[Music] - Hi, everyone, I'm Kyle Dyer, and welcome to Colorado Inside Out on this Friday, November 24th.

I hope you're enjoying time this week with friends and family.

Our normal panel is off this week, which allows us to introduce you to some exceptional leaders in our state who are determined to make the communities where they work and live better, and they're working collectively to make positive impacts statewide through CiviCO.

CiviCO is Colorado's premier leadership development organization, and every year, CiviCO chooses 30 leaders to be part of the Colorado Governor's Fellowship Program.

First up, let me introduce you to Ryan Heckman, who's behind all this as chairman of the board with CiviCO.

Ryan is also an entrepreneur at heart, and I think this is fascinating, you're an Olympic skier.

The last 10 years though, you really have focused on bringing the private sector and also government sector and nonprofit communities together to make positive change.

So, thank you for what you're doing and for joining us this week.

- It's my pleasure.

Thanks for the work you do Kyle.

- Oh, yeah.

Also, welcome to current CiviCO Fellow, Ames Stenson, who is the program manager with the City of Englewood's Municipal Court Restorative Justice Program.

Ames works with a variety of populations and makes partners in various sectors to bring about healing and accountability with communities, which is paramount for the success of individuals and communities at large.

Also joining us is CiviCO Fellow, Azarel Madrigal, who lives in Alamosa and works to improve the lives of marginalized communities by making sure that resources are available to them.

Azarel served as the executive director for the first Southwest Community Fund before becoming a regional director for Senator Hickenlooper's office.

Thank you for coming as well.

And at the other end of the table from me is a CiviCO Fellow who represents the private sector.

Mike Treiser, a strategy and operations lead at Google.

Mike has worked all over the country, but Colorado is home now, and he is very focused on how his work can ultimately do more to better communities in our state.

Thank you, all.

Those introductions good?

All right, let's get started and peel the onion back a little bit and understand a little bit more clearly about why working together as a group is part of your individual purposes when it comes to making a positive difference.

So, Ryan, I want to start with you.

I mentioned how you are an Olympic skier.

You are Nordic combined, which is cross country and ski jumping.

Okay, wow.

Like, how-- That was a long time ago.

I'm amazed.

But how does that kind of translate into the work you do now leading and guiding future leaders for our state?

- First of all, it's so much cooler to talk about the ski jumping.

Cross country sounds so boring.

So, thank you for giving me that opportunity.

But we were kind of talking about it earlier.

You know, I find that the raw material of athletes at that Olympic level is roughly the same.

I mean, you've got a lot of really talented people.

They all train about the same number of hours per day.

And the difference between those that won and lost seem to be something inside of them where they just pushed themselves and others around them just a little harder.

And they were surprisingly-- The most successful ones were the most humble ones.

And so, my conclusion was-- A leadership skill I admire is aggressive humility, which is this cool combination of someone who is really pushing hard but is humble in spirit.

And when it ties to leadership, we have an expression that leadership is not a title but an activity, and that with aggressive humility, that activity produces way better outcomes.

And so, with our fellows, we talk a lot about they're not the chosen ones.

They are the ones that made a choice to be aggressive and humble and lead into the state.

- Ames, let me start with you.

When you're hearing about what's going on in Alamosa, or in Pueblo, or in Grand Junction, is it overwhelming to figure out, okay, how can we work to make change, or is inspiring?

What's it like to work as a group?

- It's inspiring for sure.

I mean, just the variety of perspectives that we share within the cohort and being able to name the challenges that exist in these communities, but in a way that we're-- I feel like we're all coming into the conversation, trying to pull some threads of where the connection points.

At least that's how I'm trying to engage.

And so, it doesn't become kind of this us versus them.

It's more of how do we identify the challenges together in a way that then it's beyond politics?

It's about what are the needs, and the strengths, and the values of how we want to work together to be able to then respond to these challenges.

- Are there certain-- Let me just ask you, Azarel.

Are there certain strengths or challenges that keep coming up in the conversations you've been having these last couple of months that you all do seem to share?

- Definitely.

I think one of the most eye opening and humbling experiences of this fellowship is that we really all show up and we show up and honor each other's experiences and knowledge and kind of understand that we really are all really well versed at whatever our thing is that we have worked professionally to build and create and what we're passionate about.

