- An Alliance For Community Action
- (970) 256-7650
- info@WesternColoradoAlliance.org
The Uncompahgre Valley Alliance is hitting the road!
At the wheel, we have newly elected affiliate leadership. These drivers will keep us focused on the road – keeping the car in good health and making sure that we don’t get lost and. Together, they bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and commitment to make the journey.
Mel McKelvey, our chair, is a natural leader and also a fount of new ideas. She was the event coordinator for the 2022 San Juan Rural Philanthropy Days and was site director at the Black Canyon Boys and Girls Club. She joined our Alliance at the People’s Lobby Trip this past March along with John English! John English, communications chair, was motivated to lend his talents to our Alliance after attending our Community Conversation last December. He recognizes why good communication is so critical in organizations. Especially ones with members that come from all walks of life. He spent his career as a leader in the regenerative agriculture space, even getting the opportunity to represent Colorado at the Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Board.
Kendra Stucki has been a member of the Uncompahgre Valley Alliance for the past four years and has always been ready to participate and lead. She was a part of the homelessness caucus in the Alliance before the decision was made to focus on childcare. For the past year, she has been working tirelessly to help the Alliance car get going, and is still committed by stepping up as our membership chair because “… a solid membership that will support the Alliance mission is both empowering to those members and the leadership team as we continue to grow our organization.” Laura Baker answered the fundraising chair call. She started off with our organization in the early days of the deep listening initiative, attending one of our first ever trainings on the topic! As a bilingual canvasser and a well-connected community member, she has grown the Uncompahgre Valley Alliance’s network and people’s access to it. Lastly, Bobbie Kuns has the important role of treasurer. Money is a crucial resource to keep this car going and she will be the one tracking every cent. Which is fitting because she is a highly experienced controller, both in the profit and not-for-profit industries.
The energy source fueling this vehicle is our campaign. Through it, we get to bring vitality to our mission and our vision of local people leading their communities. Over the past few weeks members of the public transportation team have been riding on the All Points Transit public bus and interviewing the bus riders. The team is asking, “What is the main reason you ride the bus? What do you like about the services? What improvements would you like to see?” and offering an invitation to join our work of bettering public transportation in Montrose. An online survey is also being circulated and in it we want to ask everyone, whether they ride the bus or not, what barriers they face in taking public transportation. We are about half way through this portion of the campaign issue identification process and some running themes have become apparent. People want weekend service, they want benches at the bus stops, and they want two buses on the residential route. These wants won’t happen magically: it will require a coordinated campaign effort and the Alliance is the community organizing group to make it happen.
Our new leaders and our first campaign action is proving that we are ready to put our organizing skills to the test.
Bianca Diaz hails from northeast Florida, and brings a background in volunteer management, activism, and community building. She worked in the procurement world for a few years before making the big leap to move out west. She landed a position as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Colorado Canyons Association and the Bureau of Land Management to connect youth and families to the three National Conservation Areas here on the Western Slope. During her year of service, she realized that helping people and working to solve the root causes of our most pressing social issues was her true passion. Off the clock, she loves reading random Wikipedia articles, listening to music, taking care of her worm compost bins, walking her dog, and stargazing!