Writer, chef and cooking instructor Susan Barocas is co-founder/co-director of Savor: A Sephardic Music & Food Experience, created in 2022 to preserve and present experiences in Sephardic history and culture, and as a means of understanding diverse foodways and the capacity of food to bring people together. 

She was founding director of the innovative Jewish Food Experience and served as guest chef for three of President Obama’s White House Seders. A member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and the international Association of Culinary Professionals, Susan has presented classes, given talks and cooked across the US and internationally as well as on broadcast media.

Her professional past includes working on Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel and serving as a writer and producer for documentary and educational films/videos. 

Karen Z. Brass is the President and Founder Of Can I Count On You LLC. She is a Standupster Presenter, author, international speaker, educator and small business owner

Her two published books, I Am a Standupster and her latest, Trauma Filters Through provide insights on the need for education on understanding and fighting against genocide.

Her website, www.standupsters.com is full of details, endorsements and photo opts of her speaking, sharing and educating. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, she shares through her second generation eyes the effects of such preventable trauma.

Lesley Carmel, CoAGG’s Board Secretary, is a multi-generational Colorado native whose heritage is deeply rooted in social conscience and humanitarianism. She is an advocate for vulnerable populations and maintains her family’s commitment to better the world through philanthropic efforts.

Carmel is a DU alumnus, with a Master of Conflict Resolution and International Studies, and her work with CoAGG allows her to directly contribute to combating genocide and crimes against humanity around the globe.

Barbara Coloroso is an international bestselling author and educator. For the past 52 years, she has excelled as an internationally recognized speaker and consultant on parenting, teaching, school discipline, positive school climate, bullying, grieving, nonviolent conflict resolution and restorative justice. She is the author of six international best sellers including the latest edition of The Bully, The Bullied, and The Not-So-Innocent Bystander, and Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide and why it matters.

She has appeared on CBC, CTV, GLOBAL, BBC, Oprah, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and NPR, and has been featured in the New York Times, Time, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and other national and international publications.

Tsegay Hailu is a seasoned geologist and environmental scientist with over four decades of international and domestic experience in hydrogeology, environmental protection, and water resource management. He most recently served as an Environmental Protection Specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Denver from 1998 to 2017, where he focused on regulating drinking water quality and providing technical support to public water system managers.

His earlier career includes roles as a geologist and environmental scientist with Geocal Inc. and J.F. Stao and Associates, where he managed projects, conducted site assessments, and performed geotechnical and hydrogeologic studies. Internationally, Tsegay worked with UNICEF in Ethiopia on emergency rural water supply projects and spent over a decade working on mineral prospection and geological mapping in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Sudan.

Tsegay holds a BA in Geosciences from the University of Hawaii and an MSc in Hydrogeology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Dr. Vern L. Howard is a Visual Information Specialist and the Founder, CEO and President of The Vern’s LLC, which oversees A’Star’s Photography & Media Solutions, The Vern’s Touring Company and The Vern’s Servicing Company. He also serves as President of Operations for Sew Amazing Embroidery and Quilting Company.

For over four decades, Dr. Howard has been a driving force in establishing and growing the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday in Colorado. As Chairman of the Colorado MLK Holiday Commission for 20 years, he has led major events like the annual Marade and initiated impactful programs, including youth conferences and scholarship awards reaching all 64 Colorado counties.

A respected civil rights leader, Dr. Howard helped flip Colorado during the 2008 election at the request of the DNC. He has held leadership roles with the NAACP, Black American West Museum and City of Denver, where he managed 350+ events annually and coordinated with the U.S. Secret Service for presidential visits, including Pope John Paul II’s 1993 trip.

Notably, he oversaw the creation of Denver’s “I Have A Dream” monument, honoring Dr. King alongside historic figures. Dr. Howard is also a seasoned public speaker, historian and author-featured community leader.

A proud family man, Dr. Howard is a devoted husband, father of six, grandfather of sixteen and great-grandfather of four. His most cherished recognition is being named “Parent of the Year” by his daughters.

