchor institution, the University of Colorado has an obligation to support small, local, and minority-owned businesses in the communities we operate.
Supplier diversity programming adds economic value because it encourages the growth of diverse businesses. Diverse businesses typically encounter barriers that challenge their startup and sustainability efforts, such as access to capital and networking opportunities, and effective supplier diversity strategies can alleviate these pain points. Not only does supplier diversity benefit underrepresented businesses, but it also uplifts the communities where those businesses are located through job creation, increased wages, and tax revenue.
Of the Universities' $4.5 billion budget, approximately $1.2 billion comes through the Procurement Service Center (PSC) and is spent on various goods and services. The PSC negotiates contracts, works with strategic suppliers, and supports CU departments purchasing these goods and services. CU is now beginning to understand its potential impact with the money it spends on goods and services and can direct these funds to do the most good in local communities by directing those funds to be spent with small, local, and minority-owned businesses.
This session highlights the dire need for university support in rethinking how we spend our money in a Post-COVID, more socially-just world. We will discuss "what is supplier diversity?" and dive into the role that the University of Colorado can play in supporting the communities surrounding the universities' campuses.
Presenters: Dr. Charity Lehn, Dr. Heather Bleacher & Dr. Lakshmi Karra
Presentation Password: f2P0.hs?
Presenters Bio's:
Charity Lehn is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine in the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine and a Family Physician with Obstetrics at Denver Health. She teaches medical students and residents in clinic and in the hospital. Dr. Lehn has been involved with the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency Social Justice Working Group for the past 3 years, including delivering a training to clinic staff on micro-aggressions in the workplace. She is also a facilitator for the Family Medicine Department’s Social Justice book club.
Heather Bleacher is core faculty at the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency. Since 2012 she has co-directed the residency’s community health curriculum which focuses on population health, advocacy, and community engagement. She practices full-scope family medicine in inpatient and outpatient settings in the UCHealth system and has led initiatives at her practice to address patients’ social needs during clinical encounters.
Lakshmi Karra is a second year resident at the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency program. As part of the Denver Health track, she works at the Lowry Family Health Center, serving a diverse and global patient population. She is co-chair of the Social Justice Working Group at UCFMR.
Presentation Description:
The Social Justice Working Group was formed in 2017 to promote diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency. This working group, composed of faculty and residents, focused their efforts on a few key areas: residency and faculty recruitment, residency curriculum, community engagement, and an annual climate survey. This year, a need for improved residency faculty training and competence around DEI topics was identified. Recent faculty training in this topic has focused mostly on the resident recruitment process, but current faculty development opportunities on general DEI literacy is not currently well-organized.
In response to this need, some UCFMR faculty members formed a working group to design and implement longitudinal training for UCFMR faculty on building skills and knowledge around bias, racism and anti-racism. There is presently a wide range of DEI literacy, confidence and experience among faculty, therefore our group’s first step was to create a survey to assess our current state. We reviewed multiple existing surveys from a few national leaders in this area, and adapted them to our specific needs. The key survey areas we included assessed knowledge, behaviors/skills, attitudes, and future directions.
The survey results will identify which DEI concepts and skills should be included in future faculty development sessions. We will also determine which resources (e.g. time, training, programmatic structures) faculty feel are most important for promoting future health equity and racial justice work. Next steps for this initiative will include creating a faculty development curriculum to address DEI literacy gaps uncovered by this survey. Session participants will also hear recommendations for others working to assess faculty DEI skills or develop related training for their home program.
Presenters: Dr. Brad Morse
Presenter Bio:
Dr. Morse earned his Ph.D. in Technology, Media, and Society from the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. A Masters degree in Cultural Anthropology was obtained before finishing his terminal degree. His current academic interests include user experience (UX) research, human-centered design, mHealth, qualitative research design, qualitative methods, ethnography, community engagement, and collaborative video development.
