OUR DISTINGUISHED PANEL
Our Host MONTEL WILLIAMS
Montel Williams earned his media celebrity status as an inspirational Emmy Award winning television personality whom Americans invited into their homes for more than 17 years. He is a decorated former naval officer, inspirational speaker, author, entrepreneur and advocate for patients worldwide.
Before and after the success of his television show, Montel has been passionately involved in many projects that he has transformed into major initiatives with the aim of
helping others.
Senator James Coleman District 33 (remarks by)
Senate President James R. Coleman was born and raised in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver and is a resident of the district he so proudly represents: Senate District 33. Coleman served his first term in 2016, serving as the youngest elected official in Colorado’s state legislature at that time. After serving 2 terms as the State Representative of House District 7, he went on to win his election to the Senate District 33 seat in November 2020. Senator Coleman currently serves as the Colorado Senate President, Chair of the Black Democratic Legislative Caucus of Colorado, Chair of the Black Coloradans Racial Equity Study Commission, Vice-Chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Colorado Jail Standards, and sits on the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council. Throughout his years in the Colorado General Assembly, Senator Coleman has energetically sponsored bills to better fund and resource schools, protect workers' and veterans' rights, bolster small businesses, create opportunities for and pathways to higher education, increase health coverage and mental/behavioral health supports, direct criminal justice reforms, and preserve our environment. His groundbreaking legislation is
anchored not only in advocacy for the Black community, but also in his three legislative priorities:
Education; Economic Growth; Youth and Workforce Development. Moreover, Coleman passed legislation to increase recognition and the value of non-degree credentials, and created a more equitable pipeline for workforce development. Coleman believes that a college degree and work experience are not mutually exclusive, and that both are vital to the success of an individual and our state economy.
Coleman has served on the Tony Grampsas Youth Services Board, and acquires funding for the Department of Human Services to invest in community based organizations for prevention and intervention programs for children, youth, and their families. These dollars are being used to combat youth crime and violence.
Jason McBride
Jason founded McBride Impact in honor of his late father John McBride, a notable figure in the Denver community. Jason developed innovative educational programming that captures and maintains the attention of today’s at-risk youth. In terms of interest and consistent attendance, youth participants rated his program's number one. Jason is a selfless and exemplary pillar in the community earning the 2018 My Brother’s Keeper Award and 2019 Citizen of the Year Award. The local media, news stations, radio, and newspapers highlight his work regularly.
About The Only Way Out Is Through
Chief Ron Thomas
Born and raised in Denver and its public schools, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas is a 33-year veteran of the Denver Police Department who has worked on patrol, investigations, special operations and administration. He served as the commander of police for District 2, District 5 and the department’s internal affairs division before he was appointed as the division chief of patrol.
Thomas also led the charge in creating the department’s Denver Police Wellness and Resiliency Program while he led internal affairs. It’s “a multidimensional program providing education, awareness, training, and support with a focus on enhancing overall officer resiliency and the effective management of stress,” according to the city.
Sheriff Elias Diggins
Sheriff Elias Diggins was sworn in as the Sheriff of Denver (CO) in July 2020. He has been with the Denver Sheriff Department since 1994, holding all uniform ranks with various assignments during his career. He is a staunch supporter of both the community and the men and the women of the Denver Sheriff Department. He is a Colorado native and grew up in the east Denver neighborhood of Montbello.
He is a nationally recognized law enforcement official and a past-president of the American Jail Association (AJA), where he is also a Certified Jail Manager. During his term as AJA President, he introduced an initiative titled "Gender Equity in Jails Across America," which has also been adopted by the Department of Justice-National Institute of Corrections. He is the recipient of several honors from various organizations, including the prestigious 2019 Legacy Award from the Association of Women Executives in Corrections. As an advocate for the mental health community, he created a cabinet-level position in his administration titled, “Chief of Mental Health Services,” and hired a licensed psychologist to fill the role.
