I am a student at Metropolitan State University, majoring in Human Services and Counseling, with a concentration in High Risk Youth.  I’m passionate about change, justice, and dismantling systems to make them more just and inclusive.

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.

Jenny stumbled upon Building Bridges during one serendipitous Google search of any and all things related to her passion, “building bridges.”

Born and raised in the great city of Elgin, Illinois, Jenny is a true Chicago-area girl at heart. She has a deep love for the city of Chicago because this is where she met her first love, education. Although she is not a public school teacher like her original college plan, she still cares deeply about impacting the education system from the outside. This is why she has spent the past five years in Denver growing as a youth developer in spaces like Young Life, the Salvation Army and DSST Cole High school.

After some time working with youth, Jenny has grown especially passionate about developing strong leadership pipelines so that youth leaders have a place to flourish as adult leaders. For this reason, Jenny is committed to working with both youth and adults in the work that Building Bridges does of equity and inclusivity work.

Maren is a former art teacher, turned artist, reiki practitioner, consultant, coach and facilitator.  She is passionate, driven and committed to the work of racial and educational equity, as well as critical self-development and healing. She wants to empower humans, to be conscious, reflective, change makers. She desires to work with humans whom have the will to look inward and view the world through a critical and restorative racial lens. For the betterment of self, but also for the greater good of all.

She brings with her, 10 years of teaching experience (BA in Studio Art and MA in Education) and (as a white womxn) desires to be a message of awareness, growth and transparency in order to help uncover and name the oppressive systems at work in our lives.  She looks forward to continue to build her capacity and interest in continuing to influence at different levels of systems, knowing how interpersonal and internal the work truly is. It is personal before it is professional.

As a true Colorado local, Raegan first began her journey with Building Bridges during the 2015-2016 Summer Program Team. Raegan enjoys working with young people, and values youth engagement and empowerment. She fell in love with facilitation and the approach Building Bridges takes to leadership development, and she remained involved. Raegan is actively pursuing her M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. 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, listening to podcasts, and she looks forward to her monthly dose of Cats the Musical! In another life, Raegan hopes to become a YouTuber who specializes in pre-cruise packing and planning!

Following her work in DPS as a K-8 Mild/Moderate Special Education Paraprofessional, Raegan is dedicated to working with young leaders across the Denver Metro Area. Although education is and will always be important, Raegan’s heart is in the work that Building Bridges does of empathy, communication, and transformational leadership development.

Born and raised in Texas, Casey left at his first opportunity. After completing a Bachelor of Science in Biology from New Mexico State University, he moved to Denver in 2012. Casey spent several years in Colorado’s Biotech Industry before returning to school to pursue a dual master’s degree program in Social Work and Public Health through the University of Denver and the Colorado School of Public Health. He has chosen to spend his concentration year internship in an organization committed to transformation, in the hopes that he will learn the skills necessary to become a Social Work Public Health Practitioner with the ability to create equitable organizations, systems, and institutions through transformative practices.