WHAT IS I AM DENVER?
I AM DENVER is a partnership that brings City & County of Denver entities together with sister agencies, nonprofits, foundations and businesses to foster conversations among residents, and open the hearts, minds and doors of everyone who calls Denver home.
We highlight and celebrate our residents, neighborhoods and history while allowing for high-level discussions around topics affecting Denver. Because of the partnerships established, we nurture individual efforts and group collaborations.
THE I AM DENVER TEAM
Rowena Alegría
Chief Storyteller
Rowena Alegría is Chief Storyteller for the City & County of Denver, founder and director of the Office of Storytelling and I Am Denver, a citywide storytelling and cultural preservation project. A 2019 Jack Jones Literary Arts Fellow, 2019 Vermont Studio Center Fellow and 2018 Writing by Writers Fellow, Alegría earned an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and is a member of Sandra Cisneros’ Macondo Writers Workshop. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in The Rumpus, the Mississippi Review, Tribal College Journal and elsewhere. A career journalist, communications executive and speech writer, she is writing a novel that plays with form and the history of the Southwest. For more, see RowenaAlegria.com.
Roxana A. Soto
Senior Producer & Storyteller
Roxana is an Emmy award-winning bilingual journalist with a dynamic career that spans 25 years in print, television and digital media platforms. Her stories have been published in The Miami Herald, USA Today and The Denver Post. Her investigative work has been broadcast on Univision and CBS Miami. She's the co-author of Bilingual Is Better: Two Latina Moms on How the Bilingual Parent Revolution is Changing the Face of America and the co-founder of the popular parenting website SpanglishBaby.com. She’s passionate about telling stories that haven't really been told, so I AM DENVER is the perfect fit. After living in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa and Miami, she moved to Denver in 2006 to start a family.
Amanda Zitzman
Multiplatform Producer & Storyteller
Amanda is a documentary filmmaker, producer, and editor, currently collaborating on the city's #IAMDENVER project. Amanda creates documentaries and short-form videos highlighting the underserved communities of Denver while working to preserve the city’s current and past history in video form. Prior to joining I Am Denver, Amanda held a long-standing career in local broadcast journalism as an anchor and general assignment news reporter for over 13 years. She has worked at news stations in Denver and across the country from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest.
Emily Maxwell
Multiplatform Producer & Storyteller
Emily is a multi-Emmy award-winning photojournalist who spent more than a decade reporting on poverty, environmental concerns and wildlife conservation in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio while working for WCPO-TV, an ABC affiliate. She's traveled around the world to document stories ranging from the opioid crisis in small rural towns to flying in a cargo plane with the last Sumatran rhino in captivity. Maxwell moved to Denver at the end of 2019 to join the I AM DENVER team as a documentary producer. She's enjoyed learning about her new city's diverse history.
Partners
Learn More About Our Partners
Theater 29, where 5 award-winning Colorado playwrights have the freedom to create, collaborate, develop, and produce the plays they want to see on stage.
In the 1970s, Denver’s historic structures faced demolition in epic numbers. In true pioneer spirit, a group of citizens created Historic Denver Inc. in time to save one of our city’s most celebrated historic homes – the Molly Brown House. Since then Historic Denver has been the leading voice for local preservation. We work with property owners, neighborhoods and communities to safeguard the places that make our city unique.
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is one of the largest non-profit theatre organizations in the nation, presenting Broadway tours and producing theatre, cabaret, musicals, and innovative, multimedia plays. Last season the DCPA entertained more than 1.1 million visitors, generating a $115 million economic impact in Colorado.
The Denver Public Library connects people with information, ideas and experiences to provide enjoyment, enrich lives and strengthen our community.
Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc. is the parent company of Rocky Mountain PBS and KUVO Jazz. Rocky Mountain PBS began in Denver in 1956 as Colorado's first public television station. It is now Colorado's only statewide television network, with stations in Denver, Pueblo/Colorado Springs, Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction and Durango. Rocky Mountain Public Media is Colorado’s largest statewide, member-supported, multimedia organization.
In a world where social divides run deep, there must exist organizations that not only build bridges, but also engage communities on all sides in closing the divides. This is CreativeStrategies for Change (CSC). We work with schools, organizations, and communities, to mobilize arts and education for social justice. CSC programs and services include: consulting, leadership and professional development, workshops, residencies, performances, assemblies, and events.
Denver Public Schools is committed to meeting the educational needs of every student with great schools in every neighborhood. Our goal is to provide every child in Denver with a joyful, rigorous and personalized learning experience from preschool through high school graduation.
StoryCenter is an international nonprofit that supports individuals and organizations in using storytelling and participatory media for reflection, education, and social change. Out of their office in Denver, they've helped to surface the stories of Denverites for 16 years.
Lighthouse Writers Workshop is the largest literary arts center in the Rocky Mountain West. For more than 20 years, we’ve provided quality instruction, community events, and artistic support for writers and readers of all levels, ages, and backgrounds.
Established in 1879, History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and an agency of the State of Colorado under the Department of Higher Education. We offer access to cultural and heritage resources including statewide Community Museums, programs for families and adults, stewardship of Colorado’s historic treasures, and resources for students and teachers. We provide programs and services related to historic preservation and archaeology as well as access to a vast collection of archives, artifacts, and historical photography.
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Metropolitan State University of Denver has transformed the lives of more than 90,000 people in Denver and Colorado through affordable degree programs, innovative public-private partnerships and a commitment to diversity.
Office Of Storytelling
Rowena Alegria, Chief Storyteller
Office of Storytelling - Human Rights & Community Partnerships
City and County of Denver
720 -865-9084
IAmDenver@denvergov.org