2022 Colorado Health Symposium

The 2022 Colorado Health Symposium took place July 27-29 in Keystone, CO at the Keystone Conference Center. The theme "Game Changers: The Status Quo Has Got To Go" brought together community advocates, grassroots leaders, innovators, experts and others to explore people, policies, practices and perspectives creating the new normal Coloradans need.

In particular, Coloradans of color continue to experience overlapping endemics of racism and poverty that keep health out of reach — and the ongoing health crisis has only exacerbated these struggles. As we contemplated a theme for this year’s Symposium, we strived to highlight our shared responsibility to use this moment for radical change.

The status quo in Colorado will not instantly shift after three game-changing days at the Colorado Health Symposium, but we hope that the exchanges you all had and information shared will spark transformative change wherever you go afterward.

Recordings of the conference are available here:

Conference Agenda

Timestamps included for mainstage content

Wednesday, July 27

The Game Within: Caring for Mind, Body and Soul
Can we change the game to dismantle racial bias within ourselves by cultivating strategies to look inward? Day One will explore the tools and tactics we can use to shift paradigms internally and create a foundation of equity for all we do. The day will kick off with a special address from Karen McNeil-Miller, president and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation, and an acknowledgement of the Indigenous Peoples who have been custodians of the land that the Keystone Conference Center was built on. Notes on logistics and language justice will also be announced.

27:46 - 59:41 Opening Remarks: Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @KarenMsquared

59:41 - 2:19:04 Making Our Own Rules
When imagining the various routes transformative change can take, we must reimagine which rules actually serve us and the collective — and which ones just uphold the status quo. That investigation starts within ourselves and reverberates through the community as we unpack the unconscious and conscious impacts of the social constructs we must navigate. In this session, speakers will discuss how racism, sexism and other “isms” can show up personally, and share the processes and tools they cultivate to challenge these paradigms within themselves and their communities.

Moderator: Jehan Benton-Clark, senior director of advancing equity and justice; portfolio director, The Colorado Health Foundation @JBentonClark

  • Regan Byrd, founder and principal consultant, Regan Byrd Consulting @RByrdConsulting
  • Shirley Romero Otero, board member, Acequia Institute
  • Courtney Ozaki, founder/creative producer, Japanese Arts Network @caozaki, @japaneseartsnetwork
  • Z Williams, director of operations, Bread and Roses Legal Center @actup2exist

2:37:01 - 2:55:27 Artistic Performance, Kayla Marque, Singer-songwriter and Performance Artist @iamkaylamarque

2:55:30 - 2:27:16 Keynote: Dr. JonPaul Higgins, Writer and Social Justice Educator focused on gender, race and media @DoctorJonPaul

3:27:25 - 4:20:50 Keynote: Feminista Jones, Feminist Writer, Community Activist and Social Worker @FeministaJones
Conversation with Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @KarenMsquared

Exchange Sessions

  • A Vanishing Game: How Listening Can Make the Invisible Visible, presented by Community Outreach Service Center
  • Home Base: An Equitable and Inclusive Path in Real Estate, presented by Enterprise Community Partners @EnterpriseNow
  • Level Up! An Interactive Game Where One Affects All, presented by The Civic Canopy @TheCivicCanopy
  • Locker Room Chat: Coffee, Kids and Kicking Out the Status Quo, presented by Kids At Their Best @kidsattheirbest
  • Ready Player One: Black Maternal Health, presented by Colorado Access @coaccess
  • Start at the Finish Line: Health Equity for Native Americans in Colorado, presented by Project Mosaic LLC @ProjectMosaicCO

Healing the Spirit, Renewing the Movement
Through participation in a traditional indigenous healing circle, participants can share that which weighs heavy on their hearts in order to release their gifts and their joy. Session is limited to 20 people, priority given to guests of color. Guided by Olga Gonzalez, executive director, Cultivando.

Opening Night Reception — Entertainment by Overwave Industries

Thursday, July 28

Rewriting the Playbook: Solutions BY Community, FOR Community
How can we change the game and dispel racial inequity from our communities by creating space for needs to be met equitably in our community circles and neighborhoods? Day Two will continue the themes from Day One and expand the spheres of change from ourselves to our communities. Programming will explore the factors that drive community support and how modern, ancient and traditional tools are being applied to meet ongoing needs across the state.

Changing the Status Quo in the Public Sector: How Members of Colorado's Public Sector are Rewriting the Playbook
Moderator: Kyle Rojas Legleiter, senior director of policy advocacy, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN

  • Faviola Alderete, community health strategist, Eagle County Public Health & Environment
  • Elisabeth Arenales, senior policy advisor/deputy director of the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care, Office of the Governor
  • Kim Bell Williams, executive director, Eagle County Housing and Development Authority @kimbellwilliams
  • Kim Bimestefer, executive director, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing @CHCPF
  • Molly Bischoff, Aging Well coordinator/health navigator, Chaffee County Public Health @ChaffeeCountyPH
  • Sonia Cardenas, Hispanic outreach coordinator, Mesa County Public Health
  • Mariana Chavez, community health worker, Northern Colorado Health Department
  • Jim Collins, director, Otero County DHS/Lower Arkansas Valley AAA
  • Rep. Susan Lontine, Colorado General Assembly @LontineHD1
  • Rep. Julie McCluskie, Colorado General Assembly @McCluskieforCO
  • Rep. Dylan Roberts, Colorado General Assembly @Dylan_RobertsCO
  • Wendy Smittick, food connector, Denver Department of Public Health & Environment @DDPHE

0:26 - 29:28 Opening Remarks, Dr. Mark Wallace, Board Chair, The Colorado Health Foundation
Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @KarenMsquared

