Read the Welcome message in English, Korean, Japanese, and Spanish.
Thank you for visiting Diverse Fort Collins, a volunteer-driven community project advocating for antiracism and racial equity. We connect people with resources and each other.
Read more about the Diverse Fort Collins Book Group below.
As this website develops, you’ll see lists of community organizations, ethnic businesses (such as restaurants that specialize in the cuisine of other countries) and businesses owned by people of color; a land acknowledgment, a glossary of terms, a list of the wonderful people who are Diverse Fort Collins sponsors, advisers and volunteers (including those who will translate this welcome message into Arabic, French, German, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, Russian and other languages).
You’ll also be able to connect with new friends who want to expand their social circles through discussions and other events.
A little about me: I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. My mom is from the Philippines and my dad (who is Mexican-American from Roswell, New Mexico) grew up in East L.A. I moved to Fort Collins in 2002, and though I was often aware that I was the only person of color in the room, it wasn’t until I attended the 2015 Multicultural Community Retreat and joined my workplace’s equity and inclusion team that I began making new friends of diverse backgrounds, identities, abilities and experiences.
My love of Fort Collins and my work in racial equity, diversity and inclusion inspired me to create Diverse Fort Collins.
Our community lands on many top 10 lists for reasons we’ve all heard. On the flip side, many of my friends and colleagues who are people of color and I have had not-so-positive experiences. Some have experienced racism, racial profiling and discrimination. Some have been vocal; others silent. Some have moved away and returned; others will never return.
On a happier note, I’m glad to see many businesses displaying signs such as “All Are Welcome Here” (Thank you, Toolbox Creative!) and “Safe Zone: This space respects all aspect of people, including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, religion and ability” (Thank you, Happy Lucky’s Teahouse!)
One opportunity to get involved in Diverse Fort Collins is by joining us for book group discussions.
Read details about the next book group meeting on the Events page.
And mention the Diverse Fort Collins Book Group at Old Firehouse Books to receive a 20 percent discount off the paperback. Book group selections will feature fiction and nonfiction titles.
If you like what Diverse Fort Collins is about, please consider supporting us with your time (volunteer) or money (sponsor). We seek volunteers to help with event coordination, website content development, writing guest Community Voices guest commentaries, strategic planning, technology, sponsorships, etc.
Email DiverseFoCo@gmail.com if you’re interested, or if you have questions or comments. We’d love to hear from you.
And follow us on social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DiverseFortCollins and www.facebook.com/DiverseFoCo
Instagram: @DiverseFortCollins
Twitter: @DiverseFoCo
There’s so much more I could say. I’ll leave it for future posts.
I love Fort Collins, and I love my life and friends here.
I hope you’ll join us. All welcome. Let’s co-create an inclusive community!
Katherine Valdez
Founder and Executive Director, Diverse Fort Collins
Bio
Diverse Fort Collins founder Katherine Valdez is a former newspaper reporter and nonprofit communications director who has lived in the city since 2002.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she is an award-winning writer whose latest essay was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was published in Rise: An Anthology of Change edited by Northern Colorado Writers, which won the Colorado Book Award for anthology/collection.
Katherine has summitted 65 Colorado thirteeners and fourteeners, and dozens of other peaks around the West.
Diverse Fort Collins 