Presentation Description:
Introduction/Background: The purpose of this presentation is to describe a community-centered design of a Transgender Health information Resource (TGHIR) using complementary virtual focus group and user-centered design sessions to gain key community insights. A credible health information resource (HIR) is crucial to address the health disparities facing transgender (trans) individuals today. Remote engagement is imperative at this time due to the Coronavirus pandemic which has impeded face-to-face data collection efforts. For our project, we leveraged established relations in our local community to generate online interest in our virtual focus groups and design sessions. These two methods were used in combination to establish an understanding of the community’s needs and technological preferences.Presenter: Dr. Lisa Merkel-Holguin
Presenter Bio:
Lisa Merkel-Holguin, Associate Professor, Pediatrics at the Kempe Center at the University of Colorado, and Director of the National Center on Family Group Decision Making, has close to 30 years of experience in identifying, developing, and implementing innovative child welfare reforms, particularly in areas of child and family safety, permanency and well-being. Two of these most prominent reforms are family group decision making and differential response, both which humanize the child welfare system, give professionals the opportunity to build helping relationships with families and organize services to meet their needs, and position families as leaders. With her expertise in implementation and capacity building, she has supported the installation of numerous evidence-based and -informed innovations in child welfare agencies in over 40 States and a number of Canadian provinces. As a principal investigator and senior research analyst, she has led numerous impactful evaluations in child welfare, including three Family Connection grants studying the impacts of different types of family meetings, child abuse prevention programs, and the National Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response in Child Protective Services. She is also the Implementation Director for the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development that is charged for working with child welfare agencies to implement and test workforce improvement interventions. She also currently serves as an Organizational and Waiver Consultant for the Capacity Building Center for States, funded by the Children’s Bureau. Most recently, she launched the Kempe Center’s Call to Action to Change Child Welfare, the first international conference of its kind that is encouraging courageous conversations and eliciting solutions that mobilize and recognize child, family and community leadership. As part, she is convening an international community of practice that will delve into the challenging issues of racism, sexism, classism, oppression and othering that are deeply embedded in formal child welfare systems across the world. She has presented her work at international and national conferences in the capacity as a keynoter, lead presenter, and panelist over 200 times, and has over 50 publications to her name, in the form of edited books, books, peer-reviewed journal articles and reports. She competently transfers research and evaluation findings into child welfare practice with national and international implications.
Presentation Description:
By most historical accounts, the current day US national child protection systems emanate from the work of our university’s own, Dr. C. Henry Kempe, a tenacious researcher and relentless advocate. Dr. Kempe and his colleagues were the first to recognize and identify child abuse and neglect in the defining paper, The Battered Child Syndrome (1962). This paper was regarded as the single most significant event in creating awareness and exposing the reality of child abuse. A decade later, the Kempe Center was born and for almost the next 50 years has been instrumental to the establishment of the policy, laws and perceptions to better protect children.Presenters: Patrick Frierson, Maura Gissen & Dr. Sneha Thamotharan
Presenters Bio's:
Patrick Frierson is a first-year student in the Clinical Health Psychology Ph.D. program at CU Denver. His research interest focuses on health disparities in communities of color. Specifically, he seeks to examine how racial identity and racial battle fatigue impact the health outcomes of Black youth, with an emphasis on young Black men. Prior to graduate school, Patrick attended Santa Ana College as a Psychology, Human Services, and Biological Sciences triple-major before transferring to Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, CA. He earned his bachelor’s degree as a Psychology major and Women’s and Gender Studies minor. While at LMU, he began working as an undergraduate research assistant at the Psychology Applied Research Center at LMU (PARC@LMU) and transferred to a full-time research assistant position following graduation. It was here that Patrick was introduced to community-based participatory research and the many ways in which research can positively contribute to improving social and health outcomes. In this lab, he gained invaluable experience in health disparities and social justice-oriented research working with underserved, unserved, and inappropriately served communities throughout Los Angeles, the state of California, and beyond. Patrick worked on projects centered around organizational capacity building, community organizing, racial uplift, public policy change, work within ethnically and geographically diverse communities, leadership development, program evaluation, and prevention and early intervention. Since then, he has had the pleasure of working under Dr. Sneha Thamotharan in the Pediatric Research in Equity and Prevention (PrEP) Lab here at CU Denver. Patrick is committed to health disparities research in the Black adolescent community and looks forward to integrating research as a meaningful change agent throughout his career.
Presentation Description:
COVID-19 has caused historic levels of emotional distress. College students are processing economic hardships, isolation, and human loss, as well as campus closures, demands of remote learning, and uncertainty about college education and postgraduate careers. This has taken a devastating toll on student mental health, with many reporting depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.Presenter: Julia Deyanova
Presenter Bio:
My name is Julia Deyanova, and I am a current graduate student through CU Denver’s Integrated Sciences Program in Applied Chemistry and Mathematics. I serve as the program’s representative to the CLAS Dean’s Student Advisory Council and have recently joined the CLAS Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies, I have engaged in computational chemistry research. My most recent work was with the Air Force Research Laboratories Space Scholars Program, where I modeled the microphysics of electrospray propulsion systems. During my childhood and undergraduate career, I struggled with communication, sensory challenges, and schoolwork. At the age of 25, I was diagnosed with ASD and ADHD – an event that catalyzed my advocacy for neurodiversity awareness and inclusion. Although the diagnoses put many aspects of my life into perspective, they also revealed a concerning reality: Our community is gravely uninformed about ASD and ADHD. More alarming is the lack of resources and information available to college students and educators on navigating the difficulties associated with these disorders. As a consequence, many neurodivergent students fall through the cracks. My goal is to shed light on these issues and advocate for greater disability inclusion and awareness.