29:58 - 1:28:40 A New Sandbox: Creating a Culture of Care
Who is your community and how do you make space for folks to thrive? Panelists will discuss their experiences making and holding physical space for the community, and will explore emergent strategies for how guests can create the new normal their communities need.
Moderator: Erin Brown, vice president of community investment and impact, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN

  • Papa Dia, founder and executive director, African Leadership Group @PapaDiaALG @officialusalg
  • Susana Guardado, executive director, OneMorgan County
  • Louise Martorano, executive director, RedLine Contemporary Art Center @RedLineDenver

1:46:00 - 2:48:07 Overtime
Have you found yourself or your organization playing new roles during the pandemic? What did you learn? This discussion will focus on the strategies and tools that are available — and those we can imagine together — to support community health in more dynamic ways. Join this year’s Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize winners to discuss how they have invited traditional, modern and ancestral processes to foster health in their communities.
Moderator: Kyle Rojas Legleiter, senior director of policy advocacy, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN

  • Eudelia Contreras, lead community organizer, Lake County Build a Generation
  • Liza Marron, steward/director, San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition @slvlocalfoods @Grassrootsgirl
  • Zo Mpofu, public health strategist
  • Lisa Wade, executive director, Chickaloon Village Traditional Council

2:49:07 - 3:40:41 Keynote: Tanaya Winder, Artist, Writer and Motivational Speaker @tanayawinder
Jeff Orlowski-Yang, Founder and Filmmaker, Exposure Labs @ExposureLabs
Conversation with Amy Latham, Chief Impact Officer, The Colorado Health Foundation @amyelatham

Exchange Sessions

  • Fuel Up: Collective Action on Hunger and Food Access, presented by Denver Department of Public Health & Environment @DDPHE
  • More Than Monopoly: Building the New Economy from the Ground Up, presented by Center for Community Wealth Building @ccwbdenver
  • Mother, May I? Disrupting the Game with Activism Led By Young People, presented by H.O.P.E. Alamosa @HopeInAlamosa
  • My Team, Your Team: Child Care Support in Refugee Immigrant Communities, presented by Empowering Communities Globally: For the Care of Children
  • Phone a Friend: Centering Equity and Building Power in COVID Response, presented by the City of Boulder @bouldercolorado
  • Treasure Hunt: "Navegadoras" and Building Trust in Latino Communities, presented by Una Mano, Una Esperanza

Honoring Resilience Workshop
This workshop will focus on the importance of storytelling as a tool to remember, put ourselves back together, and transform through our resiliency. This is an opportunity to participate in some reflective writing activities that will help you learn how to continue honoring our resilience through empathy, compassion, respect, reciprocity and love. Guided by Tanaya Winder, artist, writer and motivational speaker.

Celebrating Togetherness: A Dinner Reception, Performance by The Reminders @TheReminders

Rethinking the Game: How Nonprofits and Local Media Can Partner FTW (For the Win)
Over the past few years, trailblazing efforts to create a media ecosystem that is more equitable and community-driven have placed a spotlight on local news outlets across the state. With this shift, local news and the nonprofit sector might have more in common than one might imagine. This panel will share innovations in Colorado’s local news and explore how these two important types of community-based game changers might rethink how to partner by bringing more trusted information and resources into communities so everyone can win.
Moderator: Taryn Fort, senior director of communications and external influence, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @tarynfortdoyle

  • Tatiana Flowers, equity reporter, The Colorado Sun @ColoradoSun @TATIANADFLOWERS
  • Corey Hutchins, interim director of the Journalism Institute, Colorado College @CoreyHutchins
  • H. Malcolm NewtonAfrik Digest Magazine @AfrikDigest
  • Jesús Luis Sánchez Meleán, editor, El Comercio de Colorado @ComercioCO

Movement for the Movement! A Dance Party, Music by DJ Cyn @DJ_CYN

Friday, July 29

New Rules: Changing the Game So Everyone Wins
How can we change the game itself — our system — by making new, equitable rules around moving resources, funds and access? We will conclude our time together with a final day of learning and exchange as we move from the locus of our community through to the impact of our systems.

Exchange Sessions

  • Beating the Odds: Shifting Power, Laws and Culture in Political Spaces, presented by 9to5 Colorado @9to5Colorado
  • Follow the Leader: Coalition-Building with Families, presented by Clayton Early Learning @ClaytonLearning

20:33 - 30:01 Opening Remarks, Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @KarenMsquared

30:19 - 1:30:39 The Status Quo Has Got to Go!
Join this panel of trailblazers as they share the trends they’ve seen across the state for how we prioritize — or devalue — the fundamental resources people need to be well. Panelists will share opportunities for guests to engage more deeply with the larger systems that can foster or suppress access to what folks need.
Moderator: Maribel Cifuentes, portfolio director, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @MaribelCifuent2

  • Yessica Holguin, executive director, Center for Community Wealth Building @ccwbdenver @yxholguin
  • Matt Karkut, executive director, Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center
  • Lorez Meinhold, executive director, Caring for Denver Foundation @caring4denver @lorezmm

1:30:50 - 2:14:58 Keynote: Richard Blanco, Poet, Author and Civil Engineer @rblancopoet
Conversation with Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @KarenMsquared

2:15:01 - 2:25:48 Closing Remarks: Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation @COHealthFDN @KarenMsquared

Questions or comments about the Colorado Health Symposium? Contact Jaclyn Lensen, senior communications officer at [email protected].

 

Related Resources

Event Date
-
Location

 

 

 

Related

Press enter / return on your keyboard to search