So, one of the things that I think for me has been great is we talk about our country sometimes divided with politics and parties and how truly the spirit of bipartisanship really shows up in our fellowship.

And we're willing to listen to each other and we're willing to acknowledge like, hey, we may not land on the same thing in this particular issue.

However, though, we're seeing perspectives and we're seeing how regardless, we need to start working to a way towards the middle that ultimately makes lives better for our communities.

- I think we all have common cause around a lot of things that are important, around a lot of things that don't even have to be partisan or divisive if we get down to practical solutions.

I think a good example is education.

I think a variety of folks who have been involved in the state's conversation a long time and a lot of folks who are getting involved now would both say that we want bright futures for our kids, our future kids, whatever that may look like.

And if you look at the data, there are some things to be really proud of.

There are also some things that need a lot of work in terms of how we invest in the classroom, and in teacher pay, and competitiveness around what we're focused on and state standards.

So, there's a chance to bridge that divide around practical solutions and not retreating into camps or saying it's one side versus the other, but really, there are some opportunities to come together in a meaningful way based around information and taking the time to actually get to know each other.

- Ryan, last year for this same week, we spoke with some other fellows, and education was a big topic then.

Are there topics like education and are there other topics that keep coming back every year, every year that just we're so close to figuring out the right path?

Is there one thing that keeps being a talking point with the fellows?

- I'm grinning because I don't even know if I want to bring this up.

My mom was a school teacher and so I'm, like Mike, keenly focused on that session, and it's just depressing.

I mean, we're either one or two in the whole country in terms of educational attainment from the adults that live here in Colorado.

And yet we're 40th in terms of K through 12 funding, and we're 48th in terms of post-secondary funding.

And I hear it every year, and every year, I just get a little more frustrated.

- So, here's one topic, right?

You all see stuff needs to change.

We need to make education better, not only in Metro, but in rural communities.

So, what can CiviCO Fellows do?

What do you do?

What do you talk about?

Who do you speak with?

What can happen with CiviCO?

- If I may jump in, I think one of the things that's really dynamic about this fellowship is the educational component.

You know, we got-- I know for me coming from a poli-sci background, I have been familiar with Tabor and different aspects of it, but really getting the deep depth of, like, this is what the math looks like.

This is what the numbers look like.

This is the way that it's harmed the growth of our budget.

And this is the way that it doesn't let us fund our priorities.

I think education being one of them, infrastructure and these different components that are key.

And I think that nobody is trying to shy away from transparency and accountability for government spending, but also realizing that as a state, you know, it's really about, like, show us what you care about, show us what you fund.

And a lot of that, we're not able to do because of this thing that can be a little bit restrictive.

So, when you ask, like, what can the fellowship do?

I think the fellowship's already doing one of the greatest steps, which is here's the knowledge.

This is what Tabor actually means as a policy outside from the political binary.

This is what the numbers say.

And I think that's really important because there was a lot of folks in our wonderful cohort that, like, knew about Tabor, knew about Prop HH, and big things in our policy and politics, but didn't like-- Okay, but what does it actually mean?

What has it actually done?

How has it actually affected the growth of our priorities?

- That's such a great point, Azarel.

And I think on top of the content, on top of actually arming us with perspective on these state issues, whether we be newcomers or not, I think the other side of it is giving us practical application opportunities to figure out our own pathways.

It's not a group of 30 people who just want to run for office.

But it is 30 people who want to care, who do care and want to contribute.

So, I think the other side of that is, you know, we're also having conversations about, well, what are those other pathways?

What do appointments look like?

What do volunteer opportunities look like to just get out the vote, for example?

And that, to me, has been really inspirational when you think about the state government structure, and the local government structure, and how it's not one size fits all, but actually, how do we find those different pathways as Azarel has already done by joining Senator Hickenlooper's team?

- So, one of the things that I see very often, being somebody who grew up in Front Range, has family here, but now has gotten to call rural Colorado my home for almost 12 years, is that there is this sometimes is us versus them mortality.

But when you truly get into the need of some of these problems that we're having throughout the state, like rising housing prices, like workforce, these are all things that we can figure out together.

