Scholar Category: Miscellaneous
Joe Sammen
What are you up to now?
I’m the Executive Director of Center for Health Progress, the leading health equity advocacy organization in Colorado. We bring people together to ensure the health care system works for everyone. I’m responsible for external leadership, strategy, staff and Board management, and fundraising for the organization. We currently have a dynamic team of 12 leaders working in community and at the Capitol using policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, alliance building, communications, and messaging.
My partner Haley and I are raising two young children, Oliver and Matilda, and run an urban farm in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Denver.
Emma Piller
Project: I plan on working alongside laborers and building labor rights trainings for service industry and construction workers in my local communities. This will include working alongside labor rights organizations and lawyers. I also want to organize more translators to work alongside legal councilors.
Inspiration: I work with several undocumented americans who feel cheated by our boss and don’t feel they can properly advocate for themselves because of language barriers, fear of consequences, and lack of education.
Future Plans for Projects: I hope to improve the working conditions and accountability within my own workplace as well as on Pearl Street in Boulder. I want employees to feel confident and satisfied in their jobs and employers to feel a responsibility for their workers.
Ismaat Klaibou
Project: I will be working on helping organize a program for Muslim Women that will embody some of their greatest needs, including working on inclusivity in mosques as well as a mentorship program for young Muslim Women that will be paired with other women already successful in their dream field, hobby, or lifestyle.
Inspiration: Being a Muslim Woman, lack of support systems is a common theme in my own community, and after discussing it with other women, it seemed that it was high time for a program like this in the Denver community.
Future Plans for Project: I hope to make even the smallest footstep towards a better future, a better world for the next generation. Even one small act of civic engagement can be the domino that kicks off massive waves and social change.
Allison Grossberg
Project: My Puksta Project for the upcoming academic year is a research study that deals with the biological, cognitive and social mechanisms of curiosity. Specifically, the project investigates the potential effect of curiosity on aging populations and on their risk of developing Alzheimers disease.
Inspiration: I was inspired to choose this topic as my Puksta Project because curiosity is a vital component of many human interactions, as well as, the healthy aging process. I see this project as an important glimpse into the human body that may provide insights into how and why patterns of thought and behavior impact our ability to remain healthy, connected and vibrant throughout our lives.
Future Plans for Project: I hope this project will be a stepping stone to improving the educational possibilities for students of all ages. In turn, this will allow people to achieve more fulfilling levels of engagement, and long-term health.
