Yangson Baker bio to come.

Regina Edmondson is the Operations Manager for CEDS Finance. CEDS supports entrepreneurial dreams of refuges, immigrants, and other underserved community members with financing (up to $50,000), providing capital to start, grow, or acquire a business. As a member of the Investment Team, she is responsible for various tasks necessary for the successful implementation of the microfinance program as well as ensuring the successful implementation and impact of CEDS.  Prior to coming to CEDS, Regina spent over 10 years in the nonprofit community including roles as the Assistant Director of Development at The Community College of Aurora Foundation and Assistant Director of Student Life at Community College of Aurora. She currently serves as the President-Elect for the Rotary Club of Aurora, Current Vice President of 5280 Business and Professional Women, and is the Chair of WIN (Women in the NAACP). As a former International Flight Attendant, Regina has spent over 15 years traveling the world and has lived in China, Japan, South America, and Europe. Regina is a small business owner and enjoys the opportunity to work with fellow entrepreneurs. 

Debi Hunter Holen is a native Coloradan, living in Aurora since 1978. She is currently employed as the Assistant to the Chief of Equity and Engagement for Aurora Public Schools. Throughout her career she has witnessed the importance of quality education standards for all children.

She served on the Aurora Citizens for Excellent Schools (ACES), helping to pass the APS bond and mil levy in 2008 and the bond in 2002. She has served as the president of the Nunez Foundation for four years, has been on the Nunez Foundation Scholarship Committee for six years and helped establish the summer school program for middle school-aged students in Aurora and neighboring school districts. She has been a board member of the Asian Pacific Partners in Leadership for Education, is on the military academy selection board for Congressman Perlmutter, has served as Aurora PTA Council president and has been on the Colorado PTA board, among other volunteer board positions.

Lorie Beth Jewell got the travel bug at age sixteen when she traveled to Germany and stayed with a host family. Her love of travel and cultural exchange has grown over the years through her time working for various non-profit agencies. Including Up with People the international, educational, performing arts touring program and the African Community Center refugee resettlement program. Lorie is excited to share her love of learning and travel and add to the tally of visiting 26 countries so far. Please join her on the journey.

Paul Rosenthal,  served in the Colorado State House from 2013-2018, representing parts of Denver and Arapahoe counties.  He sponsored several Colorado Sister Cities Day celebrations which brought together organizations from around the state to celebrate their success and work.  He also sponsored Refugee 101 forums so legislators could meet refugees, immigrants, and nonprofits.  He was the go-to person in the legislature for all international dignitaries and would ensure they had a warm welcome.  Paul is also active with the Denver Sister Cities. Education is critical for Paul.  He has taught at a youth correctional facility for boys in Watkins, east of Aurora for the past 11 years.  He teaches Social Studies, English, and Special Education.  He has received teacher of the year awards from his school (2013) and Junior Achievement (for Economics instruction)(2020).  He has been appointed by two Mayors to serve on the Denver Community Corrections Board from 2005 through present.

Global connections are in Paul's DNA.  He is originally from San Francisco, and he has lived and traveled extensively globally.  He also enjoys cooking
diverse ethnic foods for his friends in his spare time.  He is honored to help further Aurora Sister Cities' mission!

Mary Spillane joined Comcast in 2011 to manage partnerships and programs that improve and enrich Colorado communities, investing resources in ways that help communities realize the transformative potential of media and technology to solve problems, improve lives and create opportunity. The company is committed to increasing access to technology, to investing in programs that help individuals build the skills needed to fully participate in the digital economy, and to empowering innovators, entrepreneurs and Comcast employees to use media and technology for good.

Mary leads strategic planning for community investment work in all states included in Comcast’s Mountain West Region – Colorado (the regional headquarters), Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. She is based in Denver and manages implementation of community investment activities across Colorado. Last year, Comcast contributed more than $14 million in financial and in-kind resources to community programs in Colorado.

In addition to managing partnerships and support for more than 200 Colorado organizations and programs, Mary leads such initiatives as the annual United Way employee giving campaign, outreach related to Internet Essentials, Comcast’s signature high-speed internet adoption program for low-income families, and the annual Comcast Cares Day, a celebration of the company’s year-round commitment to service that has become the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer event. In April 2018, more than 5,000 Comcast employees, family members, and community partners completed over 75 different service projects across Colorado on Comcast Cares Day.