We had the Colorado Latino Caucus do a visit down to my area, the San Luis Valley, and it was so great to see a lot of state legislators, which the San Luis Valley isn't their voting base, but they were down there to learn about the issues and how we can make common sense legislation work for all of our region.

And I really think it starts with conversations.

And there's a lot of great folks starting to do that work, but we just need to do a little bit more of it.

- Ames, a lot with your work, your leadership work, you look at the root cause and the root cause of why things have been done for so long, why things are happening now.

And explain why that's so important for leaders to kind of look deeper to why things are and why things might need to change.

- Yeah, I mean, I think if we're not willing to look at our history, we're just going to repeat it.

And so, I think we need to be honest with ourselves, to speak to your point, Ryan, of why aren't leaders necessarily changing or what are the opportunities there for leaders?

I think we have to keep looking at ourselves to do our own work, to be able to show up in ways that we can be aggressively humble and we can be open to hearing each other.

And so, I think that, yeah, looking at the binaries that divide us, that's an old way of doing things.

Binary is actually, you know, although helpful as far as naming and defining things, it's part of the old narrative.

And so, I think as leaders, we need to be willing and have the courage to speak truth to power, to disrupt those old narratives in a way that still creates inclusion and still creates opportunities for connection, but it allows us to expand the conversation in a way that maybe we're uncomfortable with, and that's got to be okay.

- Do leaders need to evolve or have they evolved, you think, over the last 10 years, let's say, since you've been with CiviCO?

- You know, the topics of leadership are like 3000 years old.

And if you look at since Amazon became an online distributor of leadership content, the amount of leadership content has gone through the roof, but I don't think we've seen a commensurate improvement in the quality of leadership action.

We're sort of just doing this, you know, and I find that gap to be quite interesting that we have more leadership content, but we're not necessarily leading any better.

And so, we do believe that leadership is the root of all solutions.

We live in a state where 40 percent of our voters are independent.

So, in the fellowship class, what we try to promote is really just common sense coupled with uncommon leadership skill.

And, you know, over time, as these cohorts grow, we have hundreds of leaders now ready to take on these big challenges together.

And that's the only way that I think all this stuff gets better here in Colorado.

- Mike, as someone who works with this massive company, why is it so important for companies now in groups like CiviCO to welcome the nonprofit sector and to have those conversations how to make our communities better?

- Consumers, you know, the folks who pay the bills, keep the lights on for the for-profit sector, expect corporate social responsibility at varying levels.

It changes, maybe on the details, but really, I think when you talk about getting local, when you talk about our state in particular, I think we've got a pretty enlightened group of consumers, of folks who go out and buy eggs, and milk, and bread, and also look to advertise for their businesses, in my case.

And, you know, at the end of the day, they're looking for companies to be more and do more.

And it starts at the CEO level, and it cascades all the way down to foot soldiers, you know, carrying out the functions of businesses as well.

So, the chance to have that collaborative conversation to cover both sides of mission-driven organizations and for-profit organizations and not trying to do everything yourself, maybe is the theme here, is important.

- Ryan, why did you years ago create and invest in this dream of CiviCO and create this fellowship program?

- It's kind of a funny story.

Governor Hickenlooper at the time, Senator Hickenlooper now, he had assembled a group of business leaders from both sides of the aisle, and they were meeting monthly, and I got to participate in that, which was a huge honor at a time in my life when I was really seeking that kind of, you know, stimulation and such.

And after one of the meetings, Governor Hickenlooper asked me to build this program.

And I was just starting a new CEO job.

And I said, "I just don't have time.

"” And then, I said, "Well, who's going to pay for it?

"” He goes, "Oh, no, you're going to pay for it, too.

"” And I was like, "Well, I don't have the money either.

"” And he looked me deep in the eyes and he said, "Look, Ryan, the question for you is, do you want to be successful or do you want to be significant?

"” And it really hit me hard.

And I immediately said, "Number one, I will build this program, and number two, I will pay for it.

"” And since then, we've had partners that participate with us, like the Betcher Foundation and others, but it really came from that very moment.

And so, we actually talk about the difference between significance and success in our fellowship class.

Significance means that we're significant in our companies, and our organizations, and with our families, with our friends, in our communities, certainly.

