Raised in Grand Junction, Jesse is a born creative thinker and leader, who continuously seeks opportunities to actively engage communities, guide organizations toward inclusivity, and foster adaptive organizational growth.
He started his career as an AmeriCorps member serving two years in Mesa County Valley School District #51, supporting the expansion of service-learning across the district. This was only the beginning of his career focused on engaging and empowering communities, which evolved with his roles at Denver Public Schools, Adams 14 School District, the Piton Foundation, the Colorado Symphony, the Mexican Cultural Center, and Foothills United Way.
Jesse holds a bachelor’s degree in political sociology from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and a master’s degree in organizational leadership, specializing in project management, from Regis University. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado Denver studying Leadership for Educational Equity focused on family and community engagement.
When you work with Jesse, you are empowering financial longevity, innovative programming, and improved systems for sustaining and growing organizations.

Founder, CEO, and Chief Social Impact Strategist

Celia merges her formal training and informal curiosities to support organizations in thinking with clarity, creativity, and connection to broader systems. Their ability to ask hard questions, invite honest answers, and adapt pathways and processes will bring new perspective and possibility to any team.
Her career began as a paralegal with the Kingston Public Defenders’ Office, inspiring a career in community justice and change-making. She has since supported the work of County Executives, People for the American Way, the Vermont Commission on Women, Addison County Restorative Justice, HCSD School Board, NYU Metro Center’s Education Justice Research and Organizing Collaborative, and the Denver Public Library.
Celia earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, sociology, and gender studies from Middlebury College where she was awarded the Kvasnak Family Award for Excellence in State and Local Politics. She has certificates in LGBTQ+ and Feminist Evaluation, Data Equity, Critical Race Theory Summer School, and Our Whole Lives Sex Education.
When you work with Celia, you are empowering innovative strategy, interdisciplinary thinking, and inclusive practices that cultivate clear understanding and creative solutions.

Director of Social Impact, Strategy and Evaluation

JOIN OUR TEAM

We are always interested hiring or partnering with firms and individuals whose interests and skills align with our vision of community impact.

PARTNER WITH EMPOWERED

Collaborating on proposals and projects is our jam!
Interested in adding community-informed research, program evaluation, or partnership cultivation to a project? We are the added capacity you need.
Review our “Consulting Services” to understand the value we can add to your project.

WORK FOR EMPOWERED

We match individual project managers to special projects that align with your interests, capacity, and skillset.
Enjoy the perks of being a fully independent contractor without having to hustle for projects or work without thought partnership.
We balance a connected workplace with project independence, faciliting connection between project managers for collaborative ideation without creating undue meetings or laborious processes.
Flexible work at Empowered means meeting deadlines and scheduling meetings on your time to fit with other contracts, commitments, and exploration.
Our #1 aim is to align purpose with work-life balance.