Prior to joining Comcast, Mary spent 15 years working in communications and fundraising roles for nonprofit organizations, including ReSurge International, which enables impoverished children in developing countries to receive year-round access to reconstructive surgical care, the Colorado Symphony, Denver Public Schools Foundation, and Civic Center Conservancy, dedicated to restoring and activating Denver’s historic Civic Center Park. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Colorado Community Colleges and on the Community Advisory Council for Phamaly Theatre Company, which produces professional scale plays and musicals cast entirely of performers with disabilities. She previously served on the Board of Directors at the Aurora Public Schools Foundation.

Rachel Stetz  is a Student Experience Specialist with Colorado Technical University, where she has worked for over 10 years. In her role, she works as part of the Office of the Ombudsman, assists with student wellness, and is also a Title IX Investigator for the University. Rachel has a Master’s in Student Affairs for Higher Education from Colorado State University, a program with an emphasis on diversity and social justice in the higher education environment.

Ms. Stetz enjoys international travel, and is looking forward to her next opportunity to take a trip!

With almost 30 years of experience in Public Relations, Kimberly Stuart is the Communications Director for the City of Aurora, Colorado—a community of 350,000 people. Prior to her current role, she worked for the United States Senate and a previous US presidential administration. On any given day she can find herself strategizing the latest public issue or crisis, working on a story with the media or editing the team’s latest print materials.

Ms. Stuart holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado-Denver. She enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Katrice Traylor has always been a leader.  She cut her teeth excelling in sales and later a member of management in extremely male-dominated industries.  In 2015, she began utilizing her talents as an influencer in advocacy, leadership, and coalition building to actually make a change in our community.  By 2018, she was an executive committee member for several non-partisan groups, advocating for underserved communities in Aurora.  Later,  she is the Director of Constituent Services for Congressman Jason Crow.  Now, she is a small business owner working as a political strategist to help form communities we can be proud of.

Dr. Christopher R. Ward, PhD, is Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness at the Community College of Aurora (CCA). He is responsible for overseeing the college’s institutional research, planning, grant development and reporting, external partnerships, communications and marketing, accreditation, and several grant-based adult education programs. Prior to coming to CCA in 2000, he spent eight years in the University Center for Social and Urban Research at the University of Pittsburgh. He worked in the Center’s Generations Together program which developed and conducted research on programs that brought together children, youth, and older adults.

Ward earned his PhD in International and Development Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1988. He wrote his dissertation on the re-emergence of academic anthropology in China based on fieldwork at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou. He is co-author of several books and has taught courses (English as a Second Language and anthropology) at CCA, the Community College of Denver, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Colorado-Denver, LaRoche College, Portland State University, and National Taiwan University. Born in Portland, Oregon, Ward grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota, graduated there from Concordia College, attended San Francisco Theological Seminary in California, and began his career running a youth hostel ministry in Portland, Oregon.

Lawton Shinsato is the owner and founder of Pacific Rim Cultural Exchange. He has been professionally managing and consulting for Japan-USA student cultural exchange trips since 2004.

Lawton is the first child of 2nd and 3rd generation Japanese-American parents. Lawton’s love of Japanese and other Asian cultures began with his father, a long-time Denver City Attorney who later became the first Japanese- American Judge of Northglenn, Colorado. His father, who maintained strong ties to Japan, dedicated his service and other activities in Colorado working with immigrants from all over Asia.

Lawton started martial arts when he was 14 and during college was heavily involved in Judo tournaments. Lawton’s passion for Judo has continued and he spends time volunteering as a Judo instructor at Denver’s oldest Judo club, DBT Judo dojo (a non- profit organization). He frequently helps them raise money for equipment, as well as connecting them with Judo clubs in Japan.

Lawton was a business owner before founding Pacific Rim Cultural Exchange, but PRCE has ignited in him his true passion for linking Japan and the United States in friendship activities.

Becky Hogan is the Managing Member of Edge Consulting Services. She is responsible for directing the efforts of project development, with a special focus on site due diligence, planning and entitlement services. Hogan also provides oversight in economic development and strategic planning, client service, project development, community partnership building, incentive negotiation and government advocacy.

Through two decades of professional experience in economic development, Hogan has built unique relationships and credibility with cities throughout the metro area. She has managed efforts in job creation as well as retail development for Parker, Westminster, Broomfield, Longmont, Wheat Ridge, Bennett, Timnath, Northglenn, Fort Collins and other area communities. Hogan earned certified economic developer (CEcD) accreditation in 2001 after completing her studies at the Economic Development Institute through the University of Oklahoma. She has served on numerous boards throughout her career and is active in the Aurora community, with a focus on the Sister City programs.