YCD Changemakers Gala 2025: Dream Loud, Stand Proud

September 13, 2025 @ 6:00PM — 9:00PM Mountain Time (US & Canada) Add to Calendar

Denver Art Museum - Martin Building: 100 W 14th Ave Pkwy Denver, CO 80204 Get Directions

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Join us to DREAM LOUD and STAND PROUD with youth changemakers!

It is no secret there are powerful forces in our society actively working to shut down youth-led activism and education for social progress on numerous fronts. While so many institutions around our country are bowing to the pressure, our youth are standing strong in their determination for a better future. We invite you to stand with them at this critical moment!

Through our innovative, youth-led chapter model, YCD programs have served over 1,800 youth across Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and six other states in the past year. We now have over 100 active chapters across the country, with trained youth leaders organizing their communities, building their skills, and engaging in the important dialogue and work needed to realize an inclusive and equitable future. YCD chapters have recently finished their youth-designed action projects -- conducting important service, advocacy or education in their communities on the inclusion and justice issues they have identified.

Examples of projects completed in 2025 include:

  • YCD Boulder presented for health professionals, educators, and students at the Shared Risks and Protective Factors Summit in Pueblo on consensus building and power-sharing between teens and adults.
  • The Brighton Youth Commission, a YCD chapter, hosted SPEAK Week (Suicide Prevention, Education, Awareness and Knowledge), a youth-led series of events promoting awareness in the community and among peers about the warning signs of suicide and resources for those who are struggling with mental health.
  • YCD Canon City created a project around social media use and misuse for their school community.
  • YCD Center hosted a diversity conference planned by high school students for both middle and high school students.
  • YCD Colorado Springs hosted an inclusive prom, to give queer youth a space to engage in this important youth ritual.
  • YCD Columbine (Littleton) worked with Sun Valley Kitchen to volunteer and address issues of food insecurity.
  • YCD Crested Butte created an affinity space for LGBTQ+ youth to nurture their identity, belonging, and mental health.
  • YCD D.C. Oakes (Castle Rock) created a new Social Issues class, where students learn more about leadership, ethics, social justice, and restorative practices. In one quarter, this group established a protocol to improve response to undesired behaviors that aligns better with other systems in their school; conducted Community Circles with the whole school, and led a Restorative Circle following a classroom incident.
  • YCD Denver Public Library hosted two interactive sessions led by YCD alumni at two different branches to help current high school students become more civically engaged and to know their rights.
  • YCD Fort Collins created an event to educate 8th grade students on how to navigate high school, especially for students with marginalized identities.
  • YCD Fort Morgan students shared they are feeling particularly unsafe right now with a strong ICE presence in Fort Morgan, making students and their families feel particularly anxious. Over the course of the next few weeks, they gathered together and shared what brings them joy as a way of passive resistance to the fear and anxiety they are feeling.
  • The Jeffco Student Leadership Board, a YCD chapter, hosted a one-day student-led leadership conference that was inspired by YCD's work and events.
  • YCD Mead hosted monthly speakers on various topics, culminating in a Fiesta de Los Flores lunch.
  • In partnership with the Parks and Recreation department, YCD Nederland created an art installation in parks in Nederland called Listen Longer, providing park users with space to nurture relationships and to listen across difference.
  • YCD Roaring Fork students developed a districtwide student perception survey in conjunction with school district leaders to amplify student voices and improve the quality of life for all students in the Roaring Fork Valley. They saw a need to increase representation of Latino students in AP classes so they spoke to rising 9th graders and their families about how to prepare for these classes. These students also create intentional connection spaces for ESL students and native English speaking students taking Spanish classes to address issues of concern within their school.
  • YCD Summit County students created “We Belong” events to help students connect across differences. When phones were taken away from students across the district, YCD students used this as an opportunity to reengage students IRL during lunch and other free times.

We invite you to show your support for youth changemaking, by contributing to our annual fundraising campaign The YCD Changemakers Gala: Dream Loud and Stand Proud.

Join us for this special gathering to honor community and alumni changemakers paving the way for young people today; to celebrate the remarkable work done by YCD youth over the past year; and to hear from our special keynote speaker Soledad O'Brien! Tickets purchased for this unique event include a reception, catered dinner, silent auction, and cultural performances at a beautiful venue. Sponsorship opportunities at a variety of levels are available for companies, organizations, and families to show their support of youth-led changemaking. For those unable to join us in-person, we invite you to donate to demonstrate your support of youth changemakers! Use the buttons on this page to make your pledge.

Contact YCD's Executive Director Caleb Munro with any questions at (720) 507-0746 or cmunro@ycdiversity.org.

Keynote Speaker

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author, philanthropist, and founder of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues. She anchors and produces "Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien," a Hearst political magazine program seen in 95% of the country. She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in May 2023. She has made a name in podcasting, co-hosting the top-rated series “Who Killed JFK” with Rob Reiner for IHeart, reporting the Luminary series “Murder on the Towpath,” and hosting “Growing up POC” on Audible, “Very Opinionated” on Quake, and “Everyday Wealth” for Edelman Financial.

Soledad has a national impact through her op-eds, social media, speeches, and books, including her critically acclaimed memoir “The Next Big Story” and 1.3 million X followers. She gave Congressional testimony on media disinformation. She has anchored shows and specials on CNN, MSNBC, Nat Geo, BET, ABC, and CBS, co-anchored NBC’s Weekend Today, and reported for PBS NewsHour and HBO Real Sports.

