Our People
Our People
Board
Patrick Chandler
PhD Candidate
CU Boulder
Patrick Chandler is a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with 15 years’ experience working in and developing environmental education, stewardship, and science programs. His current research focuses on the process of building and maintaining art and science partnerships with the goal of catalyzing community action on environmental and social justice issues. Previously, he worked as the Education Director for the Washed Ashore Project, raising awareness about marine debris through art/debris exhibits; taught biology for Kenai Peninsula College; was the International Coastal Cleanup Coordinator for Alaska; and the Special Programs Coordinator for the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.
Marda Kirn
Executive Director
EcoArts Connections
Marda Kirn is the founding director of EcoArts Connections. A former dancer and arts writer, she was the founding director of the Colorado Dance Festival, considered one of the top three dance festivals in the US during her 14-year tenure (1982–96), bringing artists to Colorado from across the country and the world. She was also a founder and former director of the International Tap Association before working in the “estuary” between science, the arts, and sustainability on climate change. She has written for various publications, received several awards, and has been a speaker, panelist, and/or consultant for organizations in five continents.
Alejandro Murillo
Cultural Broker Liaison
Alejandro Murillo is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a BA in Geology/Earth Science. He now combines his knowledge in natural sciences with his commitment to community service by working at the Boulder County Office of Sustainability where he strives to find solutions to climate change through the lenses of equity and social justice. His work focuses on deep community engagement, relationship building, and creating a culture that is inclusive, by centering the voices of those who have been traditionally excluded. He cherishes his time with his two sisters and his parents and always tries to find time to be outside and take naps.
Cristina Ramirez Bentley
Outreach Specialist
Keep It Clean
Cristina Ramirez Bentley moved to Colorado in 2017 to attend a master’s program in Sustainability, Planning, and Management at CU Boulder. She is the Outreach Specialist for the Keep it Clean Partnership program at Boulder County, managing stormwater and water quality education and outreach on behalf of six partner communities within the Boulder St. Vrain Watershed. Ramirez Bentley has several years of volunteer management experience and a passion for service and sustainability. She currently also serves on the board for Art Parts Creative Reuse Center. In her free time, she enjoys playing board games and exploring Colorado with her husband and dog.
Shelly Sommer
Communication & Outreach Director
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Shelly Sommer is Communication & Outreach Director for the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado Boulder. She initiates and manages broad-based communication and information programs, often building networks that help get the work done across institutional and community boundaries. She also directs the informal Albert A. Bartlett Science Communication Center, which helps researchers working in climate and sustainability unify their identities as scientists and active citizens.
Advisors: Mamás Leónas
The Mamás Leonas are our Advisory Group of strong, independent, entrepreneurial women who are the mothers of the youth in our programs at San Lazaro Mobile Home Park. They consult on, assist with, and co-develop our family-oriented programs at San Lazaro. They are a force to be reckoned with!
Catalina Aguirre
Mamás Leónas
Catalina Aguirre is originally from Jalisco, Mexico. She loves being in the kitchen, cooking traditional Mexican dishes such as enchiladas, tamales, gorditas, tacos, the list goes on! She also likes to make hair bows and embroidery. She and her husband Raul, have three kids and have lived in Boulder for over 13 years.
Letty García
Mamás Leónas
Letty García is originally from Mexico City. She is married, has two daughters, and has lived in Boulder for 22 years. She has worked as a health promotora for El Centro Amistad for 5 years with the main goal of preventing diabetes and obesity in the Latino community. She is finishing her Diabetes Diploma and taking advanced computer classes. She loves dancing, Zumba, and hiking.
Daniela Garza
Mamás Leoónas
Daniela Garza is 31 years old. She is originally from Valle de Bravo, in the State of Mexico, and has three children, Fredy 13, Edman 9, and Zoe 2. She has lived in Colorado 14 years and in Boulder for 11. The most important things for her are her children and what she enjoys most in this life is to see them happy.
Maria Elena Lopez
Mamás Leónas
Maria Elena López is from Mexico and lives in Boulder. She has three children, a girl and two boys: Perla Arellano López, 24; Manuel Arellano López, 22; and Miguel Arellano López, 18. She likes doing crafts and loves plants.
Juana Luna
Mamás Leónas
Juana Luna is originally from Guanajuato, Mexico. She and her husband Pedro lived in Santa Rosa, California for 16 years and moved to Boulder three years ago. Juana has two sons, Juan Diego 17, and José 12. She loves to spend time with her family, cook, and go on walks and bike rides.
Maria Moreno
Mamás Leónas
Maria Moreno is originally from Durango, Mexico and has lived in the US for 22 years. She has four children: three daughters and one son. Leslie is 19, Adal is 15, Andrea is 11, and Camila is 8. She has lived at San Lazaro for one year and three months. She likes baking desserts.
Pati Moreno
Mamás Leoónas
Blanca Patricia Moreno and her husband Simon de Santiago have lived in Boulder for over 18 years. They have three children, Martin 18, Kimberly 15, and Brayan 13. Pati loves to do embroidery, cook, create art, and make jewelry, and she loves going on evening strolls. Pati is originally from Zacatecas, Mexico.
Collaborators/Advisors/Consultants
Varon Osorio
Director & Teacher
Boulder Spanish
Varon Osorio is the Director and a teacher at Boulder Spanish. Originally from Mérida, Yucatán, México, he is a bilingual educator, artist, videographer, and entrepreneur who has mastered the art of teaching both the English and Spanish languages. At a young age, he was initiated in Latin and classical Greek etymology and followed a career in teaching both Spanish and English. He has now accumulated 20 years of experience and has taught thousands of students from over 40 nations in elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, universities, and many private language schools in both the United States and Mexico.
