YCD Changemakers Gala 2024: A Night to Ignite Youth Voices

We were honored to be joined by over 250 guests, partners, youth, educators, and community members for the 2024 YCD Changemakers Gala: A Night to Ignite Youth Voices on Saturday, September 14, 2024! Congratulations to all honorees, and thank you to our community for celebrating their voices and work with us!

Download your pictures, or review the event, in our online photo album here!

Lily Joy Winder (she/her) is a Diné and Southern Ute activist and actor attending Stanford University. She currently has a following of 300,000 on TikTok (@sheshortnbrown) where she has gained traction because of her advocacy for Indigenous communities, specifically concerning issues that intersect with tribal sovereignty, environmentalism, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People epidemic. Winder is the founder of #PeopleNotMascots which is a movement that strives to retire offensive Native mascots in United States public schools. The People Not Mascots movement has amassed attention from Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Indian Country Today, The Harvard Institute of Politics, and Newsweek. Winder works to expand the #PeopleNotMascots movement toward a national conversation and continues to work on policy that would help Native Americans across the country. Only 21, Winder plans on dedicating the rest of her life to shedding light on Native experiences, cultures, and people.

Robelle Abai (he/him) is from Littleton, Colorado, where he recently graduated from D'Evelyn Jr./Sr. High School. He plans on attending the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder in the fall of 2024. He is the youngest of three, and the son of two amazing parents who are immigrants from Ethiopia. When an incident concerning racism occurred at his school, Robelle used the tools and confidence acquired through YCD to help make a positive change within his school. By working with two other students, with whom Robelle formed the club “D’Evelyn DEI Coalition”, he prepared a presentation to give in front of every staff member. He started by sharing his story and what he has experienced, highlighting how many of his encounters with racism happen right under a teacher’s nose. This allowed him to transition into the impact that each teacher has, both positive and negative. Then, he offered ways of dealing with students who may have participated in racist, homophobic, and other forms of oppressive actions. From there, alongside with the DEI Coalition, he met with individual faculty departments, specifically English and History. Ultimately, they were able to alter the English reading curriculum at their school and add more authors of color to the curriculum where they were not being represented. During his senior year, with the DEI Coalition, Robelle was also able to make alteration requests to the Student Misconduct Form in order to make it more equitable, and establish the first annual D’Evelyn Multicultural Night as a celebration of the cultures of its student body.

Maryam El-Kady (she/her) has been an unstoppable leader in advancing inclusion and justice in her school and community. Maryam co-founded the Muslim Student Association at her school, creating a safe and important space for Muslim students to build community and connection in a school setting where they are often isolated and marginalized. She also spearheaded the creation of a coalition of all the various student unions at La Cueva High School, so that these groups could work collaboratively and collectively to build an inclusive culture. In addition, she has been highly active in the Albuquerque community, raising awareness and speaking out against injustice in Gaza by elevating the issue at her school, with state legislators, and on social media, and has personally raised thousands of dollars to support humanitarian relief efforts, in partner with political organizations. Maryam is a rising junior at La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has participated in the YCD New Mexico program for the past two years and has served on the board for one year.

Carlotta Walls LaNier (she/her), at age 14, was the youngest of the nine courageous Black students known as the Little Rock Nine who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The integration of the Arkansas high school was a catalyzing event in the American Civil Rights Movement testing the landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954).

LaNier and her fellow students initially were escorted to Central High School by the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army and later the Arkansas National Guard. Daily, they endured verbal taunts and physical harassment while at school. LaNier was one of three Little Rock Nine students to return to Central High School after the closing of all Little Rock high schools in 1958-1959 and became the first Black woman to walk across the Central High School stage to receive her diploma.

After graduating from Central High in 1960, she studied at Michigan State University for two years before moving to Colorado. She enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado and earned her bachelor’s degree in 1968. She, along with the other members of the Little Rock Nine, is the recipient of the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, awarded by President Bill Clinton in 1999, the prestigious Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, and the Lincoln Leadership Prize awarded by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.

LaNier is a recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees and is an inductee into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame. LaNier has documented her journey with Lisa Frazier Paige in A Mighty Long Way…My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High. She was a founding Board member of Youth Celebrate Diversity, and has been an active supporter of YCD, as well as numerous other Colorado community organizations working for social justice, for decades. She is the President of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a financial aid and mentoring organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for children of color.

Bianka Emerson (she/her) is a campaign strategist with nearly 20 years of experience in electoral politics and the public/nonprofit sectors, including working as senior staff for presidential, gubernatorial, and mayoral campaigns. She was the campaign manager for an important state ballot initiative that addressed the housing and homeless crisis - “Prop. 123, Make CO Affordable.” Successfully becoming law, this provides millions of dollars per year to address the housing crisis and homelessness in the state of Colorado. Bianka was also appointed by Governor Jared Polis to the Environment Justice Advisory Board, where she works with a team in advising the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) on best practices for engaging disproportionately impacted communities, responding to environmental justice policy matters referred by the Governor’s Office or CDPHE, and creating and overseeing an environmental justice grants program.

Bianka was recently selected to join the first inaugural cohort of the BPIA Colin Powell Leadership Institute organized by Black Professionals in International Affairs. As president of Colorado Black Women for Political Action (CBWPA), Bianka leads efforts to advocate for political and policy solutions that are critical for the Black community throughout Colorado. Bianka has a master's in social science and a law degree. She is the 2nd Vice President of Top Ladies of Distinction, Mountain West Area, and a member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW).

Micah Smith (she/her) is an anchor and social equity reporter for Denver7. She joined the station in December 2018. She was born in Memphis, TN but grew up in St. Louis, MO. She is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism where she earned her Bachelor of Journalism degree with an emphasis in Broadcast. Before coming to Colorado, Micah worked as a reporter and weekend anchor at WBTV News in Charlotte, N.C. where she reported on stories that gained nation-wide attention including the death of Reverend Billy Graham and Hurricane Florence. Prior to WBTV, Micah worked as a weekday morning reporter at WJHL News Channel 11 in Johnson City, TN. Micah loves to travel in her spare time, but most days she's watching a documentary or reading a good book. Micah is a big college football fan and enjoys cheering on her Missouri Tigers in her spare time. She is a proud member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), president of the local chapter, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Benita Creacy, DC & Associates
Lorenzo Gonzales, Retired Educator
Eve Gracie, Gracie University
Jonathan Gray, Arapahoe County Government
Dr. Sophia Meharena, Every Child Pediatrics
Jennifer Miller
Andrea Mohamedbhai, Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC
Anya Norris, RBC Wealth Management
Janet Sammons, YCD Board Chair
Amanda Schwartz, Judaism Your Way
Shalini Swaroop, Initiative for Energy Justice
Dr. Reema Wahdan, CU Anschutz Medical Center
Alice Wirth, Retired Educator
UnSuk Zucker, Promise54

About Youth Celebrate Diversity

YCD is a youth-led leadership and activism training program, where students ages 11-18 can build community, develop their identity and self-confidence, learn critical skills for advocacy and changemaking, and ignite a passion for advancing inclusion and justice in our communities. Learn more at ycdiversity.org.