Presentation Description:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that, in the U.S., 1.85% of children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 9.4% of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Within those groups, additional comorbidities such as dyslexia, anxiety, and depression exasperate learning and future career challenges.Agenda
Land Acknowledgement
Dr. Jerreed Ivanich
Welcome
Dr. Regina Richards
Chancellor Don Elliman
President Mark Kennedy
Morning Keynote: "Revolutionizing Systems for Equity: Doing Good Work for the Next Round"
Introduction by:
Dr. Dominic Martinez
*Click on each presenter to view bio
Please spend your lunch break viewing the Pre-Session Empowerment Talks and looking through the many resources provided on the Lunch Break Noon Session.
We will convene at 12:45 pm with our afternoon keynote presentation from Ms. Theodosia Cook.
These guides were created in collaboration with other CU Denver Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices on-campus and we utilized feedback/content provided from those offices that have expertise on the topic(s). Please note, the guides are meant to start the conversation; we know there is so much more we could expand upon for each topic.
Office of Equity Self-Guided Learning Home Page
Includes: Links to all 5 modules and content related to establishing shared language, land acknowledgements, safe vs. brave space, and woke Olympics/SJ arrogance (content adapted from Reverend Dr. Jamie Washington!!).
The Urgency of Intersectionality | Kimberlé Crenshaw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o
Implicit Association Test (IAT):
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
The Danger of a Single Story:
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en#t-23505
Message
Sara Anderson, Assistant Vice Chancellor, CU Denver Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Welcome
The Faculty Council Committee for Racial & Ethnic Equity (CREE)
Session Recording
Afternoon Keynote:
Theodosia Cook, CU Chief Diversity Office
Introduction by:
Sara Anderson
Session Recording
*Click on each presenter to view bio
Introductions by:
Lauren Fontana, JD
Panelist:
Dr. Regina Richards, CU Anschutz
Dr. Dyonne Bergeron, CU Boulder
Dr. Stephany Rose Spaulding, UCCS
Dr. Nelia Viveiros, CU Denver
Theodosia Cook, CU System
Facilitated by:
Dr. Cerian Gibbes, UCCS
Session Recording
Karissa Stolen
Sam Dancis
Dr. Dominic F. Martinez
Session Recording
Presenter Bio's
Naomi W. Nishi, PhD, is a scholar-practitioner with over 15 years in higher education. Her research draws on Critical Race Theory, Settler Colonialism, and Critical Whiteness Studies to focus on issues of racial equity and social justice in higher education. Specifically, she uses qualitative methods, including portraiture, to study race, racism, and whiteness in the college STEM classroom, as well as these same issues within higher ed leadership. Naomi is a mother scholar with two small children and is a founding scholar in Critical Race Parenting (ParentCrit). Naomi is a staff member in Research Development for CU Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus and is a faculty member in Ethnic Studies. Naomi holds a PhD in education from the University of Colorado Denver, an MA in Intercultural Communication from the University of Denver, and a BS in Scientific and Technical Communication from Michigan Technological University.
Christine Zabala (she/her/hers) is a current PhD candidate in the Education Literacy Instruction program at CU Boulder. Here at CU Boulder, she has spent several years teaching courses on diversity and equity in education, including masters and undergraduate level courses. Her dissertation work and research agenda focuses on curricular diversity requirements at the higher education level and how to leverage queer pedagogies and literacies to generate buy-in from students who may only be enrolled in these diversity courses to meet a graduation requirement.
Dr. Nelia Viveiros (she, her, hers) is Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Colorado Denver (Denver Campus). In 2020, she was awarded the University Thomas Jefferson Award for her achievement in advancing the cause of civic responsibility and for her commitment to the welfare and rights of the individual.
Sara D. Anderson serves as the Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Passionate about inclusion and equity work, Sara has dedicated her life’s mission to ensure that the issues of systemic inequalities and oppression are disassembled. Sara enrolled at Colorado State University and received her BA in Communication Studies and minored in Women’s Studies. Sara spent several years in the nonprofit sector professionally on issues affecting Colorado’s most vulnerable and marginalized peoples. In her spare time, Sara would mentor low-income high school students and assist them with the college application and enrollment process, or facilitate diversity and inclusion trainings to various communities across the metro area. Eventually Sara decided to return to the academy and receive her master’s degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. Here, Sara furthered her passion by facilitating trainings for undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and staff members on topics pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion. When Sara is not working, she is with family and friends, teaching or practicing yoga, hiking, cooking, or watching movies.
