Emerge Colorado 2022 Trailblazers

Mark your calendars! September 15th will be Emerge Colorado’s 9th Annual Trailblazer’s Celebration. We are honoring Emerge Alums across Colorado who are making history and blazing a path forward.

This year’s honorees are reflective of the New American Majority who are lifting other women as they rise. These inspiring women leaders will be honored for their extraordinary achievements, against all odds, while centering the needs of their communities.
We are also introducing two new awards this year—the Emerge Champion Award for a partner who helps us achieve our mission of recruiting, training and electing more women to public office—and the Emerge Community Service Award for extraordinary contributions to advancing women’s rights. Please join us as we change the face of Colorado politics together!

Our 2022 Trailblazers Are:

Amanda Carlson, Director of Cobalt Abortion Fund, Colorado’s largest independent abortion access fund where she serves clients financially who are unable to access vital reproductive healthcare. She also manages the Regional Abortion Alliance, connecting providers, advocates, and abortion funds.
Councilwoman Yolanda Avila is a powerful Latino community and disability rights advocate. After losing her eyesight to retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, she took her advocacy to Colorado Springs City Council where in 2017 she made history by winning her election. She has centered the voices of long ignored constituents in Southeast Colorado Springs.
Senator Jessie Danielson In 2022 Senator Danielson championed closing loop holes to wage theft, ensuring the care for seniors, and collaboratively working with Indigenous women to successfully advocate for a bill to create the new Office of Liason for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.
Josette Jaramillo AFL-CIO President and former Emerge Colorado Board member has consistently contributed her time to recruiting and training Emerge candidates on workers’ issues. A true servant leader, she leads a labor organization while also maintaining her full work schedule as a senior caseworker in social services and child protection.
Sol Sandoval ran a historic race as the first Latina to secure the top spot on the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary, garnering an impressive 25,460 votes during her race. A fully bilingual Chicana from a union family, she is a seasoned community leader who has been fighting for working people for over 20 years.
Dr. Margaret Wright is the first Black Board President Pueblo School District 60. An experienced educator and an enthusiast for the arts as a conduit for learning and healing, she has served for over three decades in a myriad of roles in education and counseling. It is through these passions that she has championed whole child education on the Pueblo School Board.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Task Force successfully advocated for a bill to create the new Office of Liason for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, one of the first offices of its type nationwide to respond to disproportionately high rates of violence against Indigenous people.