Benita Creacy

Denver, Colorado

Benita Creacy (she/her) is the President and Owner of DC & Associates, a financial planning and private wealth management company. She holds the series 7 registration with LPL Financial, the series 66 registration with Western Wealth Management, LLC, as well as licenses in Life and Variable insurance. In addition, Benita serves as an adjunct professor at the College for Financial Planning. Before working in the financial services industry she was a college financial aid director and a financial aid consultant for colleges and universities across the United States working with families and their college finances for over 20 years.

Benita has a degree from the Robinson School of Business at Georgia State University and an Art degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta. Her free time is spent with her three children and volunteering in the community. Benita serves as Youth Celebrate Diversity’s Treasurer.

Eve Gracie

Los Angeles, California

Eve Gracie (she/her) is a television personality and women’s self-defense instructor. She is the head instructor of the Gracie Women Empowered self-defense program, and teaches sexual assault awareness and risk-reduction to women from all walks of life, including college women and airmen in the US Air Force.  Eve did her undergraduate studies in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California.

Jonathan Gray

Aurora, Colorado

Jonathan “Jon” Gray (he/him) was born in Denver, Colorado. He is a husband, father, and creative writer. He attended Englewood High School, where he played basketball, and received a scholarship to play at Mesa State College. In college, he discovered his passion for creative writing and social justice and received his associate degree in Sociology from Mesa State University in 2004. Subsequently, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2012. After receiving his degree, he continued his work in the non-profit sector, mentoring and advocating for youth and working with organizations such as The Aurora Youth Commission and YCD.

Later, he became a substitute teacher for Kelly Educational Services, where he found his love of working with children and young adults. He was hired to work for Aurora Public Schools at Jamaica Child Development Center, where he became a lead  preschool teacher for several years. He now works for Arapahoe County: Dept. of Human Services in the Finance division. After working with students and their families during the pandemic, he saw how the community he worked in was highly underserved, and many families lacked the essential resources needed for daily survival. This inspired him to want to make a change in the community at large. He decided to switch careers, began attending CU Denver, and received his Master’s in Public Administration in 2022.

Rohan Guddanti

Durham, North Carolina

Rohan Guddanti (he/him) was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado, and is an alumni of Smoky Hill High School. Throughout his time in high school, Rohan was thoroughly involved in social justice efforts to honor the diversity of his community. In addition to serving as the co-chair of the YCD Colorado Student Board in 2021-22, he helped plan programming to inspire diversity efforts among youth across Colorado. As a part of Young Aspiring Americans for Socio-Political Activism, Rohan also helped plan events such as school board candidate workshops to ask school board members tough questions.

Rohan is now an incoming junior at Duke University, where he continues to take a social justice mindset in the work that he does, such as working at the Community Empowerment Fund, an organization dedicated to helping residents of Durham, NC navigate barriers set up by white supremacy, such as lack of access to housing. Rohan is also a Chemistry major currently on the pre-med track! In his free time, he loves spending time with his friends, singing at the top of his lungs, and listening to indie music!

Ishmeet Kalra

Denver, Colorado

Ishmeet Kalra (she/her) was born and raised in New Delhi, India. She immigrated to the United States as a child and settled in Silicon Valley. In college, she pursued her passion for science, earning a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology & Microbiology with a minor in Humanities from San José State University. She worked as a researcher developing and testing molecular diagnostics in public health. After graduate school, she focused her research in protein engineering and high-throughput assay development for household applications and renewable biofuels.

Since 2008, Colorado has been her home and she loves the stunning natural beauty and the majestic mountains. She is a public education advocate and has a deep understanding of the needs of students, families, educators, and administrators. She is a passionate advocate for educational equity, equitable school funding, STEM education/enrichment, and evidence-based education policies. Her passion for educational equity and STEM education extends beyond her own community, as she volunteers to bring STEM enrichment activities to underserved schools, nurturing students’ curiosity and exploration of STEM concepts.

Ishmeet is driven by a deep commitment to academic excellence, ensuring equal access to opportunities for each and every student, and fostering safe and inclusive school environments.

Andrea Mohamedbhai

Denver, Colorado

Andrea Mohamedbhai (she/her) is a founding partner at the law firm Rathod | Mohamedbhai LLC. Her practice is exclusively in the areas of plaintiff’s employment discrimination and constitutional civil rights litigation. She advocates for the rights of employees in the workplace, and for the civil rights of all individuals against governmental and institutional abuses of power.

