Dan Walsh is the Principal of Kepner Beacon MS in Southwest Denver. He has been the driving force behind the rejuvenation of Kepner. In 2016 then Superintendent Tom Boasberg came to the Beacon Network looking for a district-run school to turn around Kepner. Kepner Beacon was founded later that year and Dan was a founding member of the leadership team. Principal Walsh is a Denver Public Schools product and has spent his entire educational career serving in his hometown district. Dan was born in the Westwood neighborhood in Southwest Denver and attended nearby Knapp Elementary School. He was nearly a student at the old Kepner MS but his family moved to the East Side of Denver in 5th grade and he finished his schooling at Gove Middle School and East High School. Dan's journey from high school graduation to school leadership was untraditional and he is grateful for the opportunity to come full circle and now serve the community he has always felt was home.

D.R. XIX (dee-arr one nine) is a multi faceted creative who specializes in music production, audio engineering, and videography. He's worked with local artists such as A Meazy, Old Man Saxton, Jay Triiiple, Danae Simone, and others alike. His most recent work is on an upcoming compilation album called "Already On: The Verge" set to release on June 17th, 2022.  A Meazy was born and raised on the east side of Denver, Colorado. Born Alexander Jiles, A Meazy started making music in the 4th grade alongside his best friend and music influence, Darius Campbell. After Darius passed away in 2005, A Meazy created a rap group called 'The Offense' with his brother Taurean. Since then they have dropped several mixtapes together and one solo album a piece. A Meazy's debut solo album titled “The Real Ned Flanders” dropped January 20th, 2015. Since the independent release the classic album has gotten over 17k plays on audiomack.com.In just a few months hit singles like “Antidote”, “Juice” and “For the Birds” has his name buzzing throughout the city as one of the biggest artist to rise out of Denver.

Dr. Esquibel is a current member of the Servicios de La Raza Board and has served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of La Escuela Tlatelolco and as a board member of the Adams State College Alumni Association, Colorado Minority Engineering Association, Hispanic League of Colorado, Denver Public Schools Hispanic Educational Advisory Council, The Latino Education Coalition, Southwest Family Resource Center, and Rishel Middle School Collaborative Decision Making Committee (Chair 1991-93) and the Educational Opportunity Center Advisory Board Member. Dr. Esquibel traces his family background to the 1693 Spanish colonizers of New Mexico more than 321 years ago.  In addition to his published Dissertation he has written three books, HiPolito: the Prodigal Son, The Career Mobility of Chicanos in Higher Education and compiled Message to Aztlán, Selected Writings of Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales. He is currently writing his memoirs, The Colonia Kid: from the Mexican Colonia in Lamar, Colorado to the Board of Trustees at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He continues to learn. He has been learning to play the guitar for past eight years. He likes what Mark Twain said about learning, “I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education”. Maestas Case Los Alvarados - "Yo Soy Chicano"

Representative Leslie Herod (HD-8) was elected in 2016 as the first LGBTQ African American in the General Assembly, while receiving the highest number of votes of any candidate running in a contested election. She serves as the Chair of the House Finance Committee, Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Chair of the Committee on Legal Services. Rep. Herod also chairs the Colorado Black Democratic Legislative Caucus and the Arts Caucus. Since her election in 2016, Herod has sent 68 bills to the Governor’s desk, marshaling through numerous pieces of legislation addressing criminal justice reform, mental health & substance abuse, renewable energy, youth homelessness, and civil rights protections. Her legislative agenda underscores her commitment to improving the lives of all Coloradans, especially those caught in the cycle of poverty or mired in the criminal justice system.

Jadyn believes the key to this universe is living and being your full self. He is the Ideas Bender at the Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Organization (YEBO). At YEBO, Jadyn is responsible for ensuring the YEBO learning spaces include elements of Belonging, Wellness, and Independence. With the support of YEBO, he also launched a podcast: ‘The Superhero Mindset’. In the summer of 2019, Jadyn co-founded Future10X, a fellowship to ‘reimagine the future of education’ for young leaders. Denver grown, when Jadyn isn’t working he enjoys spending time with loved ones, playing Valorant, or reading books.  YEBO is hosting a Release Party on June 2nd (an event where they showcase all of the things they've been working on). Follow the socials for any updates and feel free to reach out if you'd like to connect and share stories!  Website: https://yebomedia.org  Instagram  Twitch  Youtube

Denver based Artist Brayan Montes-Terrazas, is better know by his alias YAMZ. Under YAMZ, Brayan’s unwavering identity-driven art stresses the importance of putting marginalized voices at the forefront of our conversations and the stories we tell. He is driven by the essential need to tell the stories of his identity as an undocumented, queer person of color. Using art and design as the vessel to show others that they are not alone in the fight toward equity justice and sound mental health. While he continues to develop the YAMZ: World of Color as both an art-based brand and community-driven organization, he maintains the principle that when we uplift marginalized identities through art we can heal, provide business solutions and bring each other up because representation matters and we must strive to build equity in the art and design fields. Use promo code EDPOD20 for 20% off at www.brayanmontes.com

Oso Adventure Meals: Oso Adventure Meals provides a brand of culturally authentic food and beverage products for the everyday adventurer. Current meal brands do not meet the needs of a growing and diverse outdoor market. Oso Meals is diversifying the outdoors by bringing delicious, spicy, and authentic meals to the backcountry. Oso allows customers to take their favorite recipes with them on the go, at home, or off the beaten path. Felipe Vieyra: A proven leader with Expertise running large advocacy organizations within the k-12 education space. Felipe serves on multiple board of directors and advises government officials and business leaders throughout Colorado. Dom Barrera: Co-Founded The Colorado Food Cluster, which provides healthy and tasty food, economic opportunities, and enrichment activities to over 40,000 families across the state of Colorado.

Jazmin is passionate about disrupting  traditional ways of thinking about water, food systems, our relationship to land, and societal development through a lens of empathy and equity. Her experience in the professional realms of government affairs, urban planning, and education have helped her understand the mechanics of oppressive institutions. She uses yoga, the wisdom of herbs, exploring nature, and dancing as ways of reconnecting to her body. She believes breaking ancestral trauma and healing community starts with self. For her, a big part of this journey was to release the expectations of her family to make herself proud. To love and accept all the parts we’ve been trained to judge or hide is a daily practice.

Papa Dia is Founder and President of the African Leadership Group (ALG), an advocacy organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for African immigrants and members of the diaspora. A native of Senegal, Papa immigrated to Denver in 1998. He used his first job, stocking books, to teach himself how to read, write, and speak English. Beginning with an entry-level position in a local bank, over the next 17 years, Papa ultimately climbed the ranks to become a regional vice president. In 2017, Papa left his banking career to focus his full attention on running and growing ALG. Through social, economic, and educational empowerment programs, ALG advocates for the entire African Immigrant Community – across national origin, tribes, and language – to ensure continuous improvement to immigrants’ quality of life. 

Yasmeen Nashay Cofield is a Sales Representative for Revenue Enterprises (2 Years) She currently works for a company that handles collections/outside billing for various hospitals across the country. Her team handles University of Colorado hospital as well as Children's Hospital directly. She has goals to finish her bachelors degree in Business Economics. After that is to figuring out what type of work field would fit and make her happy as a career that she can retire in. Another goal of hers is to have her own car within the next 3 years. Her proudest accomplishment is buying/owning a house at age 23. After that would be her associates degree she earned with Community College of Denver. She is also very proud of the family she has and how close they all are "I am a loving daughter/sister/auntie, I am a huge Broncos/Colorado sports fan. I am a proud African American female."