Denver Pride

Denver Pride is one of the five largest celebrations of LGBTQ+ people in the United States. Each summer, over half a million people come together for this ultimate weekend of love, diversity, and equality during a two-day festival, parade, and 5K that’s held in the heart of Colorado’s capitol.

Denver Pride is also unique from other pride festivals of its size in that it serves as a fundraiser for The Center on Colfax. 83% of the proceeds from this annual celebration are reinvested directly back into the local LGBTQ+ community through The Center’s year-round mental health services, peer support groups, social programming, and educational workshops.

In 2023, I joined The Center on Colfax’s team as a Communications and Marketing Manager. In addition to my duties of leading the year-round program marketing for the organization, I supported the communications and public relations needs of Denver Pride each summer. I collaborated with the team to create engaging social media posts, informational website content, and compelling newsletters and targeted email communications to festival, parade, and 5K participants. 

I took on a larger role in managing the media relations and public statement needs of Denver Pride in 2025 when I was promoted to Senior Manager of Public Relations and Communications. I crafted effective storytelling pieces that conveyed the link between Denver Pride and the critical services provided by The Center on Colfax, bringing in donations and expanding awareness of how the festival serves as The Center’s largest annual fundraiser. I fostered relationships with local reporters and publications to secure strategic placements for news from Denver Pride. I also developed messaging strategies to satisfactorily address community concerns and prepared a crisis communications plan to be utilized in case of emergency situations. On site at the festival, I coordinated with members of the media to ensure interview needs were met and individuals properly credentialed. Additionally, I captured the high-energy festivities in photo, video, and social content to live-document the event and to create visually engaging assets to be used in marketing for the following year.