JIM MAYNARD, RTM THERAPIST, DENVER, CO
Reverend Allison Cannady-Smith is an ordained Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and the proud Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Portland, and Shorter Community AME Church, in Denver. A firm believer that faith without hand-to-the-plow practice is dormant, Rev. Cannady-Smith has been an active community servant. She is a staunch advocate for health equity and frequently serves as a consultant, facilitator, lecturer, and panelist for nonprofits and medical organizations on the importance of cultural competency in the delivery of healthcare. She served on the FaithHealth in Action Steering Committee and on Leaders in Women’s Health, grassroots coalitions of nonprofits focused on addressing the racial, economic, and social determinants of health in the Black community. She is a breast cancer survivor currently working on a book entitled “When God Chooses Medicine.”
JIM MAYNARD, RTM THERAPIST, DENVER, CO
The RTM protocol is a therapeutic approach used to help individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The method has been used to successfully assist survivors of trauma—including victims, families, and first responders—process traumatic memories and reduce the emotional impact of those experiences. The positive results and lasting effects of RTM therapy have been overwhelming. Jim has a passion for exploring the connections between mind, body and soul. His ownjourney with depression, trauma, addiction and healing humbly inform his practice.
Having found that cognitive therapy can only take one so far with serious trauma anddeeper inner growth he utilizes methods of somatic energy movement, psychedelics,
mindfulness meditation and integrated spirituality to bring wholeness and relief from
these life challenges such as depression, addiction, PTS and other mind body
disturbances.
DR. ANNE KEKE
I immigrated to America from Cote d’Ivoire almost 20 years ago because, to people like me and dreamers from around the world, this country is one of promise. I stayed, became a citizen, and am raising my bold and brilliant teenage daughter in Aurora because of this promise. Nowhere else in the world is every student entitled to a great public education; nowhere else is there the promise that, if you have a dream and work hard for it, you can find success and stability. It’s easy to be cynical about the direction of the country, the state, the city, but I still have hope for a better future.
BOB TROYER Executive Director, VRP Diagnostics Former U.S. Attorney, Colorado
Bob Troyer was the United States Attorney in Colorado
from 2016 to 2018. While U.S. Attorney Bob received the
PSN Outstanding Contribution Award from the U.S.
Attorney General for helping develop and deploy an
innovative, forensic-intelligence violent crime prevention
strategy in Colorado. He spent a total of 15 years as a
federal prosecutor, and 15 years in private practice.
After leaving office, Bob co-founded VRP Diagnostics, a
non-profit which is developing an innovative tool that
measures the prominence of traits in at-risk kids that are
associated with violent behavior. This tool gives programs and agencies that work with
at-risk kids insight into how a kid sees himself in the world. This insight allows agencies to assess risk and allows programs to gauge their effectiveness at transforming kids
toward healthier identities.
Before he went to law school, Bob was a high-school English teacher and a commercial fisherman in Alaska.
Kiki Leyba, Columbine Teacher/Survivor, Trauma Response Veteran
Kiki Leyba is a trusted trauma response veteran utilizing his broad range of expertise. Leyba is a Columbine High School teacher with more than 27 years of experience. Kiki is a survivor of the Columbine tragedy and, unbelievably, in 2010 his son witnessed the shooting at Deer Creek Middle school. Leyba’s involvement with school shootings includes meeting with victims, families of those killed, survivors, mental health teams, staff, students, community, and administration.Some of the survivors and communities he has supported include:
- ● Platte Canyon High School, teacher, and students 2006
- ● Der Creek Middle 2010
- ● Virginia Tech. 2007, survivor group
- ● Nickel Mines Amish School, parents in Newtown 2013
- ● Sandy Hook 2013, staff
- ● Marysville-Pilchuck High School, 2014, staff and district administration
- ● Umpqua Community College 2015, School President, staff, students, community
- ● Freeman High School 2017/18
- ● Marjorie Stoneman Douglas students at Columbine 2018
- ● Robb Elementary/ Uvalde Texas, parents of murdered students in Washington
D.C. 2022 - ● Oxford High / Resiliency Center 2024
Renowned for decades of advising, supporting, and relationship building. His rare skill set makes him an asset in every scenario. In addition,Leyba has a proven ability to decisively navigate the media.