Board of DirectorsOur amazing board is composed of Michael Miera, Asia Dorsey, and Kayvan Khalatbari.
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Meet the Team
Yessica X. Holguin, Executive Director
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Yessica was CCWB's first hire. She is responsible for leading the organization and carrying out the vision of a people-owned, inclusive, and sustainable metro Denver economy that catalyzes prosperous and resilient communities free from racism and injustice.
Yessica grew up in the Swansea neighborhood in Denver and has done grassroots community organizing with immigrant groups and low-income communities across the Denver Metro area since 2000. She has dedicated her life to empowering disenfranchised communities to break the cycle of poverty through education and entrepreneurship. She enjoys running, reading, and spending time with friends and family while drinking coffee. |
Michelle Sturm, Anchor Strategy Director
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Michelle leads the anchor engagement strategy. She works with individuals at place-based institutions to help craft a local procurement, local hiring, and local investment strategy. Her engagement with Community Wealth Building dates from 2014, when she planned a Community Wealth Building conference that led to the creation of the CWB Network. From 2016-2018, she chaired the CWB Design Team that ultimately developed the Center for Community Wealth Building.
Michelle comes to this work from a 30+ year career in the nonprofit sector, post completing a year and a half of law school. Her experience spans frontline staff positions to executive director, and a ten year stint with the Anschutz Family Foundation. |
C. Paul Bindel, Cooperative Development Director
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Paul leads our Democratizing Ownership strategy, reaching traditionally underserved communities and supporting the creation of worker-owned and resident-owned enterprises.
Originally from New Mexico, Paul first witnessed the power of cooperatives first hand during graduate school at the University of Oregon when he lived in and served as President of the Student Cooperative Association. Paul has extensive experience in cooperative development and support, including co-founding Queen City Cooperative, a limited-equity housing cooperative, and the Colorado Solidarity Fund, a grassroots investment club focused on locally-owned cooperative businesses. Paul’s business background includes copywriting, video storytelling and digital marketing strategy. He has helped place-based organizations, city agencies, nonprofits and small businesses achieve their business goals through strategically executed content. He brings careful thinking, a vision for social equity and inspired energy to each project. |
Salvador Gonzalez, Cooperative Development Specialist
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Salvador works on our Democratizing Ownership strategy, reaching traditionally underserved communities and supporting the creation of worker-owned and resident-owned enterprises. He grew up in the West Colfax neighborhood and has since been involved in social justice campaigns such as organizing for food justice, food access, and food sovereignty. To better understand the cooperative model he has spent time studying it theoretically, historically, and modern applications of it He sees the co-op model as a means toward an equitable economy, one that encompasses the worker, community, and environment.
Salvador spends time in the community learning about the issues members face and how to best support them in the process of becoming worker-owners of businesses. In his downtime, Salvador enjoys listening to music, health training, and spending time with friends and family. |
Sid Farber, Cooperative Development Associate
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Sid works on our Democratizing Ownership strategy, reaching traditionally underserved communities and supporting the creation of worker-owned and resident-owned enterprises.
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Kevin Hernandez, Small Business Outreach Manager
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Kevin leads our Small Business Outreach Strategy. He works with local business owners throughout the city of Denver. He provides them with the resources and support that they need to maintain a sustainable level of growth for their enterprises.
Kevin is a Mestiço who was born in the Montbello neighborhood of Denver and grew up in the city of Aurora. He is the son of Mexican immigrants who established roots in Denver in the early 1990’s. He is fluent in both English and Spanish and he is passionate about visual storytelling and supporting local POC communities throughout the City of Denver. He served in the US Army Reserves as a Strategic Intelligence Analyst (35F) and studied Business Management at the University of Phoenix. |