Transformative Leadership for Change

Our TLC gatherings are made possible by so many hands, hearts, and incredible community partners. We're taking a moment to give some love to the folks who helped nourish, ground, and care for our community along the way.

Keep reading to learn about these community connectors who brought their talent and love to TLC →
•••

Thank you, Cerise McCaston!
For sharing the grounding practice of Tai Qi and Qi Gong with our TLC community, creating space to move, breathe, release stress, and reconnect with ourselves. We're grateful for the intention you brought to our time together.

Thank you, Ollin Cafetzin! For keeping our TLC community fueled. We're grateful for the care you pour into every cup and the communities and traditions you honor along the way.

Thank you, Chef Andrea & Four Directions Cuisine, LLC!
For nourishing our TLC fam. We're grateful for the beautiful breakfast and the Indigenous culinary knowledge and love you bring to the table.

Thank you, Maria & Maiz Denver!
For feeding our TLC fam with fresh-made Mexican comfort food and a whole lot of corazón. We're grateful for the ways you use food to create a stronger community.

Thank you, Najwa & Saj Fresh Grill!
For helping us celebrate graduation around a table filled with incredible food. We're grateful for the family recipes, Palestinian traditions, and generosity you shared with our TLC village.

Thank you, VIVA! Mexi-Coffee Shop!
For starting our day with delicious food and coffee. We're grateful for the way you bring Latin American roots and community together, and for sharing that warmth with our TLC fam. (Photo Cred: Denver Post)

Thank you, No Ke Aloha!
For nourishing our TLC fam with Hawaiian and Samoan culture. We're grateful for the flavors, care, and spirit of connection you brought to our table.

Thank you, Yonas Bekele!
For sharing Ethiopian-style ful with our TLC fam and bringing your gifts to the table. We're grateful to be part of a community where our young people can explore their passions and try something new.

Thank you, Swing Thai!
For sharing the warmth and flavor of your family's Thai recipes. We're grateful for the care you put into your food and for the dreams, traditions, and stories.

Thank you, Cucina de Medicina!
For bringing a taste of the Caribbean to TLC. We're grateful for the flavors, cultural traditions, and little bit of grandma's kitchen you shared with us.

Thank you, La Bodega!
For reminding us that food carries stories. We're grateful you've shared heritage, lived experience, and the belief that gathering around food can be healing.

Thank you, Angelica & Sundaze Mobile Bartending!
Extra love to our Cohort 4 FAM! Thank you for bringing the cultura, energy, and hospitality to our gathering and helping us celebrate in true TLC fashion.

This group knows what it means to be SOCIAL!

Our TLC FAM gathered to catch up, reconnect, eat, play games, tell stories, laugh a whole lot, and, of course, show off the BABIES!

There’s something powerful about bringing our cohorts back together, not for a training, a meeting, or an agenda, but simply to be in community with one another.

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us. And to those we missed, we felt your presence in spirit.

Our gratitude for this powerful, beautiful community goes beyond words. Watching these relationships continue to grow across cohorts, across years, and across life’s many seasons reminds us just how special this FAM really is.

We love you. Until next time. ❤️

💭 Scroll and enjoy a few questions from Tania, !

As we continue (re)introducing the people behind TLC, we’re excited to spotlight Tania Soto Valenzuela (she/her/ella), TLC’s Program Manager, researcher, organizer, and longtime advocate for immigrant justice and collective liberation.

Originally from Mexico, Tania moved to the U.S. at age 9 and spent years fighting her mother’s deportation while navigating life as a young immigrant. Her lived experience continues to guide her work dismantling inequity, building community power, and creating spaces for healing and transformation.

A Regis University graduate with a B.A. in Sociology, Tania has been part of Denver’s activist community for more than a decade, leading campaigns across immigration and social justice issues while advancing research.

💭 What’s your go-to comfort meal?
My grandma would make albondiga soup for us when sick, when sad- I taste love when I have that. And Elote in any form- especially street corn on a stick- this might be the fastest way to my heart.

💭 Coffee, tea, or something else entirely?
Por qué no los dos?! Coffee to get me going and tea to nourish and sustain me throughout. Teas are my go-to for any ailment.

