MASKerAIDing as Uniquely Colorado

MASKerAIDing as Uniquely Co0
5 - 6 PM

MASKerAIDing as Uniquely Colorado

Thank you to everyone who helped make our first-ever virtual fundraiser and online art auction a success! 

UNIQUE ART FROM COLORADO ARTISTS

More than 30 Colorado artists donated original works for our "Color Me VOC" art auction, ranging from photography and paintings to mixed media, ceramics, and other artwork.


PANEL DISCUSSION

Thank you to our panelists, Denver7's Anne Trujillo, and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock for an engaging and informative discussion on the intersections of outdoor stewardship and inclusivity.

Edited Version

Full-Length Version

Additional resources recommended by our panelists:


  • Black American West Museum
  • Rocky Mountain Land Library
  • Summit for Action
  • Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney
  • Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora by Kevin Dawson
  • The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection by Dr. Dorecta Taylor
  • The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham
  • Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape by Lauret E. Savoy

Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commissioner; Colorado Policy Director & Co-lead for Outdoor Afro

Taishya Adams is a passionate and dedicated servant leader laser-focused on justice and liberation through community building, personal transformation, and systems change. With over 25 years of experience across the country and the world, Taishya serves at the intersections of education, health, workforce, science and environment. Collaborating with multidisciplinary stakeholders to strengthen access, representation, meaningful participation and quality, Taishya is committed to fighting the good fight for our each other and our planet. In 2019, Taishya was appointed by Governor Jared Polis to serve on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission – the first African American woman in the Commission’s history. The Commission sets regulations and policies for Colorado’s 55 state parks and wildlife management. Taishya also serves as the Outdoor Afro Colorado Policy Director and Colorado Co-Lead. Outdoor Afro connects thousands of Black people to outdoor experiences, changing the face of earth-tending and environmental justice. As Policy Director, Taishya builds awareness and understanding of environmental issues from our backyards to the wilderness, and engages with policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels to reconnect and reimaginge Blackness in the outdoors. In 2020, Taishya founded the Mukuyu Collective. The collective is an intersectional, interdisciplinary environmental firm that leverages the reform, reimagine, and recreate spaces for individual and collective liberation. Part consulting group, part imaginarium, part innovation lab, Taishya is working a variety of stakeholders to acknowledge historical barriers, challenge assumptions, and co-create ways of being that can forge a new legacy. 


Previously, Taishya has worked with the American Institutes for Research, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the DC Public Charter Schools Board, United Nations Association’s Global Classrooms, and the Children Defense Fund Freedom Schools. With a committed and dedicated group of community members, Taishya served as the founding Board President for New Legacy Charter School – a public charter high school and early learning center for teen parents and their children in Aurora, CO. In addition to the extensive experience in the field, Taishya holds a MA in International Education from George Washington University and a BA from Vassar College in Political Science and Film Production.

Deputy Executive Director, Denver Parks and Recreation

Scott Gilmore serves as the Deputy Executive Director of Denver Parks and Recreation. Denver Parks and Recreation has over 260 urban parks of over 6,300 acres and a Denver Mountain Parks system made up of 22 parks and 24 conservation areas (14,000 acres total) and which includes, the highest elevation city park in the country (Summit Lake on Mt. Evans), Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 2 bison herds and Buffalo Bill's grave. He also currently serves as a Regional Director for the National Wildlife Federation representing Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. 


Scott graduated in 1994 with a BA in Wildlife Biology and minors in Fisheries and Conservation Biology. He was recruited by the Colorado Division of Wildlife to help create a small urban fishing program that would introduce urban youth to the joys of fishing and conservation. In 2004, this program was recognized by the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as having one of the most innovative and successful urban fishing programs in the nation.


In 1996, Scott and his wife co-founded the nonprofit organization, Environmental Learning for Kids (www.ELKKIDS.ORG). Scott Gilmore has been accused of tricking kids into liking science through fun educational experiences such as fishing, hiking, and camping. Through these activities urban youth are inspired to become responsible, engaged citizens and stewards to Colorado's natural resources. 

Colorado State University Extension Director, City and County of Denver

Parker is a dynamic speaker that engages audiences in new thinking around what it means to be a diversity change agent, an inclusive leader and building capacity for transformational change. Parker is currently the Colorado State University Extension Director for the City and County of Denver. Her background in the education, conservation, outdoor recreation, and interpretive fields spans over 23 years. Parker’s interest in diversity, equity and inclusion issues developed from her personal experiences facing the unequal representation of people of color in nonprofit and environmental organizations. Parker tackles these complex issues through head on activism and education. In Colorado she works with organizations to aid them in building culturally competent organizations that are representative of their communities. Additionally, she sits on the board of Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Metro Denver Nature Alliance and the National Association for Interpretation.

Co-anchor, Denver7; Panel Moderator

Anne Trujillo co-anchors Denver7News at 5, 6 and 10pm. Anne began her career at Denver7 as a general assignment reporter where she worked her way up the ranks covering stories from the Columbine and Aurora theatre shootings, to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, to 3 Broncos’ Super Bowl appearances.


Anne has won dozens of Emmy awards for her work as a broadcast journalist. Her reporting, writing and anchoring skills have been recognized by the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences where she is also a member of the Silver Circle for her years of service to journalism. Anne was also inducted into the Denver Press Club Hall of Fame in 2019.


Throughout her career, Anne has been active in the community, now serving on the boards of There With Care and The Denver Scholarship Foundation. Anne was one of the founders of the Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, currently serving as vice president.


Anne is married to Mike whom she met at Denver7 and together have two grown children. Anne still makes her home in Littleton, Colorado where she grew up and is a graduate of Littleton High School and the University of Colorado.


EVENT RECORDING

UNIQUE CHALLENGES
CALL FOR UNIQUE SOLUTIONS

As more people seek solace outside from the stresses of COVID-19, Colorado's parks, trails, and open spaces have seen increased litter, crowds, user conflicts, and damaged and widened trails.

Coupled with limited funding for land management agencies; furloughs and hiring freezes at agencies, nonprofits, and sponsors; and reduced volunteer capacity from group restrictions and physical distancing requirements, Colorado's public lands are facing challenges they've never faced before.

But VOC is moving forward. After cancelling nearly half of our field season, we are on track to engage nearly 1,000 masked but mighty volunteers in more than 60 physically distanced projects and trainings throughout the state this year.

This PPE (Pandemic Project Era) has required us to adapt faster than ever before, and we will continue to evolve to deliver on our promise of taking care of Colorado's public lands. 

But we can't do it without you. More than ever, we must rely on Coloradans and Coloradans-at-heart to support our work.
DONATE NOW

THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT COMMITTEE

Kim Allegretti

Paige de Kock

Laurie Mathews

Pat McClearn

Tash Mitchell
Andy Rylance

Susan Alden Weingardt

Questions? Contact Anna Zawisza at 303-715-1010 ext. 125.
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