Born on July 5, Megan has spent her life making sure to never miss another party. Her brightest fireworks include endless curiosity, the ability to have fun doing absolutely anything, and an apothecary cabinet of knowledge she’s tucked away in her brain. At home, her wife Alyssa says Megan is the family’s MVP of patience, being brave, faking it until we make it, and task completion.

Megan knows at least a little about a lot and has a dynamic skill-set that ranges from baking pies to “almost right” home improvement to organizational change management. She leads the incredible team at Building Bridges, which gives her the chance to inspire, mentor, connect, plan, and – most importantly – be held accountable to continue growing as a social justice leader.  It’s hard work and so very worth it.

Liz Hamel originally joined Building Bridges in the summer of 2014 as a Colorado Program Facilitator and worked as a Summer Intensive and School Year Facilitator for two years. Liz’s background creating and facilitating programs with various communities is grounded in her love for transformational leadership development, social justice work, and creative non-traditional education. As a bilingual community organizer, Liz worked alongside immigrants to develop leadership and bring immigrant voices to the policy process. She has worked in many educational settings, most recently with groups of parent leaders as partners in their students’ education. Additionally, Liz teaches as an adjunct faculty and has assisted with Latin American social work immersion courses. Liz is passionate about Building Bridges’ unique and powerful programming because it creates spaces for participants to be their true selves while challenging them to connect their individual and group experiences to larger social issues. Liz holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Spanish. Originally from Kansas, Liz has lived in Denver since 2008 and enjoys reading, history, exploring new places, musicals, coffee, Jayhawk basketball, and spending time with her family, friends, and dog Rory.

Jenny Medrano is a community and youth leadership developer in the City of Denver. She is very passionate about developing young leaders of diverse backgrounds, and equipping them for leadership in multicultural settings. She is also dedicated to working in community partnerships to further equip adult leaders in the areas of cultural intelligence and social justice.

Raegan first began her journey with Building Bridges during the 2015-2016 Summer Program Team. She fell in love with facilitation and the organization and remained involved. Raegan is currently finishing her B.A. in education, with an emphasis on history and social work. She believes that social learning is the key to the success of the world. She is family oriented, and enjoys spending her free time with her parents and two younger brothers. Raegan loves board and card games, and she looks forward to her weekly dose of Cats the Musical!