And, you know, the great thing about significance is there's such a great return on that mindset internally.

- Did you all know that story?

- No.

- It's pretty cool.

Thank you for sharing.

- Ames, how have the last many months with CiviCO helped you or clarified for you what you need to do to integrate more restorative practices?

How has it solidified your purpose or your calling?

- Yeah, I think it's helped me see and learn more about the different systems that exist in our state government and communities.

And again, being able to hear where the entry points are to access, and utilize, and enhance the use of restorative practices.

And so, I think that, you know, being able to be exposed to these different levels of practitioners, and department heads, and politicians allows me to hear where are the gaps, where are the opportunities to build stronger relationship?

Where are the opportunities to take accountability, practice accountability, create healing opportunities through relationships, and also helped remind us that these are not new concepts.

These concepts have been around for thousands of years.

And so, how do we honor and acknowledge the roots of these values in a way that can help us acknowledge the roots of our systems currently, and then how we can move forward in ways that really deeply honor those commitments of how we want to move forward together?

- Excellent.

- Azarel, we talk about underserved communities.

You work with underserved communities.

How do we get that word underserved to go away?

How do we give service and make people have their lives be full?

- Well, first and foremost, we begin by-- We serve them, so they are no longer underserved.

But one of the really important components, I think, as we talk about the Colorado budget and all these other pieces of the nonprofit and for-profit sector is that we have communities that have historically been left out of resources.

We have our different minority groups.

We have a Hispanic community that's been here for a really long time, and it's been underserved.

And I think one of the things that's really important is giving folks-- If we can't make larger systematic changes because those take a little bit more time, how can you get folks the appropriate tools like education, like investment to compete in the current market in the current situation?

I think that's one of the things that's really important.

And that's how we serve them.

And that's how we take steps to make Colorado a more diverse and equitable place.

- All right.

Near the end of every show here on Colorado Inside Out, we go down the line at the table, have our panelists mention a high or low of the week, and we start with a low point so we end on a positive note.

So, for this group, why don't we go down the line and recognize something that maybe disappoints you or something you know we could do better in Colorado?

I'll start with you, Ryan.

- Look, I think the national narrative, the conversation, the tone is just super negative right now.

I think we're all a little down in the dumps in terms of just the state of our union.

And so, one thing we could do better, I think, is recognize that the source of that negative distraction does not come from MSNBC or Fox News.

It actually comes from ourselves.

What are we focused on?

Are we watching the news and consuming this stuff?

I mean, it's a volunteer activity.

And so, I think if we changed our focus to just making Colorado awesome, we wouldn't hear all that crap anymore.

And so, I look at that both sort of sadly and also optimistically that it's up to us to do that together.

- Ames?

- I appreciate your emphasis around choice and what you said earlier, but also in how we're choosing to engage.

And I think we have a lot of-- We've done a lot of great work in restorative justice in our state, but there's a lot of room for improvement in the criminal legal system, in our education system, in any organization.

I like to say wherever organizations exist, we can use restorative practices.

And in that, I think we haven't, but we could, have larger statewide conversations around truth and conciliation of how our state came to be, what are some of the unhealed harms, and how do we emphasize accountability in that is as part of our moving forward?

So, I guess I don't feel disappointed, but I think that it's more of there's a lot of room for those conversations that would allow us to move in a different trajectory.

- I think one of the things that I am disappointed by, but I hope it improves, is our ongoing lack of participation in voting.

You know, that is one thing that most citizens hopefully have the access to participate in this very key process.

And I understand we have families, we have jobs, we have a million other things pulling us a million other directions that takes our attention away, but one of the things that I was disappointed by was a little bit of the turnout, you know?

And it is an off year, it's not a presidential election year, but I think it's really important for folks to lean in, and engage and ask those questions, and not be ashamed that maybe that proposition sounds a little bit too confusing because they do often.

And being able to lean in and try to engage in our process.

And it's something that we can do better, Colorado.

And I really encourage folks watching to get out and vote next election cycle.

- Absolutely.

Mike.

- Tough thing to go forth on.

I think that the one additional area that stands out to me for us is as great as our Western independent streak is, I hear a little bit of short-termism in how we think about solving problems as voters as a state.

