Roshan Bliss | Resume

Worked with executive leaders and educators from APS’s community school-based “innovation zone” to train teachers and leadership on shifting from tokenizing, adultist modes of student engagement and pedagogy toward measurable, anti-adultist frameworks for fostering meaningful student involvement in the school and more authentic student agency in the co-governance model of community schooling. Served as an implementation coach to community school coordinator and deans of Aurora West College Prep Academy as they rebuilt the school’s culture and student leadership model from the ground up.

Served as a lead organizer of a three-year research and advocacy campaign that led to the 2020 pilot of an alternative, non-law enforcement response to 911 calls. Coordinated a research trip to Eugene, OR for a delegation of grassroots advocates, elected officials, police & 911 professionals, funders, and social service providers to learn in-person about the CAHOOTS mobile crisis response model, then helped manage the efforts of community-led working group tasked with structuring and rolling out a similar response in Denver, which became the first of its kind in a major US city. The efforts led to the creation of the Support Team Assisted Response program (STAR), which has received national attention for replication and received $3 million to fund its expansion in 2022.

Managed every aspect of Colorado’s first-ever student-led participatory budgeting process (PB) in 2018, which saw 1,000 students democratically spend $43,000 across the three higher-ed institutions of Denver’s Auraria campus. Later tapped by the City & County of Denver to serve as an advisor and lead community consultant to its first-ever PB pilot that sought to engage the entire city in democratically spending $2M on public projects.

Launched and served as lead adult organizer and policy director for a six-year campaign to pass legislation to empower 16- and 17-year olds to vote in CO school board elections. Organized the initial coalition, recruited and trained student organizers, and co-designed an innovative leadership structure that allowed for true youth-adult partnership and youth leadership in a policy advocacy campaign across four state legislative sessions. Served as lead lobbyist for the student leadership committee and worked closely with legislators to craft ground breaking legislation and gain support from education leaders and local officials.

Served for six months as a facilitator for a stakeholder engagement process aimed at generating consensus-based recommendations regarding the future of the School Resource Officer Program within PSD schools with special attention to the experiences of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Council members and student experiences. The work concluded with over fifty practical and innovative recommendations presented to the Board of Education from the CAC.