Former Denver Board of Education member and out lesbian Lucia Guzman has announced she will run for the District 34 Colorado State Senate seat in 2010. The seat is currently held by Sen. Paula Sandoval, who is term limited.
“The most effective way to genuinely understand what a community wants is to seek out a conversation with as many people in the community as possible. I believe this is the duty of elected officials and an essential tool for making informed decisions. And it’s a personal and professional value of mine,” says Guzman. Guzman has put this belief into practice in all of her roles, most notably during her tenure on the Denver Board of Education where she was a vocal advocate for school reform.
Guzman is executive director of the Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations for the City and County of Denver, a position to which she was appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper in 2003. She was elected twice to the Denver Public Schools Board of Education, serving from 1999-2007; she was elected vice president for her second term. From 1994-1999, she was executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches and also pastor of two Denver churches, Berkeley United Methodist Church and Merritt Memorial United Methodist Church. Guzman is a former small business owner, having owned Lucia’s Casa de Café in northwest Denver from 1999-2005.
Guzman is an ordained elder with the United Methodist Church, received a Master of Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology and a Bachelor of Science degree from Sam Houston State University in Texas.
She has served in leadership roles for a variety of community organizations including Mile High United Way, Governor’s Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education, Metropolitan State College of Denver, National Association of Ecumenical Staffs and Colorado-Oklahoma Resource Council. She is a trustee with the Iliff School of Theology.
Recent honors include the ACLU Carl Whitehead Memorial Award, which recognized Guzman for her lifetime contributions to civil liberties; induction into the Cesar Chavez Leadership Hall of Fame, which honored her passion for justice for those who are not heard; the Anti-Defamation League Civil Rights Award, which recognized her for her efforts and achievements in furthering civil and human rights for all people; the Mary Rhodes Award from the National Order of Sisters of Loretto; and the Champions of Change Award from the Escuela Tlatelolco.
