The following is a statement by the Board of Directors for the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) on the resignation of Executive Director, Cristina Aguilar and the launch of a strategic transition plan to find the next leader of this dynamic reproductive justice organization.
“After six years of unparalleled passion, innovative leadership and truly inspiring accomplishments at the helm of COLOR the board is announcing the resignation of executive director, Cristina Aguilar. Cristina has given so much to this work. Cristina has decided to take a moment to pause and be thoughtful about the next step in her personal and professional journey. She will work with us over the next three months to roll out a strategic, intentional transition process to position the organization to be even stronger and more impactful moving forward.
“We are grateful to Cristina for her tireless dedication to her team, to this organization and to the movement. Under Cristina’s leadership, we have grown and we have succeeded. Our staff has more than doubled and we have expanded and diversified our base of partners, volunteers, donors and stakeholders. This has provided us with the skills and the capacity to make a very real impact here in Colorado and throughout the country. We have been a critical voice for the Latinx community and helped the people in our community to make their own voices heard. We have not only helped to defeat policies that would harm us and our families, but have been leaders in proactive efforts to move policies that would make a positive difference in our lives.
“When personhood was on the ballot in 2014, COLOR was more than just another group at the table. We created a model that has been celebrated across the country of how to do a campaign in a way that respects the Latinx community and that truly harnesses the strength and the beauty of our culture. We have also invested in doing year-round civic engagement to strengthen and expand our network between electoral cycles and better enable us to mobilize activists to influence state and federal legislative priorities.
“We are grateful to Cristina for her tireless dedication to her team, to this organization and to the movement. Under Cristina’s leadership, we have grown and we have succeeded.”
“We are seen as an organization that knows how to do strong, strategic intergenerational, community organizing to win in the short term and lay the foundation to achieve our long-term goals grounded in a model that centers resiliency.
“We will hire an interim executive director to support the staff during the transition. The board will also be working with Cristina and an executive transition consultant, Christine Soto to develop the systems to successfully identify and secure a leader to build on our accomplishments, harness the skills of our amazing team and continue to move COLOR forward.
“During this time of transition, we will not waiver in our commitment or in our ability to ensure that the needs of our families and our community are not only considered, but that our lives are celebrated and that policies and programs are informed by our unique experiences. We will make sure that our voices are not just heard, but listened to and that we are at the table and creating new tables to develop and move innovative, exciting solutions to the challenges faced by our community. We will continue to make sure that we can all live with health and dignity.
COLOR has shown time and again that we have the passion and the skills to come through on every goal we set, every deliverable we commit to and to be ready to take action in times of crisis and of opportunity. That will not change!
“Today we pause to celebrate the amazing leadership of Cristina. Tomorrow we will work together to continue to build on our incredible accomplishments and work to find a leader who will help take us to the next level!”
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