Celebrating the Boulder Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Each year, Women's History Month offers an important opportunity for us to shine a light on the extraordinary legacy of trailblazing women and girls who have built, shaped, and improved upon our community. Yesterday, Boulder City Council declared March 2024 as Women’s History Month and invited the community to join them in the celebration of all women and the progress we have made as a society, as well as reflect on the work still ahead to reach full gender equality.

This year, the National Women’s History Alliance, which spearheaded the movement for March being declared National Women’s History Month, proclaimed that the theme for 2024 is “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” To honor this theme, the city has compiled a list of some of the women who are committed to embracing everyone and excluding no one in our common quest for freedom and opportunity.

Guadalupe Jaime, known as Lupita, was born in Fresnillo, Zacatecas and she became a member of the Boulder community in 2005.

Lupita has been part of the non-profit organization AMISTAD since its beginnings. In 2018, Lupita became part of AMISTAD’s Promotoras de Salud movement because of her interest in working with her community and her passion to foster healthier lifestyles. On top of being a Promotora de Salud, she is a facilitator of Fiesta en la Escuela, an after-school program geared towards elementary school students in Boulder County that offers extracurricular activities intended to help students increase their knowledge of nutrition and healthier diets, and empowering students to share what they have learned with their families.

Aside from her work with AMISTAD, Lupita is also a skilled artist who repurposes recycled materials in her creations. She is part of The Boulder County Climate Justice Collaborative and is an exemplary leader in Families and Educators Together (FET) groups in her children’s schools. In her time away from her activism and leadership roles, she enjoys going for walks, riding her bike and spending time with her family on her time.

Born with a disability and raised with five siblings, Julie learned how to become independent and advocate for herself. Julie's parents taught her the basics of respecting others for their differences. As a teenager Julie thought a lot about injustices and how to make things better; primarily for herself but as she grew into adulthood, she realized that others had experienced injustices whether or not it was related to disability.

Julie has spent her life teaching and advocating for people with disabilities. Her first position was working at a Developmental Achievement Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota in a community integration program that strives to prepare people with developmental disabilities to work and enjoy recreation in their communities. During this time, Julie began a Master’s program in Rehabilitation Counseling and traveled to Mexico to volunteer at the first Mexican Independent Living Center. She wrote about this amazing experience in lieu of a thesis paper.

This experience led Julie to work in three different U.S. Independent Living Centers over the following years. Through this work, Julie became focused on person-centered philosophy and advocacy for people with all types of disabilities. Since then, Julie has developed advocacy, peer support and employment programs for people with disabilities, as well as organizing systems advocacy efforts. In the summer of 2019 Julie went to Armenia with a team from the Inclusion Collective to offer professional input on advocacy to the Armenian government and medical system.

Julie loves to travel with her husband and cherishes the times with her friends and grandchildren. Hiking in the mountains and camping are also some of her favorite activities. She believes in living a healthy lifestyle through creating avenues for socializing, eating good food and exercise. Julie strives to make a positive difference in the world.

Michele D. Simpson is the granddaughter of Mozetta Allen and the daughter of Louise A. Simpson. These women, both activists, paved the way for numerous individuals to thrive, including Michele who is a Professor at the University of Colorado, a Faculty Affiliate and Research Associate at CU’s Renée Crown Wellness Institute, and a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for African and African American Studies.

Whether she is teaching an ethics or a women and gender studies course, fairness and justice are at the center. This semester, in her Ethical Puzzles & Moral Conflicts course, students will read Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy, a book about mass incarceration and punishment in America.

As the host of Black Talk, a monthly program that airs on KGNU, Michele centers Black voices, from in and around Boulder, the Denver metro area, and beyond. She spotlights the stories, issues, and joyful expressions of Black-identified activists, thinkers, creators, and explorers. Black Talk is the result of a collaboration between KGNU and the Boulder County NAACP.

Michele’s work at the Renée Crown Wellness Institute supports its mission of helping to create a world where every young person can flourish and receive the support needed to live a life marked by caring relationships and wellness. Whether she is facilitating an 8-week course on mindfulness or co-designing programs that embrace and elevate the unique needs of Black girls in the Boulder-Denver area, Michele aims to promote the full participation of all people, especially those who have been pushed to the margins.

Andrea Montoya grew up in Colorado in a family of mixed heritage, with Mexican-Indigenous and Polish roots. Growing up in a historically underserved community resulted in her passion of bringing health and wellbeing to these communities. Andrea's first endeavor in this work was a career as a Physician Assistant where she served under and uninsured folks in Oncology and Rheumatology. 

