Jesse Leon is a San Diego based bilingual author, consultant, and public speaker with a focus on vulnerable communities’ access to quality mental health care, substance abuse services, and housing. Jesse’s traumatic experiences, chronicled in his memoir, I’m Not Broken, fuel his advocacy and inform the work of his consulting practice. He shares ideas as a lived experience expert on how to ensure survivors move from living in trauma to being triumphant.

Ashley Cornelius (she/her) is the Pikes Peak Region Poet Laureate. She is a nationally recognized and multi-award-winning spoken-word poet, facilitator, cultural worker and keynote speaker. Notably, Ashley has opened up for former U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo and performed for the Grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee. She is also the Co-Director of Poetry719, a Black-led poetry group lifting the voices of marginalized communities and BIPOC folks through art. Ashley is committed to using poetry as a platform for those who have been historically silenced.