October Renewal Session | The Future of Democracy

Wednesday, October 16, 2024
12 Noon to 1:30 pm MST
Panel Discussion

Registration Fee:  $5 | Free for all students and Iliff faculty and staff
An additional donation is welcome.
If the registration fee is a barrier to your attendance at the event, please reach out to alumni@iliff.edu.

Register HERE.

Session Description

As we get closer to November and the 2024 Presidential election, many questions weigh on the minds of communities in the United States. Who will be leading our country in a matter of months? What changes will happen, and who will be most affected? What is our democracy going to look like after this election, or a year from now, or a decade from now?

For our October Renewal session, we are asking three expert panelists what they think the future of democracy will look like and how we can work toward ensuring that future is one of increasing justice and equity. Join us on Wednesday, October 16th for “The Future of Democracy.”

Series Description

We are always considering the future. As individuals, as members of groups, as citizens, we are often asking, What will tomorrow bring? How will our world, our country, our institutions look in the coming years? And how can we shape that future to make it better? In the midst of so many uncertainties, this Renewal season will focus on the question of what is coming next and how we can work for a better future. We will discuss topics ranging from artificial intelligence to religious institutions to politics and government. What can we expect as we watch these spaces change over the weeks, months and years, and what can we do? Join us for the 2024-2025 Renewal season as we learn about what tomorrow may hold and what we can do to enact justice today.

Nicole Hensel is the executive director of New Era Colorado, a nonpartisan grassroots nonprofit that leads the nation in turning out and engaging young people in the political process. Founded in 2006, New Era is the nation’s premiere youth organizing groups in the country. They have registered over 250,000 young people to vote and turn their members out at rates as high as 86 percent in the 2020 election. Nicole was previously a teacher and education policy expert before coming into community organizing and politics.

Daniel Ramos is the Executive Director of a Colorado-based nonprofit focused on protecting democracy and expanding the civic engagement ecosystem in Colorado. Before taking on this role in 2020, he served as the Executive Director for One Colorado – the state’s leading advocacy organization for LGBTQ Coloradans and their families. Ramos is an active member of the Colorado community and has served on the Board of Directors for New Era Colorado, Community Shares and the Equality Federation, and as a Commissioner on the Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission. He currently serves on the LGBTQ Victory Fund Campaign Board, the Healthier Colorado Board, and as a Trustee for Colorado Mesa University and the Rose Community Foundation. Ramos is also an adjunct professor at the University of Denver, teaching courses on Public Policy & Advocacy and Community Engagement & Empowerment. As a first-generation college student, he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and his Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado School of Public Affairs.

Over the course of his 15 years in politics, Ian Silverii has played many roles in shaping and advancing the progressive movement in Colorado. Silverii proudly served as the Director of the Colorado House Majority Project and Chief of Staff to the Colorado House Democrats from 2014-2016, playing an instrumental role in building durable legislative majorities and securing the passage of key policy priorities including Colorado’s gold standard Vote by Mail and election laws. He went on to run ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest and most notorious progressive communications and advocacy organization. After five years at the helm of ProgressNow Colorado, Silverii started The Bighorn Company which serves clients across the country. Silverii has also taught at the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy at the University of Denver and co-hosts the weekly Colorado politics show, The Get More Smarter Podcast. His writing has appeared in The Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Politics, The Denver Post (where he was a resident columnist for 3 years), The Colorado Times Recorder, and the Harvard Law & Policy Review and he has appeared on MSNBC, 9News, The Denver Channel, KGNU, Colorado Public Radio, City Cast Denver, Rocky Mountain PBS and KDNK.