Since 1999, 9NEWS has recognized outstanding leaders in the community. This year, 9NEWS has again partnered with the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation – an affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce that educates and inspires people who want to make a difference as leaders in the community – to select and honor the next 9NEWS Leader of the Year, who will be named live at the Leadership Foundation’s Leading Colorado luncheon on Thursday, March 14.
The 9NEWS Leader of the Year finalists are: Anthony Aragon, Dr. Nita Mosby Tyler and Andrew Schmidt. They each embody the values of Colorado’s Civic DNA™: inclusivity, collaboration, leadership, shared vision and responsibility. Inclusivity, in particular, is a critical component to community leadership in Colorado – and this year’s three finalists all model inclusivity in different ways.
Get to know Aragon, an alumnus of the Leadership Foundation’s Leadership Denver 2018, in his own words:
Career: Senior Advisor of Community Affairs for the Agency of Human Rights and Community Partnerships for the City and County of Denver
Community: I’ve been an LGBTQ community activist for over 30 years. I took on the PrideFest parade in 2000 and I’m still organizing the seventh largest PrideFest parade in the nation. I love to volunteer. I’m on several boards and commissions: the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the Visit Denver Foundation board, the Denver Art Museum’s Latino Outreach Committee and I’m about to launch a Latino giving circle.
Leading with Colorado’s Civic DNA: My leadership style is all about collaboration. I don’t come to the table with all the answers. Having an inclusive table – I’m a big believer in making sure that every voice that can be represented is represented.
What drives him: I don’t know how I was able to travel the path that I was able to travel, but I have some amazing networks at my disposal and if I don’t use that for good, then shame on me. I’m just a big believer in trying to make a difference as much as I can.
All about action – and heart: There’s one symbol that’s near and dear to me, and that’s the heart. To me that says love and we have so much happening in our world today, and I think that’s sometime forgotten. Any time I can spread a message of love over hate I do, and that’s why that symbol is so important to me.
Leadership Foundation alumni, as well as members of their new partner, B:CIVIC, and their longtime partner, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, will have the opportunity to vote to select this year’s winner. Cast your vote between Feb. 5 and March 11 at denverleadership.org/vote.