Amanda Griffin Linsenmeyer (she/her/hers) is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She serves as the Director of the Office of Intercultural Engagement in the Center for Inclusion and Social Change at CU Boulder. A graduate of the University of California Davis and the University of Arizona, holding degrees in Native American and American Indian Studies, Amanda has incorporated Indigenous culture and knowledge systems, intersectional feminism and student development into her work as a leader, a mentor, a trainer, and an advocate. Amanda has designed and led numerous trainings, dialogues, and presentations on campus, within the CU System and at national conferences. She contributed a chapter to the anthology, "Feminist Responses to the Neoliberalization of the University: From Surviving to Thriving" and serves as the co-chair of the Women's Centers Committee of the National Women's Studies Association.
Tamara Williams Van Horn (They/them/theirs and She/her/hers) is the first and only daughter of Jennifer and Louis of Cincinnati, Ohio (MA Sociology, CU Boulder/ BA African & African American Studies, U of Cincinnati). Associate Director of the Office of Intercultural Engagement in the Center for Inclusion and Social Change at CU Boulder. “Rap Sessions” in high school leadership spaces have launched Tamara’s academic and social change work into institutionally-diverse contexts like hospitals, startup museums, craft stores, and neighborhoods reinventing after riots. Across these spaces, Tamara gained a passion for facilitating full participation from all contributing constituencies in the name of citizenship. Tamara strives to be “the community’s educator,” using intersectional feminist values to leverage the power of our shared narratives as a challenge to professionalism-as-violence and invite in community care. Tamara loves doing bridge work with other cheerful doers, especially to improve the lot of elders and children.
Dionisia de la Cerda is the Associate Director of Diversity and Health Equity for the Department of Family Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus. She co-founded the Diversity and Health Equity program with her colleague, Dr. Cleveland Piggott. She has worked at the University of Colorado for almost 2 decades, working in student retention, pipeline programs, the Department of Corrections, and now in a clinical department. She is passionate about community, and developing relationships and partnerships to move the needle on equity. In her free time, she enjoys pampering her four senior pitbulls.
Deanna Schroder is a 25-year veteran of Human Resources and has worked in diverse environments ranging from retail to non-profit before joining the University of Colorado’s Department of Family Medicine in 2012. She specializes in translating ideas into action and helping people clarify their issues and discover their own solutions. In her free time, she proofreads her daughter’s college papers, volunteers for various food banks, hikes, bikes and enjoys time with friends.
Heather Bleacher is core faculty at the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency. Since 2012 she has co-directed the residency’s community health curriculum which focuses on population health, advocacy, and community engagement. She practices full-scope family medicine in inpatient and outpatient settings in the UCHealth system and has led initiatives at her practice to address patients’ social needs during clinical encounters.
Taryn Bogdewiecz is a Professional Research Assistant at the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, has been with the department for 5 years, and is currently leading the Giving Back to Health initiative.
Whitney Israel is the Operations Manager at the Colorado School of Public Health (CSPH) for the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) and Smart Source. As the Operations Manager, Whitney leads the Systems and Operations Core in school and youth survey methodology, development, and administration. Whitney obtained her Master in Public Health from Touro University with an emphasis in community health. For the past seven years as a public health professional, she has applied her knowledge of preventative health to school districts and health departments in several cities and states. Whitney has been working with CSPH for four years and looks forward to continuing to deepen her knowledge of adolescent health research to advance health equity in Colorado.
Dr. Ashley Brooks-Russell is an assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health. Her PhD is from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, after which she completed a postdoc at NIH. Her interests include adolescent health with a focus on preventing injury outcomes such as violence and suicide prevention. Dr. Brooks-Russell currently directs Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) and Smart Source Survey. Her current research investigates cannabis impaired driving.
Emily Fine works as the School and Youth Survey Manager at the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE). In this role, Emily manages the state's unified approach to school and youth health surveys to support the health and well-being of young people. She enjoys working closely with data analysts and prevention experts at CDPHE, the Colorado School of Public Health, other state departments, local public health, schools, nonprofits, and the CDC. Emily is proud to have supported Colorado’s Suicide Prevention Commission in adopting statewide suicide prevention recommendations to create inclusive communities for LGBTQ+ youth and strengthen economic supports. Prior to working for CDPHE and for close to a decade, she held various roles at a nonprofit community mental health center, including directing the operations department and working with the Board, C-level team, and HR.