Her most recent project is her documentary The End of Affirmative Action which streamed on CBS, Paramount +, and YouTube. She is Executive Producer of the Peabody-Award-winning documentary, The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and streams on Peacock, and the multi-part series Black and Missing, which won the Independent Spirit and NAACP awards and streams on HBO. Soledad O’ Brien Productions has also produced documentaries for Discovery Plus, CNN, BET, PBS, and others.

O’Brien’s work has been recognized with four Emmy awards, three times with the George Foster Peabody Award, four times with the Gracie Award, which honors women in media, twice with Cine Awards for her work in documentary films, twice with Telly Awards and with an Alfred I. DuPont Award.

She runs the PowHerful foundation with her husband which has helped dozens of young women get to and through college and connects thousands of others with assistance through regional mentoring conferences.

YCD Changemaker Award Recipients

Alumni Changemaker of the Year

Mike Shum was born in Denver, Colorado, to immigrant parents from Hong Kong. He grew up in the Montbello neighborhood where he forged a passion for engaging with diverse cultural perspectives. An Asian American and graduate of Colorado College, he majored in Sociology while also pursuing minors in Film Studies and African Studies. His education laid the foundation for his career starting out in video news reporting. Mike served on the Student Board planning the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference (now YCD's Colorado Youth Diversity Conference) in 2002-03.

He covered stories ranging from the rise of the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to a survivor of an ISIS massacre in Iraq which garnered him his first News & Documentary Emmy nomination for Outstanding Interview. He’s witnessed many of the most pressing global events of the past decade with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and National Geographic.

With over 15 years of experience, Shum has produced, directed, and filmed projects that blends the art of filmmaking with immersive on-the-ground research and reporting. His body of work spans broadcast television, investigative journalism, and feature documentaries. He served as producer and director of photography for Hondros, a tribute to the life and work of war photographer Chris Hondros, which was distributed by Netflix following its premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Partnering with Al Jazeera’s Witness series led to the making of three short documentaries that profile the resilience and strength of American women as they face the challenges of culture, climate change, and existential crisis.

His work with PBS Frontline has examined a broad range of critical issues, including political polarization in American Voices: A Nation in Turmoil and public safety in the documentaries, Police on Trial and Documenting Police Use of Force. His films have been recognized with nominations and awards from the National News & Documentary Emmys, the NAACP Image Awards, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Tribeca Film Festival’s Audience Award, and the Nieman Foundation’s Worth Bingham Prize. Shum was recently a part of the team awarded Pulitzer Finalist for the AP/ Frontline collaboration, Lethal Restraint.

Shum completed the Nieman Fellowship for Journalism’s class of 2025 at Harvard University, where he explored the future of journalism and examining how storytelling can forge public trust and accountability through documentary film. He is the co-founder of the Mountain Media Arts Collective, a Colorado-based organization that supports and trains underrepresented communities in the media arts.

Community Changemaker of the Year

Janet Sammons grew up and was actively involved in helping run the family farm north of Kanorado, Kansas. She graduated from Kanorado High School in 1966 – one of seven in her senior class - and then went on to receive her teaching degree from Kansas Wesleyan in 1969. She received her MA in Education from Emporia State University in 1972. Janet taught high school social studies for 44 years – 10 years in Kansas and 34 years at Cherry Creek High School.

Throughout her teaching career and beyond, Janet has worked tirelessly to advocate for the importance and wisdom of listening to and working with teen voices when determining their needs, rather than relying on adults to make those decisions for them. In 1994 Janet, and a handful of students, founded the statewide Cherry Creek Diversity Conference (now the Colorado Youth Diversity Conference) for high school students and their faculty advisors. Upon her retirement from teaching in 2014 Janet worked with YCD’s Executive Director to found Youth Celebrate Diversity. While she remains involved in YCD, Janet has recently stepped down from her role as YCD’s Board Chair, believing that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders.

Over the years, Janet has been recognized for her dedication to serving young people. Some of her awards include Colorado Distinguished Teachers Award – Cherry Creek School District (1988-89), Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education (1995), Teacher Recognition Award - A World of Difference Institute (1997), Colorado ADL Community Builder Award (1999), Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award (2000), PFLAG Colorado Community Service Award (2005), GLSEN National Educator of the Year Respect Award (2012) and the 9 Teachers Who Care Award – Channel 9 News (2013).

Sponsorship Opportunities and Benefits

Download the sponsorship packet that outlines opportunities and benefits for companies, families and individuals to demonstrate their support for youth working for inclusion and justice. Ready to make a pledge? Click the Sponsor Our Event button on this page, or contact us.

In-Kind Silent Auction Donations

Do you have an item, experience or service that would make for a great auction item for our gala?
Fill out the Silent Auction Pledge Form here to let us know!

Host Committee Co-Chairs

Jonathan Gray
Arapahoe County

Andrea Cristina Rigo
Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC

Dr. Reema Wahdan
University of Colorado - Anschutz Medical Center

Alice Bowling Wirth
Retired educator

Additional Host Committee Members

Chris Betts, DishTV
Benita Creacy, DC & Associates
Chris Lee, Cleantech Open
Anya Norris, RBC Wealth Management
UnSuk Zucker

Are you interested in taking a leading role in fundraising to support YCD youth changemakers?
Contact us to discuss joining the Host Committee!

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.

A big thank you to our sponsors!

Accelerating Equity Sponsor
Gracie University
Empowerment Sponsor
Cherry Creek School District
RBC Wealth Management
Janet Sammons
Reema Wahdan
General Table
Benita Creacy
Andrea Rigo
Shalini Swaroop
Alice Wirth
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$70,120 raised by 47 people

$150,000

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