2024 Women's Leadership Symposium: Keynote Panel

Michi Brannon (they/she) stepped onto their undergraduate PWI campus knowing they wanted to make a difference by creating welcoming communities, especially for LGBTQ and BIPOC students. As the director for leadership development, they advocate for affordable laundry, inclusive student leaders and social justice involving on-campus communities. This commitment to DEI education has given them the opportunity to organize and run the Inclusive Leadership Experience, where students travel to various cities to learn, discuss and reflect on cultural topics, social issues and systemic inequality.

Michi incorporated the many lessons learned by being an Alternative Breaks site leader. Here, they focused on disaster relief in New Orleans' lower ninth ward by organizing the travel, housing and service opportunities of 12 people and emphasizing the importance of volunteering versus voluntourism. While leading numerous discussions around identity, Michi openly shares her experiences as a Queer Black person in hopes of inspiring, educating and encouraging others. Working with Voices of Healing, Girls Like Us and YWCA Boulder County has given them a multitude of opportunities to make a direct impact on the mental health of queer and POC youth in the community. She also fondly remembers her time at Out for Undergrad Tech and Digital, which pushed her to embrace her intersectionality in the workplace.

As a music and computer science student at University of Colorado Boulder, they hope to one day work in cybersecurity and advocate for marginalized communities in tech. Michi recharges their social battery by painting landscapes, reading fantasy novels and playing with her adorable menace of a cat, Selkie. 

Lila Crank is a dedicated advocate for justice, liberation and education, drawing her passion from her identity as a Diné Jewish woman. Lila's passion for political education and activation, specifically through storytelling, building intergenerational community and envisioning decolonial futures, has guided her academic and personal journey.

She explored these themes at CU Boulder, completing a BA in Ethnic Studies in 2023 and completing graduate work in the School of Education through the Ethnic Studies Bachelor's Accelerated Master's program. Her undergraduate honors thesis, "Until They’re All Home: An Examination of State Violence and Transformative Possibilities in the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women," delved into the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women. At CU Boulder, Lila also worked with initiatives promoting justice and inclusion, notably within the A&S Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion department.

Lila served as president of the Oyate Native American Student Organization and as a member of the Native Grad Student Group Leadership Council, dedicated to building warm community spaces for Native students within academia. Currently, Lila works with the Boulder Valley School District. She is preparing to apply for PhD programs in the fall, where she will continue research on youth organizing, education and Indigenous movements.

Evelyn Hoffman (she/they) is a third-year environmental engineering undergraduate and interns part-time for the Environmental Protection Agency. On campus, she is on the leadership teams for Out in STEM and Bring Your Own Gender and participates in Engineering Fellows. She takes a community- and advocacy-focused approach to leadership and looks forward to growing in her leadership and advocacy skills to help serve the trans* and LGBTQ+ communities. In her free time, she enjoys fiber arts, hiking and D&D.

Amanda Griffin Linsenmeyer (she/her) is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and is originally from Denver/Aurora. She also spent time as a young person in the East Bay Area in northern California. Amanda has a BAS in Physiology and Native American Studies from the University of California Davis and an MA in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona.   

Amanda is currently the program director for the Office of Intercultural Engagement within the Center for Inclusion and Social Change. She is one of the co-founders of the Women’s Leadership Symposium. 

Amanda began her leadership journey young, as the eldest of five siblings. She leads as an Indigenous feminist mother, working to make space for other women and femmes to find their own leadership path. Amanda takes inspiration from the leadership of the late Wilma Mankiller, the first modern female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and her matriarchs - women who led, both formally and informally, with wisdom, dignity, integrity and love in equal measures.

Sophia Surage grew up near Manitou Springs, Colorado and comes from a Mexican, Polish and Italian American family. Starting at age 16, Sophia began working in customer service roles and restaurants. In 2014, Sophia earned two Bachelor's degrees in Women and Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. After graduation, Sophia began gaining experience in volunteerism, program management and outreach. For five years, she worked directly with CU Boulder students at the Volunteer Resource Center, managing educational events, service opportunities and community partnerships. Sophia currently works as manager of the volunteer services department at the local public library.  

Sophia's worldview and leadership philosophy have formed over time, from spaces in between, and in various layers. In the midst of different elements coming together, the power of education and the complexities of human experiences, Sophia believes in calling all things into question and allowing curiosity to guide her. For Sophia, leadership is about remembering our agency and realizing our direct impact on people, projects and communities at any given time. Serving as a conduit and resource, Sophia seeks to connect people with each other, information and experiences that add new layers and lenses to their worlds. 

Andrea Zelinko is a daughter and friend who loves Colorado’s local and mountain trails, beaches and coastlines and spending time learning and creating a better world. Professionally, Andrea dedicated 10 years to The BACCHUS Network, a non-profit organization that supported health and peer education on college campuses. For almost 12 years, she served in various roles at CU Boulder, including director of the University Memorial Center (UMC) and interim dean of students and associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs. While at CU Boulder, Andrea valued opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and students to change policies or processes, create new ventures (including the Women’s Leadership Symposium), navigate challenges and support and laugh with one another.