Lauren Cikara is the Recruitment and Outreach Manager for the School and Youth Survey Team at the Colorado School of Public Health. In this role, Lauren works with school districts across the state to participate in both the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) and Smart Source and provides technical support to schools and community partners as they navigate using the survey results to inform school and adolescent health work across Colorado. Lauren’s background is in student leadership, health education, policy/advocacy, and diversity and inclusion. She has spent her entire career advocating for youth and youth programming in K-12 education, higher education, and community organizations. She enjoys hiking and exploring the Denver art and music scene, and craft beer.
Kate Miller's interests rest in a fusion of technology, universal design, and accessibility. Kate's current position is the access and usability manager for the Office of Information and Technology (OIT), which serves both the CU Denver and CU Anschutz campuses. Kate's aim is to improve the access of all of the technologies and applications OIT is responsible for implementing. Her areas of constant curiosity include equity, diversity, inclusion, leadership in higher education, and organizational structure. Kate has a master’s degree in educational leadership with a focus on student affairs in higher education and is now pursuing her doctorate in leadership for educational equity.
Dr. Ryan Ross is a sought-after speaker, educator and leadership coach who is committed to equity and inclusion, educational access and the development of leaders. His passion for community, leadership and education is directly related to his experiences growing up and desire to pay it forward to the community that afforded him many opportunities. He helps lead programs such as the Kappa League Leadership development program, the Urban Male Initiative and the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado. Ross serves as the associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, Equity and Inclusion for the Colorado Community College System.
Theodosia Cook joined the University of Colorado as chief diversity officer for the four-campus university system in May 2020. Theodosia helps develop and implement system-wide policies and initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. She coordinates and collaborates with chief diversity officers, faculty, and administrators on each of the campuses. She also leads efforts to ensure diversity is effectively represented in CU’s strategic and annual planning. Cook has led diversity and inclusion efforts for faculty, staff, students, and alumni at Dartmouth College. Before working in higher education, Theodosia resided in the K-12 space as a Professional Development Lead Teacher, Curriculum Writer for cuturally relevant teaching, and a union representative. She has served as an advisory board member for the Posse Foundation and Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana. Theodosia holds a BA in Political Science from Sewanee: The University of the South and an MA in Education Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.
With a career in educational leadership backed by more than 20 years in executive leadership roles in the business sector, Dr. Amy Khan has developed proven strength in strategic planning, financial management, research and data analysis, and expertise in diversity programs. Her skills and expertise ensure that programs not only meet accreditation standards, but deliver academic rigor and student support that drive learning, retention, and enrollment growth. From innovating academic programs to revamping work processes, her leadership ensures that instructional and support programs meet the evolving needs of students and communities. Dr. Khan currently serves as the dean of Academic Affairs for CCCOnline.
Dr. Praveen Shanbhag is founder and CEO of NameCoach, and was initially inspired to build the company when his sister’s name was mangled at her college graduation. NameCoach supports Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging initiatives by embedding accurate audio name pronunciation buttons and gender pronouns into the tools we use everyday, such as Canvas and Salesforce. The NameCoach mission is to provide current and prospective students, alumni, employees, faculty, and staff with a sense of equality and belonging in every interaction. Dr. Shanbhag holds a PhD in Philosophy from Stanford and an MPhil in History of Technology from Cambridge.
Louis Morales-Schnaider is a first-generation Latino student pursuing a career in medicine. Louis is motivated to serve, be a role model in his community, and embrace diversity to broaden his perspective. As a reputable athlete and student in the state of Colorado, he has been able to develop his own leadership style as well as a sense of cultural awareness that will allow me to provide culturally responsive care for his patients in the future. When Louis tore his PCL while at Metropolitan State University, it gave him a chance to meet an amazing orthopedist as my injury healed. The care and passion I received from him was so powerful that it sparked my interest in medicine. His goal is to use his role as a physician to serve minority communities and introduce them to opportunities in education and preventive healthcare to get closer to obtaining health equity for all.