💭 What’s a song you always come back to?
Every time I get asked for a song my mind goes blank, but any BadBunny song will get my attention and anything with a beat will have me swaying my body. Let’s go dancing!!

💭 Morning person or night owl?
I’ve tried the morning thing, but I still remain a zombie before my first cup of coffee.

💭 Favorite way to spend a free afternoon?
This is so mood dependent for me. If you catch me hungry, I will be preparing a home cooked meal, and inviting others to share it with me ( I only know how to cook for 8 people or more) . If I am well fed, nestled up with a book is a sure way to find me. If i’m restless, taking a long walk with the pups, talking to the trees and the flowers.

💭 What’s something small that brings you joy every day?
I get so much joy from my fur babies and the natural world, the songs of birds, blooming flowers, rain drops gracing my skin, laying still on the grass, and hugging trees are some of the ways.

Just some beautiful TLC folx, out in the world being powerful humans. 💜

We’re hopping into your timeline with a little love, a little joy, and some very cute TLC swag.

There’s a lot that feels uncertain. But there’s also this: we still have each other. We still get to show up, care for one another, find moments of joy, and remind each other that none of us are doing this alone.

So consider this a little TLC from us to you today. Keep loving on your people. Keep finding reasons to smile. Keep showing up as your whole, beautiful self.

And if you happen to look good in your TLC gear while doing it... even better. 💜🌱

Thank you TCHF for a powerful symposium and bringing speakers that challenged us to join together and fight for each other!

We had some powerful mainstage moments during today's opening plenary, featuring a keynote address from Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. 💜

This spring, the TLC Fellowship came together at Sol Ridge Ranch for our annual retreat. Before graduating from this year-long journey, fellows stepped away from the day-to-day to spend time together in community.

Click through these beautiful reflections for a look at the retreat, and to meet the people who helped make it possible →

The TLC Fellowship is a year-long leadership program for BIPOC movement leaders across Colorado. Throughout the year, fellows explore leadership, healing, conflict transformation, and movement sustainability alongside one another.

This year's retreat centered on right relationship with ourselves, each other, and the land. Through facilitated conversations, reflection, and time in nature, fellows practiced ways of leading that strengthen both people and movements.

Fellowship retreats are a reminder that strong movements are built through strong relationships. We're grateful to everyone who helped create this space.

Time on the land invited us to slow down, notice what was stirring within, and share those reflections with one another. These moments reminded us that connection begins with paying attention.

Every TLC retreat is shaped by people who help create spaces for reflection, healing, learning, and transformation. We're deeply grateful to this year's facilitators, healers, and bodyworkers for sharing their wisdom and care with our fellows.

Thank you to:
• April Axé Charmaine, SOL VIDA
• Ash Ferguson
• Wendy "Doja Peju" Talley, Ibeji Healing Arts
• Ifayale Adeoni (Senakhu Donald), Ibeji Healing Arts
• Michelle Castor, Agua y Sangre Healing
• Naomi Ochoa Brunn, Wise Moon Wellness
• Richael Faithful
• Alondra Cordero
• Eryc Dovez

and to our TLC team who pour endlessly into organizing!

A special thank you to Nicie Smullen and Simone Williams of Wicked Ambitionz Catering for nourishing our fellows throughout the retreat.

Through every meal they prepared, Nicie and Simone helped create moments of connection and nourishment. We're grateful for the warmth they brought to our experience.

Last year’s 3rd Annual Wealth Reclamation Summit spanned two full days of learning, connection, celebration, and collective visioning. BIPOC leaders from across Colorado came together to explore what it means to reclaim wealth through land, property, and community-owned projects.

**Scroll down for links to our incredible partners from 2025! **

Our keynote, Michelle Browder, moved the room with a powerful reflection on reclaiming narrative, and tangible assets. From monument, to land, to legacy – her work continues to reshape what wealth reclamation looks like in practice.

We heard from incredible leaders across the country advancing land trusts, reparations work, and community development including Albina Vision Trust, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, and Kibilio Community & Farm.

