COMMISSION MEMBERS
Magdalena Aguayo
Eunice Barrera
Debra Bartleson
Michael Bautista
Angela Casias
Derrick Delgado
Diego Hunt, Co-Chair
Grace Lopez Ramirez
Christine Marquez-Hudson, Co-Chair
Michelle R. Martinez
Barbara Medina
Johana Mendoza
Keith Montoya
Eduardo Ortega
Mauricio Palacio
Jack Patten
Meshach Rhoades
Larry Trujillo
Member Biographies
Debra Bartleson
Debra is a third-generation Coloradoan and grew up in Denver on Capitol hill attending Emerson Elementary School, the oldest school in Denver. Debra has a Bachelor's Degree in Management from Metropolitan State College of Denver. Her background includes working as a human resource generalist, specializing in functions such as compensation, collective bargaining/labor relations, classification (auditing), recruitment, employment law and training. Debra has worked for the City and County of Denver for 21 years, the last 14 years with Denver City Council as a Policy/Legislative Analyst for all 13 Councilmembers. Debra has been involved with and led various special projects to address community and city issues including: citywide diversity, graffiti, illegal dumping, foreclosure and economic prosperity. Currently, Debra serves as chair of Denver's Educational Refund Program and is President of Cherry Creek Meadows, a Denver Registered Neighborhood Organizations (RNO).
Michael P. Bautista
As an educator he has opened a magnet school for the arts, has taught at both levels of education, public schools and higher education. He also has been an administrator at both levels of education. He believes in integrating general core subject matters with the passion of the student and integrates the passion with the general core subject matters. The student will then see the connections of how each area affects the other and how they are bound together and build upon each other in this world. He currently is a member of two boards for two different schools, Hopeonline Academy and Escuela Tlatelolco. As a Designer and Consultant in the Theater world, he has had the opportunity of opening two performing arts centers, consulted on many new theaters and remodels of existing theaters in the Midwest. As a designer he has designed two world premiers in opera and Music Theater, numerous plays and musicals and various independent projects in interior design and 3-dimensional design.
Angela Casias
Angela Casias spent over a decade working for local non-profit organizations. She served as a mental health clinicial and youth mentor for Servicios de la Raza, a project specialist for the Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, an administrative assistant and literacy teacher for Escuela Tlatelolco and a Hispanic youth mentor for the Girl Scouts of America. Angela served as the deputy finance director for John Hickenlooper's mayoral campaign and was a member of the transition staff. In 2003, Angela became a Research Assistant to Mayor Hickenlooper where she workd for 2.5 years. In 2005 Angela joined the Denver Parks and Recreation Department where she is currently the Public Information Officer. Angela received her Bachelors degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado, Denver.
Diego Hunt
Diego Hunt, a native of Argentina, is an associate with the law firm of Holland & Hart LLP, where he practices in the areas of commercial and international litigation, products liability, and immigration. His practice prior to joining Holland & Hart included all manner of representation in the areas of domestic relations, criminal defense, and immigration. Diego also managed several community-based initiatives through the Denver District Attorney’s Office and Department of Public Safety, working with community stakeholders to address safety and quality of life concerns in their neighborhoods. In his private practice and through his community organizing, Diego has worked extensively with Denver’s Latino and monolingual Spanish-speaking communities. He has served on several nonprofit and professional boards and continues to actively serve on several committees of Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and on the board of the Mi Casa Resource Center.
Grace López Ramírez
Grace López Ramírez, a first generation Mexican American, and native Coloradoan, has been working on behalf of low income, immigrant and Latino communities. She currently serves as the State Director for Mi Familia Vota, a non-partisan civic engagement organization working to empower the Colorado Latino community. While living in Washington, D.C. she served in a wide variety of positions including working for the Governor of Puerto Rico; on Senator John Kerry's Presidential campaign; and as a federal government relations director for a federation of 100 Hispanic non-profits at the Hispanic Federation. Since moving home to Denver, Grace has worked a legislative session as the Deputy Communications Director for the Colorado Democratic Party. Grace serves as a board member of Rights for all People/Derechos para Todos, on the ACCESSO board to the Denver County Clerk and Recorder; and on the advisory committee for Latino Advisory Day. She lives in North Denver with her family.