Hinal Rathi is a second-year medical student at Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Biology from University of Colorado Denver in 2018. She has been an active community volunteer at Nine Health Fairs and also did a service learning trip to Los Angeles in 2015 aimed at working with organizations raising awareness and providing support to HIV-AIDS survivors. She began her journey with Colorado Black Health Collaborative (CBHC) around 6 years ago as a student volunteer. They have collaborated on several public health projects such as asset mapping in underserved communities, tackling menthol in the Black communities, and their most recent project, understanding the effects of COVID-19 in the Black communities. She has advocated for CBHC’s mission of achieving health equity in Colorado’s Black communities by volunteering for the Barbershop Health Salon Program and leading health awareness events on cardiovascular and diabetes education in communities such as the Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-being and Montbello High School. Her aim through CBHC is to voice the concerns and gaps that exist between our healthcare system and forgotten communities such as the African American/Black communities to come up with systematic solutions at a public health level. She plans to go into Internal Medicine and work in the underserved, uninsured communities by providing them holistic care.
Beza Jobira is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus. She earned a Bachelor's in Biology from the University of Colorado Denver. She then earned a Master’s in Public Health in Health Systems, Management, and Policy at the Colorado School of Public Health University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. During her undergraduate school, she began her community engagement by joining the Colorado Black Health Collaborative where she has served in various roles and projects including regular blood pressure screening and health education outreach, community asset mapping in Montbello/Green Valley Ranch, leading focus groups session focusing on assessing Black patients’ perspectives on Culturally Competent Care through focus groups and adolescents’ perspective on e-cigarette smoking, and more recently, designing an innovative model to administer a virtual blood pressure screening during the COVID-19 pandemic. During medical school, Beza has been a part of the research track where she worked on exploring the relationship between the gut microbiome, type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among adolescent youth. Beza plans to go into Internal Medicine where she can merge her strong interests in population health and chronic disease prevention to reduce health disparities in the underserved population.
Shea Swauger is a librarian at the Auraria Library who's written about and researches data ethics, remote test proctoring, and discrimination in technology. Read more here: https://www.sheaswauger.com/
Twitter: @SheaSwauger
Pronouns: he/him/his
Jessica Ladd-Webert, LPC (pronouns she/her), Director- Office of Victim Assistance, CU Boulder
Jessica has been with the Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) since October 2007. She has a Master’s degree in Community Counseling. Previous work includes police and sexual assault crisis center advocate. In 2014 Jessica was a negotiator for the Department of Education's Federal Rulemaking Committee helping inform new regulations based on the 2013 re-authorization of the Violence Against Women. Jessica has a background in a variety of trauma informed therapeutic modalities. She also has presented locally and nationally on a variety of trauma informed practices such as how to support survivors, neurobiology of trauma, vicarious trauma, and campus advocacy programs. Jessica's career has always focused on crisis and trauma work and has a strong commitment to social justice and she continues to bring her skills of integrated therapy, advocacy, and presenting to support the CU Boulder community.
Sarah Williams, LCSW (pronouns she/her), Therapist, Consultant-a local Boulder therapist in private practice and has a Master’s degree in Social Work. Sarah previously spent six years with the Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) at the University of Colorado Boulder providing trauma informed counseling and advocacy as well as education on supporting survivors. Sarah now provides ongoing consultation to the OVA. Sarah currently works with college students, parents, and LGBTQ individuals. Sarah brings with her to this training her experience as a therapist, parent, and human navigating the pandemic.
Jeanne McDonald is the associate director in the Office for Outreach and Engagement at the University of Colorado Boulder. As part of the office since 2006, she coordinates the annual CU Boulder Outreach Awards and other program funding, co-chairs the campus Outreach and Engagement Professionals Network, and is the planning committee co-chair for the Engagement Scholarship Consortium’s Outreach and Engagement Practitioners Network. A CU Boulder employee since 1993, Jeanne has had the privilege of working in several different areas across campus, including managing the box office in the College of Music’s Office of Concerts & Public Relations, coordinating programs and events for the Office of Community Relations and Division of Student Affairs, and working as an assistant to the chancellor. She coordinated the three annual campus commencement ceremonies from 1999-2006. Jeanne also has worked at South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, CA, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, WA and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Boulder. She received her bachelor's in drama from The Colorado College and master's in theatre from CU Boulder.
Lisa H. Schwartz is a community outreach program manager in the Office for Outreach and Engagement at the University of Colorado Boulder. Lisa supports faculty, staff and students in the development of partnerships and program strategies for work with communities around Colorado. She leads the arts and humanities focus area and manages the community impact and micro grant funding for the office. Lisa has a doctorate in education from the University of Arizona and was a postdoctoral researcher and research director in the CU Boulder School of Education before joining the office in 2016. Lisa has longstanding experience as an outreach professional, educator, educational researcher and social scientist. In her prior work, Lisa designed and researched digitally mediated learning environments and educational resources that leveraged university and community resources. Lisa’s past experience and published work focuses on STEM/STEAM, new media/new and multimodal literacies, and community/school gardens with learners of all ages and a focus on Latino and lower-income communities.