As a first generation Brazilian-American, Andrea’s unique voice makes her an effective advocate for her clients and adds perspective to an increasingly diverse legal landscape. Andrea volunteers much of her time to advocating for social justice in schools, including co-founding Diversity & Inclusion committees at her children’s schools. She also provides pro bono representation to underrepresented persons with immigration and other legal issues.

Andrea consistently uses her foreign language skills, working with Portuguese and Spanish-speaking victims of abuse and discrimination. Andrea’s ability to represent litigants from multiple cultures, in multiple languages, across a broad array of practice areas make her a powerful advocate for the community.

In her free time, Andrea enjoys distance running, international travel, hiking, and dancing. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law and her BA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Micah Porter

Denver, Colorado

Micah Porter (he/him) is the Principal at Arvada West High School in Jeffco Public Schools. He has worked in public education for nearly three decades in the Denver metro area as a teacher, coach, athletic director, advocate, and administrator and has a deep philosophical belief in creating greater educational access for our most under-resourced populations.

Micah also has been a long-time leader and advocate in the LGBTQ+ community, focusing his efforts on building greater inclusion for LGBTQ+ teen and youth athletes. Having worked with a number of national advocacy groups such as You Can Play and the Sports Leadership Diversity Council, Micah has been a committed spokesperson in the LGBTQ+ sports movement. In his spare time, Micah serves as the Education Coordinator for Sports Equality Foundation working to develop inclusive coaching curriculum for athletic programs at the K-12, collegiate, and professional levels.

Rana Razzaque

Englewood, Colorado

Dr. Rana Razzaque (she/her) was born in Bangladesh, immigrated to Maryland at a young age, and spent her adolescence in Texas before moving to Arizona for a couple of years, then finally making her way to Denver over a decade ago. Her commitment to improving conditions for every child has driven her educational and professional journey, and this commitment has deepened over time due to her own lived experiences and the continuous learning she seeks out on a variety of topics related to belonging and social justice.

Dr. Razzaque received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin and Arizona State University, respectively, and focused her thesis research on the impact of literary influence on colonizing South Asia in the 17th century. She earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Denver and focused her dissertation research on how mindfulness influences the culturally responsive practices of educators. Dr. Razzaque serves as the Director of Opportunity, Access, and Inclusion at Englewood Schools in Colorado, where she focuses on policy, strategy, culture, and relationships to achieve educational equity and a sense of belonging for every student. She has facilitated workshops for organizations and conferences across the United States. Dr. Razzaque’s mission is to transform our systems to heal individual and structural oppression and establish communities of radical care and belonging.

Sean Rhodes

College Park, Maryland

Sean Rhodes (he/him) is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, where he researches reactionary rhetoric and conservative political culture. He continues his activism alongside his research, and is currently working to embolden the University of Maryland’s commitment to DEI initiatives.

Sean received his BA in Communication at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he hosted racial literacy workshops. He then earned his MA in Communication at the University of Colorado Denver, where he also taught three years, including teaching Communication and Diversity, and studying abroad in Beijing, China, where he presented a guest lecture on Diversity and Representation in media. Sean has also engaged in several forms of activism, including marching for LGBTQ+ rights, and fighting for racial justice. In 2020 he served on a panel addressing how we talk about race for Metropolitan State University of Denver, and participated in a guest lecture on Black Liberation at the University of Colorado Denver.

Sean is a former member of the Student Board for the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference (now YCD’s Colorado Youth Diversity Conference) from 2004-2005, and volunteered with YCD after his graduation. He cites his work with YCD as influencing him to pursue his degrees and career in topics related to diversity and inclusion.

Janet Sammons

Denver, Colorado

Janet Sammons (she/her), now retired, has taught social studies for over 40 years in high schools in Colorado and Kansas, while also working on diversity-related issues both in and out of the classroom for many years. In 1994 she founded the statewide Cherry Creek Diversity Conference (now Colorado Youth Diversity Conference) for high school students and their faculty advisers, and in 2014 worked with YCD’s Executive Director, Caleb Munro, to found Youth Celebrate Diversity.

Her recognitions include the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education, the Colorado ADL Community Builder Award, the GLSEN National Educator of the Year Respect Award, and the 9 Teachers Who Care Award from Channel 9, Denver. Janet received her teaching degree from Kansas Wesleyan and her MA in Education from Emporia State University. Janet is Youth Celebrate Diversity’s Chair of the Board of Directors.