After 32 years of that career, her focus changed to environmental health. Andrea created a new way of spreading well-being through the creation of healthy, pollinator-friendly gardens in urban settings. After learning about and installing garden-habitats that served people and pollinators in Boulder, she went on to develop the Pollinator Advocate Program, sponsored by the City of Boulder. The program is free to the public and is offers an extensive series of classes, taking place inside and out of doors. She brings together experts to teach community members about the creation and maintenance of pollinator garden-habitat. Additionally, she focuses the program on the participants becoming ambassadors for this kind of change in their own neighborhoods.

Andrea’s work includes a focus on disproportionately underserved communities in and near Boulder County, where the habitat creation work is combined with growing food in private spaces in Mobile Home Communities and in public food garden spaces. She has also started a small consulting company called Suelo Bueno.

Maya Sol is a Xicana-Mestiza mujer, activist, dancer, educator, and licensed clinical social worker dedicated to raising awareness and political consciousness and empowering our community.

Maya Sol is the Founder and CEO of Mayamotion Healing (MMH) which offers cultural mental health therapy and transformative equity consulting. MMH is a comprehensive response to the most pressing mental health, social justice, and community issues that we face today. She is also the Director of Youth Programming and Founder of the Annual Cumbre Juvenil at AMISTAD where she works to advance equity efforts as a Cultural Broker in the Boulder County community.

Outside her practice, Maya Sol has worked in both the community and government sectors and directed a national award-winning program in Public Health aimed at promoting reproductive justice, mental health, and racial justice. As a first generation in the U.S. mujer and a cultural broker with a mixed immigration status family, she is dedicated to increasing culturally grounded mental health access in Boulder County with an emphasis on Spanish-speaking and immigrant communities. She has a long history of addressing disparities within the community with an intersectional lens and inclusion for LGBTQ2S and Communities of Color. She graduated from the University of Denver with a Master’s in Social Work with Clinical Mental Health & Global Practice and Sustainability concentrations and is proud of her therapeutic offerings specifically to our youth, undoc/daca-mented and monolingual Spanish-speakers.

Ruby Sofia Lopez is a rising leader in Colorado’s social justice ecosystem, boasting over seven years of experience advocating for systematically excluded communities. Hailing from the city of Chicago, Ruby's upbringing in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood, coupled with her immigrant family roots, laid the foundation for her unwavering commitment to serving marginalized groups. Her career began on the south side of Chicago, where she first immersed herself in efforts to uplift those facing systemic barriers.

Throughout her career, Ruby has championed the causes of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities, recognizing the transformative power of community, nature, joy, and art in addressing the traumas of oppression. In Boulder, her impact is palpable, particularly through her work with young Latine individuals and their families, facilitating equitable outdoor programs tailored to low-income, monolingual Spanish-speaking communities.

A vocal advocate for Queer and Transgender People of Color (QTPOC), Ruby has carved out spaces for these communities to come together in both celebration and solidarity. Her Queer Afro-Latin Dance events stand as a testament to her unique approach to intersectional community engagement, fostering joy and community while shaking up antiquated gender norms in the dance scene.

Looking ahead, Ruby is laying the groundwork for a groundbreaking initiative aimed at connecting LGBTQIA+ individuals with the land through gardening and urban farming. As the co-founder of TransFarmation, established in 2023, Ruby envisions a future where the grounding practice of cultivating soil and nurturing plants serves as a catalyst for holistic healing and empowerment within the LGBTQIA+ community, especially among young adults.

To learn more about Ruby's visionary project, visit the TransFarmation website at transfarmationcolorado.org or follow their journey on Instagram @transfarmationcolorado. For inquiries or comments, reach out to Ruby directly at ruby@transfarmationcolorado.org.

Sandra, a Colombian architect turned Community Builder, has dedicated the past 15 years to fostering unity in Boulder. Sandra’s journey began with the city’s Family Resource Schools and Family Resource Centers program which ignited her passion for supporting families. It was there where she observed a crucial gap between Latino families and access to city and county resources.

Sandra has collaborated as a Community Liaison with the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD), spearheading cross cultural and leadership initiatives like Posadas and Latino Leadership groups to bridge cultural divides. Thanks to the invaluable lessons from students and families, her commitment to this work has grown.

In the last year and a half, Sandra’s professional journey led her to an alternative BVSD school where her love for families and students has flourished. Her focus remains on fostering a sense of belonging, building trust, security, and tranquility. The school she works at is now a community hub, and she is dedicated to ensuring it feels like home for everyone.

Beyond her work commitments, Sandra is a board member for the Colorado State Parent Coalition and was part of the Parents Advancing School Outcomes (PASO) board, both prioritizing support for Latino families. She is also an active volunteer for the grant committees at the Community Foundation Boulder County and continually seeks opportunities to engage with and learn from Boulder's vibrant community.

You'll often find Sandra at Latino community events, driven by a genuine desire to learn and honor our community. She believes that together, we can keep building a stronger, more connected Boulder.