Si Se Puede
Community Leaders
Sí Se Puede is a group of manufactured housing community (MHC) leaders from Boulder Meadows, Orchard Grove, Ponderosa, and Vista Village who are involved in “work for the community by the community” including informing, educating, and empowering residents and collaborating with other organizations and representatives of the City of Boulder to benefit people in need.
CORE STAFF
Susana Rodriguez
Program Assistant
Susana Rodriguez is originally from Chihuaha, Mexico and has three sons, Alan 17, Icker 8, and Gael 5. She is a professional makeup artist and enjoys making jewelry, cooking, and being outdoors. She is currently taking computer classes and is the co-leader of the FET (Family and Educators Together) Committee for BVSD at Whittier Elementary School, where she helps the Family Resource Schools Coordinator of the City of Boulder and helps to coordinate Hispanic families for school events and organizes the Christmas Posadas. Currently, she is helping to organize the Mamás Leónas, which excites her a lot, because she is passionate about serving her community.
Marda Kirn
Executive Director
Marda Kirn is the founding director of EcoArts Connections. A former dancer and arts writer, she was the founding director of the Colorado Dance Festival, considered one of the top three dance festivals in the US during her 14-year tenure (1982–96), bringing artists to Colorado from across the country and the world. She was also a founder and former director of the International Tap Association before working in the “estuary” between science, the arts, and sustainability on climate change. She has written for various publications, received several awards, and has been a speaker, panelist, and/or consultant for organizations in five continents.
Rose Harmos-Holder
Bookkeeper
Rose Harmos-Holder has done bookkeeping for several locally-owned businesses including retailers, wholesalers, lawyers, and software artisans. In addition to her 11 years with Mountain Accountin’, her most recent history includes running a small herb farm, working as a para-educator in the Boulder Valley School District, and owning a fiber arts business. Additional arts experience includes support of her two children in choir, marching band, and a local theatre group as well as her own current dabbling in singing and taking up the violin again after a 40 some year hiatus.
Tracy Leigh
Graphic Designer
Branding
Tracy Leigh helps bring EAC’s ideas to life through graphic design. She is a seasoned graphic designer and branding fanatic, working with small, medium, and large businesses and start-ups across the country and internationally. Tracy has the privilege of working with numerous non-profits to help create outstanding events and memorable collateral that strengthen each organization’s brand recognition, awareness, and effectiveness. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, Department of Design, and is owner of Tracy Leigh Graphic Design, LLC based in Winter Park, Colorado.
Rosabelle White Aguirre de Rice
Simultaneous Interpreter
Translator
Rosabelle White Aguirre de Rice was raised in Ecuador, the United States, and Mexico, acquiring bilingualism and biliteracy in English and Spanish at a very young age. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in English and History and later moved to Memphis where she received an MA in Romance Languages from the University of Memphis in 1993. She is a federally certified simultaneous English/Spanish interpreter and translator and has run successful businesses where she has worked in conferences, education, community, and court interpreting. She is the current co-chair of the Colorado Association of Professional Interpreters.
Elena Klaver
Simultaneous Interpreter
Singer/Songwriter
Elena Klaver is a certified interpreter with over 25 years’ experience interpreting in courts, conferences, delegations, gatherings, and webinars. She is certified by United States federal courts and the US State Department, and has been working as a contract interpreter for State Department international visitor programs for 10 years. In addition to courts and conferences, she has specialized in interpretation for cultural, environmental, Indigenous, and spiritual events, working with many non-profit organizations nationally and internationally. Since the pandemic, she has been working largely in Remote Simultaneous Interpretation for governmental and non-governmental organizations. She is also a singer/songwriter and radio producer.
Artists/CONTRACT STAFF
Airworks Studio
George Peters and Melanie Walker
Airworks Studio, (the artist team of George Peters and Melanie Walker), has installed more than 100 large scale public art projects locally, nationally, and internationally, since they began collaborating in 1995. Their work includes a wide range of uplifting projects from kites to sculptural installations, mobile works, immersive environments, land art, and permanent public artworks — creating new spaces for experiencing air, wind, breath, delight, and more. They have co-created works for the interior and exterior spaces of public libraries, colleges and universities, recreation centers, health care facilities, corporations, urban and transportation projects, and for many city and state agency commissions.
Javier Flores
Front Range Community College
Born in Denver and raised in Brighton, Javier Flores was shot in the lower back and subsequently paralyzed at the age of 19. Initially in shock, depressed, and suicidal, he was saved by family, friends, and the visual and martial arts. Flores received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU) and his Master of Fine Arts from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. He worked as an adjunct affiliate in the Art Department at MSU before acquiring a full-time position at Front Range Community College and continuing to be affiliated with Access Gallery and Museo de las Americas.
Celeste Moreno
Designer / Researcher
Celeste Moreno is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and researcher. She uses her expertise in science visualization, informal education, and makerspace tools and technologies to design creative learning and making experiences that engage all ages. Celeste has a BA in Biological and pre-medical illustration, an MS in Creative Technologies and Design and is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative Technologies and Design at the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Adriana Paola Palacios Luna
Luna Cultura
Adriana Paola Palacios Luna is originally from Puebla, Mexico and is a scholar and the mother of three children. She has worked for more than 25 years on socio-environmental justice and social change projects. As an artist, she is a poet, short story writer, textile and visual artist, and explorer in the Maker Movement. She is the founder of Luna Cultura, a bilingual and bicultural organization that provides training, consulting, and research services in the fields of Art and Maker Education, to develop skills, leadership, and historical trauma healing, from an intergenerational approach of cultural identity and good living.