Emily Gamm, LCSW, CACII, ACS is faculty at the University of Colorado's College of Nursing's clinical practice site CU-Sheridan Health Services in the Family Health Clinic. In that role, Emily provides direct care as a Behavioral Health Provider and co-ordinates Master's level trainees as the Behavioral Health Trainee Program Coordinator. Emily is licensed as both an Licensed Clinical Social Work and Certified Addiction Counselor II. Recently she was accredited as an Approved Clinical Supervisor. In her role at CU-SHS, Ms. Gamm also co-founded and co-leads the CLAS Committee (Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services), leads clinic education efforts on social justice and culturally responsiveness practice, and fosters community partnerships with Transgender Center of the Rockies and Street's Hope. She guest lectures extensively at the College of Nursing and other area universities on culturally responsive practice. Within the community, Emily has served on the Office of Behavioral Health's Cultural Competency Advisory Council and The African American Equity Task Force through Denver Public Schools. She has presented nationally on workforce development and education drawing on achievements with the Master's Level BH Trainee program at CU-SHS. Personally, Emily has trained with Education for Racial Equity, Robin DiAngelo, and The Center on Colfax. Ms. Gamm earned a BA in Theology and Philosophy. She went on to do considerable course work toward an MA in Religious Studies with a focus on critical theories and earned her MSW in Social Work from The University of Denver.
Jenna Glover, Ph.D. is a Licensed Psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Glover serves as Director of Psychology Training at Children's Hospital Colorado. Dr. Glover received her doctorate in Combined Clinical, Counseling, and School psychology from Utah State University. She has previously worked as an Assistant professor at Washburn University and Utah State University as well as serving as the lead psychologist at Avalon Hills a residential eating disorders program. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Glover’s career has focused on teaching and training mental health providers. Dr. Glover has a broad range of pedagogical experience that spans from teaching large lecture-style classes, providing clinical supervision, to her current role where she oversees the Children’s Hospital Psychology Training Programs that trainees 30-40 students a year and has over 50 faculty members involved in the delivery of the training curriculum. Dr. Glover also provides community outreach giving talks and lectures on promoting wellness and self-care and has given a TEDTalk on these topics. She has been honored with awards for teaching excellence, service to students, and wellness. Dr. Glover's research interests include improving patient experiences of psychological evaluation through therapeutic assessment and identity and relationship development in LGBTQ youth. Dr. Glover’s clinical work focuses on utilizing motivational interviewing and acceptance-based therapies with adolescents across a range of disorders. Across all areas of her career, Dr. Glover is a champion for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Glover accomplishes these aims by service to DEI focused committees at the hospital, university, and was appointed to the Association for Psychology Post-Doctoral and Internship Centers national diversity committee this past year.
Monique Germone, PhD, BCBA is a licensed clinical psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst with the Pediatric Mental Health Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry & Pediatrics at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Germone has been involved in diversity and advocacy efforts for individuals with developmental disabilities since 2008. Her clinical work and research focus on advancing care and treatment for individuals with unique needs, including developmental disabilities and autoimmune conditions. She has been an active member of the Psychology Training Committee at Children’s Hospital Colorado since 2014. Recently, she has joined the efforts to advocate for instituting changes to support recruitment, retention, and the training experience for diverse psychology trainees.
Jacob Holzman, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Licensed Clinical Psychologist. He is an early career faculty within the first 2 years of faculty at the UC-SOM. Dr. Holzman provides clinical and teaching services within the Children’s Hospital Colorado outpatient behavioral health clinic. His primary clinical interests involve early childhood mental health, prevention oriented clinical work, and providing interventions that simultaneously support both young child and their parents’ mental health. Dr. Holzman’s research interests focus on investigating interactions between transdiagnostic mechanisms (e.g., temperament, self-regulation) and contextual factors (e.g., parenting) in the development of behavioral health concerns as well as factors that affect responses to parenting-focused, early childhood interventions.
Courtney Lynn, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a Pediatric Psychologist embedded in the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Center at CHCO. Dr. Lynn is responsible for providing supportive psychology services, assessment, and intervention to patients with CF and their family. Dr. Lynn’s research focuses on health literacy and improving communication between providers and families. She has studied health literacy in a variety of chronic illness populations including pediatric HIV, diabetes, and cancer.