John M. Krieger, J.D., LL.M is Executive Director of WorldDenver. He holds a Master’s of Law in International Law from American University and a law degree from University of Richmond. Over the last 12 years, he has held multiple leadership positions focused on communications, outreach, staff development and membership growth at national and Colorado-based non-profits. Most recently, he was Director of Campaigns at ACLU of Colorado, where he led communications strategy, volunteer recruitment, outreach, education, and community events during a period of more than 500% growth in membership for the organization.

Previously, Krieger was a staff attorney, lobbyist and Communications Director for the United States Public Interest Research Group in Washington D.C., where he led successful media and grassroots organizing campaigns on issues ranging from public health and product safety to eliminating waste and fraud in federal contracting. He directed a national field campaign to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which The Hill recognized as one of the top 10 lobbying victories of 2010.

Krieger has served on the Alumni Board of Directors for Flagler College, from which he earned an undergraduate degree in journalism and public relations in 2002 and was recently named one of the institution’s 50 Alumni of Distinction.

Kathy Loveberry was an executive assistant for 30 years with the Chotin Group Corporation. Prior to that, she worked in women’s retail, finally moving from Michigan to beautiful Colorado opening and managing several Hit or Miss stores, and dabbling in cooking along the way. She now has her own catering business, Partyhoppers.  

Loveberry has been with CoAGG for 20 years. She is passionate about advocating for human rights and representing those without a voice. 

Although the problem of worldwide genocide seems far away from CPA, Robin Pack, LLC’s daily life, and overwhelms her in its scope and magnitude, Robin Pack volunteers at CoAGG to do her small part to try to improve the world and make it a better place for her children and granddaughter. 

Her work at COAGG is her way of honoring the millions of victims of the Holocaust which might have been prevented or lessened if the world had not turned a blind eye to the Nazis’ atrocities. This is how Pack expresses the gratitude she feels everyday for the blessing of living in America. 

Rabbi Daniel A. Roberts (D.D., D. Div., F.T.) is rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu El, Cleveland, Ohio, where he served for over thirty-five years. He is also a Fellow in Thanatology as certified by the Association of Death Education and Counseling and has done extensive work on bereavement and mourning.  

Rabbi Roberts has produced a video on teenage suicide entitled  Inside I Ache , which has had national distribution. He is the author of a book on Clergy Retirement: Every Ending a New Beginning (published by Wipf & Stock Publishing Company),  and is a co-editor with Melinda Moore of The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service): Honoring their Memory, Comforting their Survivors (published by Wipf & Stock Publishing Company); After the Suicide Funeral: Wisdom on the Path to Posttraumatic Growth (Published by Wipf & Stock); and a children’s book: Once Upon a Kingdom: Parables of Ethics, Morals and Kindness. 

Rabbi Roberts is currently living at the Balfour Riverfront Park in downtown Denver, CO. 

Margo  A. Rocklin Goldman, J.D. concurrently serves on various executive boards including B’nai B’rith Colorado, the JCRC of Colorado and the National Alumni Association for the London School of Economics, where she received her MSc. in the Theory and History of International Relations.  She also obtained her B.A. from Northwestern University and her J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law. 

Goldman’s law practice has focused primarily on contract negotiation, company formation and financing transactions while dedicating time to nonprofit advocacy, public speaking engagements, legislative moderating and pro bono legal representation for asylees. 

She is fluent in Spanish and previously worked as an international journalist for Guidepost Publications in Madrid, Spain.  

Ken Suslak is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 50 years of experience as a therapist, educator and international consultant. He is a long-term social justice advocate since his earlier experience as a Freedom Rider and anti-war activist. He has worked in Africa, Bosnia and Cambodia on the impacts of war, genocide and inequality on children and families. He brings his lifelong passions to CoAGG to help in any way to end global genocide.

Dr. Suslak lives in the Boulder Foothills with his wife, clinical social worker and partner in Tikkun Olam, healing the world.