Shalini Swaroop

San Francisco, California

Shalini Swaroop (she/her) is a clean energy executive focusing on empowering community solutions to combat climate change and promote energy equity. She has advocated for international and domestic human rights with grassroots organizations, legal practitioners, and the United Nations. Shalini graduated from Cherry Creek High School, has a B.A. in Women’s Studies and Psychology with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder, has a J.D. from Berkeley Law School focusing on social justice, and received a LEAD Executive Management Certificate from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She served on the Executive Committee for the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference (now YCD’s Colorado Youth Diversity Conference) in 2001.

Reema Wahdan

Denver, Colorado

Dr. Reema Wahdan (she/her) is a faculty member in the department of pathology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is currently working on innovative strategies to combat breast cancer. She has obtained a number of prestigious awards, including the “Leaders of Tomorrow, Top 50 innovators,” MedImmune/Astra Zenca (2015); “Best of Basic Research,” Endocrine Society (2013); and the “Women in Cancer Research Scholar Award” (2010). Dr. Wahdan’s work has been funded by the Colorado Cancer League, American Cancer Society, the Susan G Komen, and Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award Individual Fellowship.

Outside of her career, Dr. Wahdan has been passionately centered on enhancing our appreciation to promoting respect for cultural diversity in classrooms across the nation. As a Muslim-American, Dr. Wahdan has lectured around the nation and locally regarding Islamophobia and the repercussions of xenophobia and intolerance in our communities. She is active with a number of community organizations that work to unite our local Denver community, such as the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace, Muslims Intent for Learning and Activism, and a number of interfaith and local organizations based in Denver. Additionally, she serves on the board of national cultural organizations such as Al Bireh Society and the Colorado Palestine Club. Last, she is involved in a humanitarian organization known as the Palestinian Children Relief Foundation that provides medical and humanitarian relief to Arab children throughout the Middle East regardless of their nationality, politics, or religion.

Dr. Wahdan received her post graduate degrees from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland Ohio. She also received her masters and undergraduate degree from University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. She serves as the Vice Chair for Youth Celebrate Diversity’s Board of Directors.

Alice Wirth

Denver, Colorado

Alice Bowling Wirth (she/her) was previously a Lecturer in the University of Tennessee’s School of Communication Studies where she taught a course called “Communicating Diversity and Inclusion.” She served as Director of UT’s College of Communication and Information (CCI) Diversity and Inclusion Program and of CCI’s Diversity Student Leaders Society. Additional community service activities include: Chair, CCI Diversity and Inclusion Week; Vice President, Knoxville Christian Women’s Connection (former President); former President, University Area Optimist Club; emeritus member, Board of Directors, University of Tennessee Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature; and former member, Board of Directors, Knoxville Friends of Literacy.

Alice previously taught consumer family science in Englewood, Colorado. While there she founded and directed Englewood Public Schools’ Diversity Program and Englewood High School’s True Colors diversity program. YWCA Knoxville named Alice as an Equality Category Award finalist for its 2011 Tribute to Women. The Anti-Defamation League and World of Difference Foundation selected Alice as Colorado’s 1998 Multicultural Educator of the Year, and the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference presented her with its Human Rights Award in 2000. Upon leaving Englewood in 2006, she was named the inaugural recipient of an award created in her honor, the St. Alice Award for outstanding service by a teacher. Englewood also created the Alice Bowling Wirth Diversity Scholarship, which is given annually to an outstanding senior. Alice holds an MA from the University of Denver and a BS from Michigan State University.

Joyce Bignell

Emeritus Board Member
Denver, Colorado

Joyce Bignell (she/her) is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Colorado Council for Community and Justice (CCCJ), which provides facilitation and leadership training focused on diversity issues in Colorado.

She was previously Executive Director for the Mountain West Regional office of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). Among the youth programs she has developed are the Ed Hirschfeld Anytown Leadership Camp, the Power Lunch (mentoring program), Flash Judgments, It’s Your Move (diversity programs – high schools), and Don’t Laugh at Me Bully Prevention Initiative. She currently serves on the Mizel Museum’s Community Advisory Board and the Interfaith Council of Stapleton’s Board of Directors.

Abby Ferber

Emeritus Board Member
Denver, Colorado

Abby Ferber (she/her) is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s and Ethnic Studies, as well as the Associate Director of The Matrix Center for the Advancement of Social Equity and Inclusion, at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs.

Her research, teaching and service all coalesce around issues of inequality, privilege, and the intersections of race, gender and sexuality. Abby is the author or co-editor of numerous books including: Home-Grown Hate: Gender and the White Supremacist Movement; Privilege: A Reader; Making A Difference: University Students of Color Speak Out and White Man Falling: Race, Gender, and White Supremacy. She also co-authored Hate in America: What Do We Know?, a publication of the American Sociological Association. Abby is widely published in academic journals and mainstream news outlets. She received her MA and PhD from the University of Oregon, and her BA from American University.

