Community Inclusivity Dinner

Leadership Steamboat is partnering with our local LGBTQIA2S+ youth to host a community dinner on Wednesday, June 7! Our goal is to promote inclusivity towards the queer members and allies in Routt County. This event is free to attend, and all donations raised will be matched up to $25,000 by our funding partner, The Out & Proud Fund!

We will provide a range of food options, both donated from local restaurants and hand-made by our team, alongside speakers and entertainment to promote inclusivity and education about our local LQBTQIAS2+ community.

SPEAKERS:

Representative Brianna Titone

Representative Titone was elected in 2018 to represent House District 27 and is currently serving her third term in office. She proudly serves as the Vice Chair of the Joint Technology Committee, and as a member of the House Health & Insurance, and Agriculture, Water, & Natural Resources committees. She was elected as Co-Chair of the House Majority Caucus and Chair of the Colorado Democratic LGBTQ+ Caucus. She is the first openly transgender legislator in the Colorado General Assembly and the first transgender person in the nation elected to a peer-elected leadership position.

Representative Titone utilizes her background in geochemistry, software development, and LGBTQ+ advocacy to successfully legislate an agenda committed to safety, health, prosperity and equity in Colorado. This session, she was a prime sponsor of SB23-188 Protections for accessing reproductive health care to protect and advance reproductive healthcare in Colorado. Representative Titone’s legislative priorities reflect her commitment to representing her district and uplifting communities suffering from a lack of access to proper healthcare or protections from violence. She continues to inspire and represent the LGBTQ community, especially trans people, in Colorado and on a national scale.

Dr. Ferial Pearson

Dr. Pearson earned her teaching degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, and both her Master's Degree and Ed.D from UNO. She taught English and Reading at Omaha South High School and was a talent advisor for the Avenue Scholars Foundation at Ralston High School. She has been teaching full time at UNO since 2013. She has earned three national and several local awards for her work in education and social justice, including the Kennedy Center's Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher award. She is the founder of the Secret Kindness Agents Project, which is the subject of two published books, her dissertation, and a TEDx Talk. The project is in over 500 K-16 schools worldwide and has been highlighted by Hallmark, Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation, Parents Magazine, Medium, Midwest Living, and SPLC'S Learning for Justice Magazine.

Ben Shellhorn 

Ben Shellhorn is a Senior Associate attorney in the Denver office of the international law firm Hogan Lovells, where his practice principally focuses on private equity and venture capital transactions.  Prior to Hogan Lovells, Ben worked for the New York offices of Ropes & Gray and Kirkland & Ellis.

Since graduating from Duke University School of Law and Duke University Fuqua School of Business, Ben has devoted significant pro bono time for transgender individuals, allocating 100s of hours each year to help that vulnerable community.  In that time, Ben has also served as a trustee on the Duke Board of Trustees and a member of the Duke New York Alumni Board.  Ben currently serves as the co-chair of Duke’s LGBTQ+ Network and is a member of the both the Duke Alumni Association Board and the Duke Colorado Alumni Board.

Prior to law and business schools, Ben received a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the Colorado College and a Master of Arts in Media from the New School University in New York City.  Ben volunteered with New York’s Heritage of Pride organization that ran New York City’s pride for nearly ten years, and was honored as the Outstanding Volunteer in his first year.  Ben was also honored recently in the inaugural list of 40 under 40 by the Colorado LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Ben lives in the Lower Highland neighborhood of Denver with his husband Matt, tabby cat Cheeto and French bulldog Frances.  Ben also graduated from that high school about an hour west of Steamboat.  #GoBulldogs.

Cindy Ruzicka

Cindy Ruzicka is a seventh-grade teacher at Steamboat Springs Middle School. She is the faculty advisor for the SSMS Gender and Sexuality Alliance as well as a member of the school district's Restorative Practices Implementation team. Additionally, she promotes youth expression through volunteering at Steamboat Creates and Har Mishpacha (Steamboat's Jewish congregation).