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YCD Colorado

YCD New Mexico

Mason Estes (he/him) is an Indigenous activist and community organizer born and raised in Broomfield, Colorado. The son of two lifelong educators, Mason grew up in a family deeply rooted in teaching, mentorship, and community leadership. His mother teaches 7th grade science, and his father—now retired—spent more than 32 years teaching biology and physical education at the middle and high school levels, while also serving as a multi-time state championship winning coach at Broomfield High School. Surrounded by educators and coaches from an early age, Mason developed a strong belief in the importance of supporting young people as they discover their strengths and find their place in the world.

Mason’s activism began in 2016 during his sophomore year of high school amid the NODAPL (No Dakota Access Pipeline) movement. Witnessing Indigenous communities and allies come together across the globe inspired him to become involved in the ongoing struggle for justice, sovereignty, and decolonization. He joined the American Indian Youth Leadership Institute (AIYLI), where he began his work as a youth activist, building leadership skills, strengthening community connections, and advocating for changes that reflected the voices of his peers. After three years of organizing and advocacy, Mason graduated from Broomfield High School in 2018 and continued his journey at the University of Denver.

At the University of Denver, Mason was a Native American Community Scholar and studied Marketing at the Daniels College of Business, with a minor in Leadership Studies through the Pioneer Leadership Program. During his time at DU, he was actively involved in the Native Student Alliance and Undergraduate Student Government, and he made history as the University of Denver’s first Indigenous Student Body Vice President.

After graduating in 2022, Mason began his professional career as Project Coordinator for The Implementation Project at the Native American Rights Fund, an Indigenous-led law firm based in Boulder, Colorado. He later expanded his professional experience into digital advertising before ultimately joining Youth Celebrate Diversity full-time as Executive Director. Throughout his career, Mason has remained deeply committed to community organizing and youth leadership. For four years, he has served as an adult mentor with Youth Celebrate Diversity, where he has built meaningful relationships with young people while supporting them in developing their own leadership voices and approaches to activism.

Outside of his organizing work, Mason enjoys cooking for friends and family, spending time with loved ones, watching baseball and films, and caring for his extensive collection of plants, which he tends with his partner, Zhenya.

Mason is honored and excited to serve as Executive Director and to help lead Youth Celebrate Diversity into its next generation of work.

YCD Colorado

Amy Atkins (she/her) is an experiential educator with over twenty years of experience. She has served on the faculty and administration of summer camps, boarding schools in the US and abroad, supplementary schools, a Buddhist-inspired university, and a public school specializing in equity and inclusion. In addition to developing curriculum for these organizations, she also has led backpacking trips for teens; inspired middle school students to create custom coming-of-age journeys; and has guided students through their college transition as a college admissions professional. Amy has deep experience in and a passion for forming intentional communities with youth and adults helping to create safe and brave spaces to explore identity. Her master’s thesis at Colorado State University explored how identity plays a factor in building an environmental ethic.

Amy loves biking, camping, conquering escape rooms, teaching online cooking classes, and experiencing life with her partner and teenage daughter. Her personal values include equity, environmental stewardship, relationships, and authenticity. Three books on her crowded bookshelf include See No Stranger by Valerie Kaur, Belonging by Geoffrey L. Cohen, and Ecological Identity by Mitchell Thomashow.

Kinette Richards, PhD, NCC (she/her) is a Licensed School Psychologist, and Nationally Certified Counselor working in Aurora, Colorado. She received her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver, and received her Doctorate in School Psychology from the University of Denver. She has over 25 years of mental health experience, working in a variety of settings, and she has worked with pre-school aged children through adults in her tenure in mental health.

As a school psychologist, she has worked with adolescents and children in elementary, middle, and high school, as well as alternative settings for high school students. She has a passion for equity work, and is an advocate for students and families of color in school settings. She leads the district’s Mental Health Equity Team, which is a group of Mental Health professionals focusing on social justice issues. During the past fifteen years she has taken a lead role in the discussion and training of staff members at the school and district level, on the issue of race and the achievement gap, and the over-representation of students of color in disciplinary actions. Her current focus in equity work is on the impact of implicit bias and the role it plays in service delivery.

She was a member of the Georgetown Day School Equity Collaborative Faculty, in Washington D.C., which for six years trained Public and Independent school personnel to address issues of equity and privilege in their settings. She was a 2016-2017 Ambassador Fellow for the Colorado Education Association, addressing the School to Prison Pipeline, and was a mentor supervising several Ambassador Fellows for the 2017-2018 school year. She has recently been appointed to the Advisory Board of Learning for Justice, a national organization that develops trainings and curriculum for school personnel and other professionals interested in doing and leading equity work in school districts. Additionally, she was recently appointed to an APA (American Psychological Association) task force, addressing issues of parenting and racial stress, and she is an Adjunct Professor for School Psychology at the University of Denver.

YCD New Mexico

Nikki Archuleta (she/her) is an activist, humanitarian, educator scholar, poet, podcaster, community organizer and revolutionary! She is a firm believer in fighting to obliterate oppression across the board and fighting for the equality and equity of the historically disenfranchised. As a woman of African, Mexican, and Indigenous decent she has fallen in love with her people and though their stories are the most tragic it’s the beauty and resilience of those who came before her that have guided her footsteps towards liberation. Whether she is organizing a protest or march, or just in her community trying to build hope and change on a foundation that has denied her and so many others their humanity, she is a powerhouse and has no plans of slowing down.

She has worked with countless organizations such as Black Lives Matter, the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), The Red Nation, Power through Peace as well as creating The Albuquerque Arts Collective to create a platform for local artists to share their craft all while raising money for important causes.

Gina Cordova (she/her) is a high school health and English teacher at Highland High School, located in Albuquerque’s international district. She currently works at the school she graduated from, which makes her specially connected and adept to the community.

Gina graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in English and a minor in psychology. Gina’s passion for literature and the arts is tightly connected to her passion for social justice, which she embeds into her teaching style inside the classroom. Gina is also the head sponsor of Highland’s Genders & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) in which she aids in supporting her students in advocating for a school culture that is diverse, safe, and proud.