Saj Kabadi

Emeritus Board Member
Denver, Colorado

After receiving his undergraduate degree in psychology from Saint Louis University, Saj Kabadi (he/him) joined the Alum Service Corp (ASC) Jesuit Volunteer Program at Saint Louis University High School for the 1997-1998 school year. He joined the faculty of Regis Jesuit High School in 2000, where he teaches theology. He is also a professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver and Regis University.

Carlotta Walls LaNier

Emeritus Board Member
Denver, Colorado

In 1957, at age 14, Carlotta Walls LaNier (she/her) and eight other students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This act of courage and defiance became the catalyst for change in the American educational system. The Little Rock Nine, as they would eventually be called, became ‘foot soldiers’ for freedom.

In 1968 Lanier earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado and accepted a position at the Denver YWCA. Since then, she has married, raised two children, founded her own real estate company, and worked for 30 years as a real estate broker, currently with Cherry Creek Realtors. In 1997 the Little Rock Nine returned to Central High School for the 40th anniversary celebration. In a symbolic and emotional gesture, the school’s principal, the mayor, the governor, and the President of the United States opened the school’s doors, which had been blocked by the Arkansas National Guard in 1957. In 1999 at the White House, members of Congress and the President bestowed upon Lanier and the other member of the Little Rock Nine the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, for their sacrifice and contribution to the cause of equality.

Sandra Mitchell

Emeritus Board Member
St. Paul, Minnesota

Sandra Mitchell (she/her) is the Director of Equity and Inclusion at St. Catherine’s University.  She provides strategic leadership and management in policy development, and in the creation, implementation and operation of programs and systems to achieve university diversity, inclusion and equity goals. She has more than 20 years experience in Higher Education Administration and holds a BS in Psychology and a MA in Higher Education from Drake University.

Karen Nakandakare

Emeritus Board Member
Denver, Colorado

Karen Nakandakare (she/her) is the Diversity and Community Investment Program Manager at CH2M Hill. She has consistently played a role in diversity-related groups and initiatives in the Denver area, recently serving as project manager of the Summer Engineering Enrichment Program for Kids (SEEK), a three-year program with City of Denver and Denver Public Schools.  Karen played an integral part in the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival for more than a decade, serving on the board of directors and operating committee. She’s also been involved with the City and County of Denver Human Rights & Community Relations Advisory Board, Asian Chamber of Commerce, One Colorado and LARASA.  Her recognitions include Girl Scouts Women of Distinction, Asian American Hero of Colorado, Asian Pacific American Bar Minoru Yasui Community Award, Professional Woman of the Year Award from the Denver Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and others.  She holds a BA in Communications with honors from the University of Colorado and a MA in Non-Profit Management from Regis University.

Ryan Silva

Special Advisor to the Board
Denver, Colorado

Ryan Silva (he/him) is the principal of Cherry Creek High School, the host school for the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference.  As a former teacher and now administrator, he has consistently demonstrated his commitment to fostering respect and understanding, both at Cherry Creek High School and the Cherry Creek School District.

Anya HS Norris

Special Advisor to the Board
Denver, Colorado

Anya Norris (she/her) is the Senior West Divisional Executive Assistant at RBC Wealth Management and Communications Chair for the company’s U.S. PRIDE Employee Resource Group.

In 2017 Anya served on the Executive Committee for the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference (now Colorado Youth Diversity Conference) and played an integral role in forming a partnership between YCD and RBC Wealth Management, resulting in that organization becoming the underwriting sponsor of the Conference. In recognition of her dedication and work on diversity issues, Anya received the 2017 Irv Weiser Diversity Award, one of the most prestigious national awards given out by RBC Wealth Management to its employees. In addition to previously serving on the YCD Board of Directors, Anya is involved with and volunteers for Food Bank of the Rockies, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, A Precious Child, Colorado UpLift, and the Human Rights Campaign.

Beth Yohe

Emeritus Board Member
Denver, Colorado

Beth Yohe (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Conflict Center, which teaches communication skills, consequences, negotiation, anger management classes, conflict management, and assertiveness. Previously, Beth was the Director of Development and the Director of Training for the National Office of the ADL, overseeing its anti-bias education training across the country.  Beth is an accomplished facilitator, consultant and training designer with over 20 years of experience, writing and delivering training programs on a variety of topic related to addressing bias, managing conflict and creating dialogue across differences.