Christine Marquez-Hudson
Christine Marquez-Hudson brings more than 15 years of experience to her position as CEO/Executive Director of Mi Casa Resource Center. Christine began her U.S.-based work in nonprofits at Mi Casa, providing a life skills/GED program to teen mothers and later, launching an after-school program at Lake Middle School. Christine brings extensive experience in community collaborations, coalition-building, and partnerships to the agency. Before joining Mi Casa, Christine served as Director of Consulting and Capacity Building at JVA Consulting, the largest consulting firm specializing in the nonprofit sector in the Rocky Mountain Region. As a consultant, trainer and facilitator, Christine specialized in organizational development, strategic planning, governance issues and resource development. She worked with literally hundreds of organizations across Colorado, including many grassroots groups, entities serving communities of color, and large, multi-million dollar agencies. She is a skilled manager, with several years experience managing multiple staff, large budgets, and complex projects. In addition, Christine’s career includes working for three foundations as a program officer, researcher and capacity builder. She is also immediate past-chair of the Board of Trustees at Escuela de Guadalupe where her son is in third grade. Christine was recently selected by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation as a 2009 Livingston Fellow. The program will provide funding for Christine’s leadership development over the next two years. Christine is also a member of the Colorado Latino Forum. She received her Masters of Nonprofit Management from Regis University, where she was also a Colorado Trust Fellow, and her Bachelors in Political Science, cum laude, from UCLA. Christine is fully bilingual in Spanish and English and lived Costa Rica for many years working as a teacher. She is married to Andrew Hudson, a prominent PR Consultant and owner of the website, Andrew Hudson’s Jobs List. They have a 9-year-old son, Pascal who attends Escuela de Guadalupe.
Michelle R. Martinez
Michelle Martinez is a native of Denver. Colorado. She attended Colorado State University and received a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and minors in both Chicano and African-American Studies. As a student, Michelle was very active – holding membership in 13 student organizations, working for Colorado’s Lieutenant Governor, and interning in Washington D.C. for a United States Senator. After college, Michelle worked for the Denver Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development in the Summer Youth Employment program, helping place low-income youth into summer employment positions. Later, she worked for a local non-profit, Denver Area Youth Services, as a case manager for youth offenders and taught a race relations class to on-site GED students once a week. Michelle then attended law school at the University of Denver Strum College of Law. Michelle became involved in the National Latina/o Law Student Association (NLLSA), and was elected as the national organization’s first-ever treasurer during her first year of law school. After serving two terms as the national treasurer, Michelle was elected as Vice Chair. Michelle currently sits on the Alumni Council of the NLLSA. Michelle is very active in the Denver community, participating with multiple community-based organizations, and mentoring students from junior high to law school. Michelle is a coach for the very successful George Washington High School Mock Trial team. Michelle is a criminal defense attorney with the Public Defender’s office. She represents indigent persons charged with felony-level criminal offenses. When asked if she’ll ever go into private practice, her response is always the same; “If you can afford me, you are not in need of me the most.”
Barbara M. Medina, Ph.D
Dr. Barbara M. Medina is the Assistant Commissioner for Innovation and Transformation at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). She oversees the Offices of Language Culture and Equity, Online Learning, Schools of Choice, and Indian Education. She is also the State Director of Migrant Education (NCLB, Title IC) and World Languages. Dr. Medina served on Governor Ritter's P-20 Council and is a member of the Denver Latino Commission. Prior to working at CDE, Dr. Medina served as Chair of the Department of Teacher Education for Adams State College, Alamosa, Colorado; she also held an appointment as Professor. She was a classroom teacher and also served as the Coordinator of Secondary Second Language Programs, Boulder Valley School District, Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Medina's scholarly interests include research in the areas of language and literacy for diverse pouplations, cultural and linguistic diversity and second language acquisition.
Johana Mendoza
Johana Mendoza is the Hispanic Liaison Representative for Pinnacol Assurance. In this role, Ms. Mendoza, helps lead Pinnacol's efforts of improving communications and outreach effort with the Spanish-speaking community. Through the development of bilingual resources, advertising and community outreach events within the Hispanic community, Ms. Mendoza helps educate Colorado businesses on the cultural differences and how to effectively communicate safely to foreign-born workers. Johana not only brings her Spanish-speaking abilities but also a cultural touch too, at the age of 10, Johana immigrated to the United States from Parral, Chihuahua.
Keith Montoya
Keith Montoya worked most of his professional life in some of the most prestigious and accomplished law firms. His background and relationships with many of Denver's top lawyers and his experience at managing personnel and situations led him naturally into politics where he was the Deputy Campaign Manager of Finance Director fo the Colorado Attorney General run of Ken Salazar. Mr. Montoya continued his knowledge and established his own company, Doc1 Solutions. In addition to his key appointments, Mr. Montoya is committed to his community and has served on many boards.
R. Mauricio Palacio, M.S.H.Ed.
Mauricio Palacio has been the director of the Office of Health Disparities since July 2005 and has been with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for more than 16 years. He has a master’s degree in health education and a bachelor’s degree in health care management from Southern Illinois University. His experience in minority health projects, task forces and initiatives throughout his public health career includes work in HIV/STD field investigations, HIV/STD education and training, AIDS-Ryan White Care Act administration and viral hepatitis prevention. Mauricio served as Colorado’s hepatitis C coordinator for four years prior to assuming his current position as director of the Office of Health Disparities. His most recent work focuses on eliminating health disparities in Colorado by fostering systems change and capacity building through collaborations with agencies and sectors impacting the determinants of health. In 2004, Mauricio completed the advanced leadership training from the Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership. He is a founding member of The Academy for Health Equity.