A major highlight: hands-on workshops led by local movement leaders who are actively doing the work of wealth reclamation. These sessions grounded the summit in real-time strategy and practical pathways for building community-owned futures.

To read more go to our most recent edition of TRANSPiRE:
https://transformleaders.org/transpire-quarterly-newsletter-spring-2026/

Our 2026 Wealth Reclamation Summit is coming up soon:
Save the Date for Friday October 9, 2026
Interested in presenting or sponsoring? DM or email us today: [email protected]

** More information on our 2025 summit partners **
Michelle Browder
https://www.morethantours.us
https://www.anarchalucybetsey.org
Albina Vision Trust
https://albinavision.org
Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
https://sogoreate-landtrust.org
Kibilio Community & Farm
https://kibilio.org

Please join us in celebrating our own Tania Valenzuela! Tania Valenzuela

At their annual Interdependence Day celebration, Evan Weissman recognizes Community Heroes whose leadership and service makes Colorado stronger. This year, we’re proud to share that Tania has been honored with this recognition.

Tania, thank you for the wisdom, compassion, and vision you bring to our community every day. We are incredibly grateful to work alongside you, and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate your award.

We are grateful to Warm Cookies of the Revolution for creating space to recognize the people doing the work of building healthy communities.

Congratulations, Tania! We’re so proud of you.
We see you.

1,000 followers strong at https://www.instagram.com/tlcleaders – but we're celebrating a milestone that's about SO much more than followers!

The TLC ecosystem is a growing community of people committed to building a more just, connected, and equitable future together. What began nearly 10 years ago as a space rooted in healing, liberation, and collective leadership has grown into a vibrant network because of each of you.

To every fellow, partner, donor, practitioner, volunteer, collaborator, advocate, and supporter who has followed our journey, shared our work, shown up for our community, and believed in what's possible: THANK YOU.

This is a milestone that belongs to all of us.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Here's to the next 1,000 and to continuing to build, heal, and lead together.

With so much gratitude,

The TLC Team
💛🩵🩷💜

https://transformleaders.org

Drop a 🌀 in the comments if you learned something you didn’t know about Felicia!

Meet Felicia Griffin (she/her), Co-Director of TLC and a longtime movement leader, strategist, and institution builder with more than 20 years of experience advancing social and economic justice.

From helping secure healthcare access for 80,000 children in New Mexico to leading campaigns for minimum wage increases, wage theft protections, and affordable housing in Colorado, Felicia has spent her life building power with communities. As a co-founder of the TLC Fellowship, Felicia brings lived experience, visionary leadership, and a deep commitment to expanding opportunity for those too often excluded from it.

As we continue growing into the next era of TLC, we’re spotlighting our leadership whose vision and care help carry this work forward.

💬 What’s your go-to comfort meal?
Definitely Soul Food for me, some fried chicken, mac and cheese, greens and cornbread and grape kool-aid, IYKYK.

💬 Coffee, tea, or something else entirely?
Definitely coffee – and this past year, my husband and I got ourselves an espresso maker. It has changed the coffee game for us; starting the day with a warm, delicious cup is part of my self-care routine.

💬 What’s a song you always come back to?
I absolutely love Jill Scott, her voice, her vibe, her lyrics always align with my spirit. One of my favorite song’s is Golden - it’s a song that makes me feel powerful even when things are hard. “I’m holding onto my freedom” is a line that constantly reminds me that even though “freedom” isn’t fully reality, I can have seconds, hours, days where I practice it for myself.

💬Morning person or night owl?
Morning person – love the sunrise, the birds singing and my coffee.

💬 Favorite way to spend a free afternoon?
I love to be in or near water, sitting on the side of the lake or the ocean, watching the waves, feeling the water around me and if neither of those are available - a swimming pool or bathtub will work!

💬 What’s something small that brings you joy every day?
Faith/Nature/Family: I like to pray – giving my gratitude/worries/challenges to God. Then to connect to nature – no matter what the weather – to notice the clouds, the flowers, the wind, the animals and the earth. Lastly, spending time with my family and friends.

💬 What excites you most about the work ahead?
That the future will require us to move in deeper unity, connection and understanding of one another. And that is a world I want to continue to build and actually live in.