Steve Fenberg

Steve Fenberg was elected to the Colorado Senate in 2016 and currently serves as the Senate Majority Leader, a leadership position he was elected to in 2018. Before entering the Senate, Steve served for a decade as the founding Executive Director for New Era Colorado, the largest state-based young voter mobilization organization in the country. Under Steve’s leadership, New Era Colorado registered hundreds of thousands of young people to vote, helping shape Colorado’s current political landscape. As a State Senator, Steve has focused on increasing voting access, bold solutions to the climate crisis, and structural reforms to advance economic and social justice.

Leslie Herod

Representative Leslie Herod was elected in 2016 as the first LGBTQ African American in the Colorado General Assembly. Since then, she has passed 68 bills, addressing criminal justice reform, mental health, addiction, youth homelessness, and civil rights protections. Some of her signature work includes: ending cash bail for minor offenses, de-felonizing drug possession, giving every Colorado newborn a $100 college kickstarter account, providing free menstrual hygiene products to inmates in Colorado’s prisons and jails, and passing a comprehensive police accountability bill following the highly public murder of George Floyd, and the nationwide movement that followed.

In addition to winning reelection in 2018, Herod championed a ballot initiative—Caring for Denver—that raises $35 million annually for mental health and substance abuse treatment and services for children and adults. Herod is the Chair of the House Finance Committee, Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Chair of the Committee on Legal Services, and the Chair of the Colorado Black Democratic Legislative Caucus.

Other sessions: Say 'No' to Burnout Culture: Executing Sustainable, Winning Campaigns

Rick Palacio

Rick Palacio is a Democratic strategist and political consultant who draws on more than a decade of local and national experience to assist progressive causes, candidates and corporate clients throughout the country. He is the founding partner of the Majority Institute, a subscription-based polling and research firm, and PS Group, a political and corporate consulting firm.
     
Involved in dozens of high-level political campaigns, Rick also served as chair of the Colorado Democratic Party from 2011-2017. Rick is the first Latino in Colorado’s history to hold the office of chair of a major political party, and when elected, was only the second in the nation. Another of Rick’s notable successes is his role in directing and helping draft the 2010 repeal of the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Ted Trimpa

Ted Trimpa is the Principal and CEO of Trimpa Group LLC, a national political consulting and government relations firm that specializes in progressive public policy advocacy and political strategy. With offices in Washington D.C. and Denver, Trimpa Group develops cutting-edge public policy strategies at the state and federal levels. Trimpa also serves as a board member for numerous organizations, including the Democracy Alliance, ProgressNow, Third Way, Citizen Engagement Laboratory, and Tectonic Theater Project.

Trimpa is one of the country’s most sought-after advocates resulting from his deep understanding of the national and multi-state public policy, political, and nonprofit landscape. Called “Colorado’s answer to Karl Rove” by The Atlantic, Trimpa is a nationally recognized Democratic strategist and operative. He is considered a key architect of the political infrastructure that facilitated the Democratic Party’s resurgence in Colorado after decades of Republican dominance—a turnaround so dramatic National Review dubbed it the “Colorado miracle.” Campaigns & Elections recently named him one of the top five Democratic political players in the state.