Marge Taniwaki is a survivor of incarceration at Manzanar near Death Valley, one of 10 major U.S. prison camps for those of Japanese ancestry during WWII.  She is a life-long community activist who speaks to the issue of incarceration and the intergenerational effects on its descendants and survivors. 

Based on her own personal memories of imprisonment as well as extensive research into the incarceration of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry – 2/3rds of whom were U.S. citizens – Taniwaki gives a truthful accounting of the lasting and ongoing effects of this unjust and racially based imprisonment. 

Karen Wilde is a retired federal service professional renowned for her dedication to fostering constructive relationships between tribal nations and governmental entities. With a rich background in public service, she has left an indelible mark on various national and state institutions through her expertise in tribal consultation and collaboration. She served as Tribal Relations Specialist for Mark Twain National Forest, and the Tribal Liaison for the National Park Service High Plains Group. She was a former executive of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, where she spearheaded initiatives to foster understanding and cooperation between state agencies, tribal nations and off-reservation tribal peoples. She made history as the first Native American to be nominated by a sitting Governor as a Trustee for a Colorado state institution of higher education, Fort Lewis College.

Wilde is a first-generation college graduate, having earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master’s Degree of Jurisprudence in Indian Law. She takes immense pride in her heritage as a proud citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma with Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma heritage. As a mother, grandmother and first-generation descendant of an Indian boarding school survivor, her personal experiences further fuel her commitment to advocating for indigenous communities and their inherent rights.

Throughout her career and personal life, Wilde has embodied the values of service, advocacy and cultural preservation, leaving a lasting legacy of respect, collaboration and empowerment within tribal and governmental realms alike.

He recently created a new course at MSU-Denver titled, “Black Lives Movement and the Origins of Modern Black Protest.” His research focuses on conservative right-wing social movements, anti-Black protest media messaging and White supremacist ideology. Dr. Wright’s most recent publication is titled, Communist Controlled Black Barbarism: The Citizen’s Councils of America’s Anti-Communist Master Frame Cluster and the Renovation of White Supremacist Ideology, published in Social Currents.

His current research includes an analysis of conservative rightwing ideology in the Cold War-civil rights era and its connections to today’s anti-Black Lives Matter propaganda rhetoric; a project on anti-Black social media memes and internalized racism; and a book manuscript on the segregationist organization, the Citizen’s Councils of America.

Originally from Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he spent most of his life in Miami, Florida, and other parts of South Florida, relocating to Denver, Colorado in Summer 2018. Dr. Wright is also a jazz guitarist and science fiction writer for an Afrofuturism comic series about musicians as superheroes in a post-apocalyptic future, called Avant Guardians.

For more, visit Avantguardians.com, or Instagram: @avantguardiansmovie and @avantguardianscrea.

Byuzand Yeremyan, a native of Yerevan, Armenia, is a respected banker and long-standing community leader.

He pursued higher education at the Armenian Institute of Civil Engineering before immigrating to the United States in 2003. Byuzand began his banking career in June 2006, and now serves as the Colorado Market Leader Vice President at Peoples Mortgage, where he has established himself as a leader in the industry. He holds a graduate degree from the Pacific Coast Graduate School of Banking.

Fluent in Armenian, Russian and English, Yeremyan is deeply committed to fostering community and cultural preservation. He serves as President of Armenians of Colorado, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustaining Armenian culture and heritage in Colorado. He is also a co-founder of the Armenian School, which provides over 60 students with weekly lessons in Armenian language and history.

His previous board positions include Treasurer of the Lone Tree Art Center Fund and President of the U.S. Bank Development Network. Yeremyan has always had a deep passion for education and culture, which continues to guide his work in the community.

Yeremyan is married to his wife, Anahit, and together they have three children: their daughter, Ani, and their sons, Alex and Davit. The Yeremyan family values travel and cultural exploration, enriching their lives with diverse experiences while maintaining a strong connection to their Armenian heritage.