Recently, we had the election on HH and, you know, to Azrael's point, it seems complicated, and so folks just opt out, right?

The blue book is too dense.

I'm not going to go there.

I'm not really going to take the time to understand this.

And I hear folks.

You know, in the most recent election, I heard a lot of people who have been here for a long time who are super thoughtful said, "Oh, I don't-- You know, I don't want to see taper go away.

I really look forward to that refund every year.

"” And that's fine.

You know, I'm not coming out one way or the other on taper.

I just think that at the end of the day, the other conversation is, well, how are we funding education?

How are we paying teachers?

How are we improving for the long term?

And if we take a short-term, one-off approach to governance, to problem solving, to come together, it's hard to see how things really change in a meaningful way.

- Thank you.

Okay.

Now, we're going to have something positive, or since it's Thanksgiving week, something that makes you grateful here in Colorado, or something that makes you hopeful, Ryan.

- As far as a grateful comment, my father had his birthday last, well, on Saturday.

And so, I got to go up with my family and celebrate his birthday in my hometown of Granby, Colorado.

So, I've got you on the on the rural thing.

And just going over Berthoud Pass, alone in my thoughts, it was just an abundance of gratitude that we get to live in this state.

I mean, you know, you travel around the world, and we live in a pretty amazing place.

And it gives me both gratitude and inspiration to not just protect what makes Colorado so great, but also to like lean into it.

We can be so much better.

And anyway, it was just a really cool moment.

I enjoyed celebrating my dad's birthday and being in the mountains.

It's great.

- Happy birthday, Ryan's dad.

- Thank you.

- Right.

Ames.

- We have a lot of amazing healers in our community, people that are willing to name the hard things, people are willing that are to put skin in the game and say this doesn't work anymore.

What does work?

How do I be a community builder?

And I see that, and get to witness, and learn from people in my community and in my field all the time in that way.

And that, to me, is continuing to build on the seeds and the roots of creating systems, and processes, and communities that really serve one another from a point of healing and transformation.

So, that leaves me very hopeful.

- One of the things that I'm extremely grateful for is the opportunity that as a young Latino leader to be able to shop for these type of opportunities and to be able to be given a voice.

And I'm so grateful for all the strong Latino leaders to come before me and those that will come after me.

And I'm just really, really excited for that diversity and leadership in our state.

- Great.

Mike.

- I think the same thing that I brought up as maybe an opportunity is also what gives me the most hope.

And that's an independent streak that I think lends itself to an openness that you don't see in other places.

That's why I've chosen this as my home going forward.

I really love and appreciate the openness that is encouraged of others.

I'm also benefiting from the openness that others are bringing toward me.

It's that same thing that makes the fellowship so great.

It's the chance to have, you know, great new and growing friends like these two.

And so, you know, hopeful and excited about continuing to get to build on that.

And as a sub bullet, to Ryan's point, my dog is absolutely living her best life here in the mountains.

And that is really what matters.

- All our dogs are living their best lives in Colorado, right?

We just have to make sure we do.

Right.

Yes.

- Can I make one more gratitude comment?

- Yes.

- We don't say this enough, but Governor Polis adopted this program from Governor Hickenlooper.

And it was really unclear early days whether this was going to be something that he really leaned into.

And he has.

And we are just so grateful that we have access to his cabinet, that we have access to his staff, that he is giving us, you know, pats on the back for this commitment that these guys are making, and is making himself available as a leader of leaders.

You know, it's a big thing that he's doing.

And so, shout out to Governor Polis.

Thank you for supporting our work.

We're very grateful.

- Okay, good.

- And my pause of the week is meeting all of you and having a chance to recognize what they're doing, their goals, their desires, what they're thinking so we can kind of listen and let this all marinate in our own heads.

So, thank you for coming in.

And while I'm in recognition mode, I would also like to acknowledge that today is Native American Heritage Day, which allows for all of us to take a moment to honor and recognize the contributions of indigenous people.

And I'm thankful for our growing audience here in Colorado Inside Out.

Thank you for taking the time to be curious and engaged, especially on a week when you're already busy with family.

All right.

That's a lot of gratitude.

Thank you all for everything.

I am Kyle Dyer.

I'll see you next week here on PBS 12.

Take care.

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