Rosa Parks Awards celebrate diversity, leadership and inclusion

University News – CU Denver Today

Inspirational messages about courage and the lasting power of legacies filled the room at the 11th Annual Rosa Parks Diversity Awards Luncheon in the Tivoli Student Union.
Pictured from left are guest speaker Dr. Nita Mosby Tyler, Sheila Shannon (faculty winner), Roberto Montoya (community winner), Cheryl Matias (nominator), Jose Silva (community winner), Robert King (community winner), Timberley Roane (faculty winner), Sky Roosevelt-Morris (student winner), Johnnie Nguyen (student winner), and Naomi Nishi (community winner).Nine people at the University of Colorado Denver received awards, which were presented by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Educational Opportunity Programs and the Office of Student Life.
Guest speaker Dr. Nita Mosby Tyler delivered a rousing talk about courage in the face of unjustness, inequity and the torment of African-Americans who lived in the American South in the 1950s and 1960s. Tyler, who founded of The Equity Project, an organization that supports organizations and communities in building diversity and inclusion strategies, grew up in the South in the 1960s and remembers the pain of racism and segregation.
Lisa Shaw of the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Office of Diversity Equity & Inclusion accepts a community award at the event. Photo by Zakiya Ali.“I stand on the shoulders, as you do, of giants – lots of giants,” Tyler said. “I’m also fortified by people who are my age and younger and doing work to create a world that’s a better place. These legacies, just like the one Rosa Parks left, require courage. Legacies just don’t happen. There’s something over our shoulder that creates the legacy.”
This year’s winners
The Rosa Parks Diversity Awards recognize CU Denver students, staff and faculty – as well as community members – who are building bridges for inclusion and future leadership. This year’s winners and their nominators:
Community Winners
Kaiser Permanente Colorado Office of Diversity Equity & Inclusion representatives Robert King ...

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