Ayelet Talmi, PhD is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Dr. Talmi is the Director of the Section of Integrated Behavioral Health, a Director of the Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health, and the Director of Project CLIMB. Dr. Talmi has been engaged in early childhood and integrated behavioral health systems building efforts, direct service, advocacy, and policy in Colorado and nationally. Her primary clinical and research interests focus on integrating behavioral health into primary care settings, early childhood mental health, and service delivery systems for children and families. Dr. Talmi is a Past President of the Colorado Association for Infant Mental Health and a Graduate Fellow of Zero To Three’s Leader’s for the 21st Century Fellowship.
Laura Ramzy, PhD and Samantha Pelican Monson, PsyD are psychologists with Denver Health (DH) and clinical faculty members with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Laura and Sam have spent the last year working under Health Resources and Services Administration funding to uplift the experiences and voices of minority DH Federally Qualified Health Center employees working on the front lines. Through their quality improvement work and research, Laura and Sam have identified key factors that help create safety for participants in equity work, thereby supporting authenticity and meaningful change. Laura is a cisgender, able-bodied, second-generation woman of color. Sam is a cisgender woman, white, her family has been in Colorado for four generations, and she is a person with a previously invisible disability that has been made visible through the Covid-19 pandemic. Laura and Sam have graduate training in multicultural practices and a collective 15 years working together with underserved populations, including refugee and immigrant patients, at Denver Health’s Lowry Family Health Center.
Stephanie Roberts (she/her/hers/ella) is the Assistant Director for Intercultural Engagement in the Center for Inclusion and Social Change at CU Boulder. Born in Brazil to a Bolivian mother and a US-born father, Stephanie’s childhood experiences in an extended family of mixed ethnicity, language, cultures, citizenship status, geography, and perspectives led to a life-long interest in intersectionality, how we communicate across difference, and how power and privilege play out in that space and effect day to day life. Stephanie earned her BA in International Studies and Spanish with a minor in Latin American Studies from the University of Evansville, and her MA in International Development with a focus on Gender and Education from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and has lived and worked in many parts of Latin America and the U.S. Stephanie has worked in international education, international human rights, LatinX and undocumented community advocacy, and intercultural engagement, and has used dialogue, advocacy, and education as a key components of her work in each of these areas.
Alé Ruiz (she/her/Ella) is the Graduate Assistant for Undocumented Student Support in the Multicultural Office for Student Access, Inclusiveness and Community (MOSAIC) and the LGBT+ Resource Center at CU Colorado Springs. Born in Los Angeles, California to an undocumented Mexican mother. Alé is a survivor of severe poverty, gang violence, racial profiling, being a first-generation student, comes from a mixed-status family and a child of a domestic violence survivor. As she met and observed too many inequalities in the world, it fueled her passion for fighting for the equity of all people. Alé earned her BA in Criminal Justice with a minor in Spanish from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), and she is currently pursuing her MA in Sociology at UCCS.
Giselle Bustamante is a Colorado native and first generation American whose parents immigrated from Peru. She identifies as a proud Latina and graduate student at the University of Colorado Denver, completing a degree in School Counseling. She previously earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder. She believes in being a strong leader and inspiration to many and advocating with students who feel they have lost their voice. Giselle believes in the power of using the privileges she possesses to help make a difference in the lives of those who are not awarded such privileges and opportunities. She is bilingual and likes to see herself as a bridge within the community to provide support and resources to all.
Parker Schneider joined CU Boulder's Office of Victim Assistance in October 2020. Parker has a Bachelor’s in Psychology with minors in Women’s Studies, Education and Sociology from Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. and later went on to complete a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Naropa University in Boulder, CO. Additionally, Parker is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Colorado. Parker has experience working in community mental health, therapeutic and educational group work, residential treatment, professional training and consultation, experiential education, and trauma therapy. Parker’s clinical work has primarily focused on trauma, oppression, and addiction treatment, as well as the intersection of those areas. Parker’s prior experience includes providing presentations, trainings and consultation related to transgender-specific victim services, supporting LGBTQ+ survivors, the importance of therapists' systems and self-awareness in clinical work, and the neurobiology of trauma. Parker also co-wrote a published journal article on Rites of Passage as a supportive framework for Transgender youth. Parker has received clinical training in EMDR, parts-work, somatic and psychophysiological approaches to trauma, among others. Social Justice frameworks and Feminist Therapy inform all the client work and systemic advocacy Parker engages in. Parker is passionate about working to unlearn what oppressive systems teach us all, as well as increasing access to information to historically marginalized communities.
Technical Support
please contact: Paul Herndon – email paul.herndon@cuanschutz.edu , cell 720-219-0475 and
Michael Effler - michael.effler@cuanschutz.edu , cell 720-402-0122