Creating Change 2015 Host Committee: Launch Meeting!

The 27th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change will be held in Denver, February 4 – 8, 2015 at the Sheraton Denver. Each year, the Task Force works with a dedicated group of volunteers who join the conference Host Committee to accomplish critical on-the-ground organizing and outreach. Come be part of it!
 

Meet the Creating Change 2015 Host Committee Co-Chairs:

		Krista Whipple, a proud trans* woman, is the President of the Gender Identity Center of Colorado. Krista has dedicated herself to advocating on behalf of the trans* community by speaking both locally and nationally for the rights of trans* people. Krista dedicates many hours to improving awareness and substantially increased attendance at the annual Colorado Gold Rush conference in February, 2014. Krista looks forward to expanding her reach into the public and the community by participating as a co-chair for Creating Change 2015.
		Leslie Herod is a strategic planning and community partnerships professional. Prior to starting her own consulting practice, Herod was a program officer with the Gill Foundation where she led philanthropic initiatives focusing on LGBT equality and alliance building with communities of color. She served as senior policy advisor to Governor of Colorado Bill Ritter Jr. and Deputy Political Director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Herod is a gubernatorial appointee to the state’s Judicial Performance Commission and a mayoral appointee to Denver’s Cultural Affairs Commission. In 2006 Herod co-founded New Era Colorado, the state’s leading organization focused on the civic engagement of young people.
		Rachel Chaparro is the Deputy Director of Community Affairs and Agency Communications for Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock. Prior to being appointed to the Hancock Administration, she was the Communications Director for the Biennial of the Americas. Chaparro was also the Communications and Development Director for the Latina Initiative, running a successful Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) effort targeting 70,000 Colorado Latinas in the 2008 election. She also worked as the Manager of Education and Outreach at the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
		Sydney Andrews (Jeff Kerzman) moved to Denver in 1985 and jumped into the LGBTQ community by joining the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire (ICRME). Sydney reigned as the 23rd elected Empress of the ICRME, 1996-1997 and served on the Board of Directors of ICRME from 1998-2003 and 2005-2007, leading ICRME as President from 2000-2002. Sydney also served on the International Court Council (ICC) from 2006-2009, representing the ICC as 2nd Vice President. In 2009, Sydney joined the board of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and will have served 5 years beginning in September of 2014. Sydney is thrilled, honored and excited to serve as one of the four co-chairs for Creating Change 2015!