Renewal History and Memory // How Hidden History Shapes the Future

Session Description

Our history is always shaping our future, including–and perhaps especially–the stories that have been pushed aside and kept from the spotlight. How do we learn about buried and hidden history, and how do we work to remember the important stories that have been left out? For our final session of the History and Memory Renewal season, Fran Campbell, President and CEO of the Asian Chamber of Commerce (ACC), will share the history of several Asian American communities in Denver and how she and the ACC as a whole work to bring these stories to light and educate Coloradans about these important histories. 

Series Description

This year, our Renewal sessions will focus on History and Memory. How can we remember well in a time when it seems history is repeating itself, when we are fighting the same fights for justice over and over again? How can we learn from history and avoid making the same mistakes? How do we remember as a community, and how do we prepare a legacy that is worth remembering? During this year’s Renewal series, we will delve into topics ranging from national memory and how we hold onto history in good and bad ways, to how we remember one another and how we want to be remembered.

Registration Link: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E345509&id=105

Speaker Bio

Fran Campbell 

Fran Campbell is a Denver native born to Filipino immigrants. She started her career as a Pediatric LPN and, before moving to the position of President/CEO of the Asian Chamber of Commerce, she was Sr. Clinical Support at Jefferson Center for Mental Health and a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor.

Concurrently, for over 30 years, Fran was the Operating Co-Manager of Simsiman Family Enterprises, a minority owned small business in Denver.  The business included a dry cleaning service; management of apartment property; and operation of a food truck/catering business.

Fran also served 14 years as a Denver Commissioner for both the Asian American Pacific Islander Commission and the Immigrant & Refugee Commission.  As a DAAPIC Commissioner, she helped initiate the door-to-door discussions with business owners on South Federal; starting a dialogue between them and the Denver Urban Renewal Authority and the Office of Economic Development with the purpose of revitalizing this commercial retail area. 

She has been an active leader in the Denver APIA community throughout her life.  She voluntarily served as an elected Director and Officer of the Filipino-American Community of Colorado.  She served on the Governors Asian Advisory Council; And she is currently on the Cultural Advisory Board of Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families; as well as a facilitator/coordinator at all nine of the Camps.

Fran was awarded the Denver Foundation Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award 2011; the Martin Luther King Social Responsibility Award 2014; and Asian American Hero / Asian Avenue Magazine 2015.