YCD Changemakers Gala 2025: Dream Loud, Stand Proud

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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.

Roxana Alvarado has been an influential leader in the Summit County, Colorado community for the last four years developing, coordinating, and delivering Know Your Rights presentations for youth and adults. Much of the work Roxana has done through the Youth Empowerment Society of Summit (YESS) has revolved around making a space for youth voices to be heard. She also advocated for laws banning flavored nicotine with town councils in Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, Silverthorne, and Keystone. All of these towns have now passed codes thanks to the efforts of Roxana and her peers. She is also an award-winning mountain biker! Roxana plans on starting at Colorado Mountain College in fall 2025.

Jace Rodriguez has been a leader and advocate for students for the past two years at Daniel C. Oakes, an innovative alternative school in Castle Rock, Colorado. After attending the YCD Colorado Conference his junior year, Jace and his peers wanted to improve culture and belonging at their high school. They developed and implemented a mentor program where current students support new students in their transition into the DC Oakes community. This past year, Jace and his fellow students created the Phoenix Society—part class, part extracurricular activity—where students gain the skills and knowledge they need to take part in restorative justice circles within their school. Jace was a part of these circles that are an alternative to punishment, focusing on repairing the harm to the community caused by negative behaviors. He also served on the DC Oakes student council. Jace is currently working and plans to study pathology in the future.

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.

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).

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.

Chris Betts, DishTV
Benita Creacy, DC & Associates
Eve Gracie, Gracie University
Jonathan Gray, Arapahoe County Government
Rohan Guddanti, Duke University
Ishmeet Kalra
Chris Lee, Cleantech Open
Anya Norris, RBC Wealth Management
Micah Porter, Arvada West High School
Rana Razzaque, Englewood Public Schools
Sean Rhodes, University of Maryland - College Park
Andrea Cristina Rigo, Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC
Reem Saeed, Princeton University
Janet Sammons, YCD Board Chair
Dr. Reema Wahdan, CU Anschutz Medical Center
Alice Wirth, Retired Educator
UnSuk Zucker