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2026 Keynote Speakers
Opening Keynote Speaker | Wednesday, October 7 | 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
Session Title: Coming Soon
Session Description: Coming Soon
 About the Speaker
Rowena Alegría
Rowena Alegría (she/her) has built a career around serving community in journalism, public service and engagement. She served as Denver’s Chief Storyteller from 2019-2024 and believes in the power of story as a vehicle for making connections, facilitating conversations, and highlighting issues and accomplishments. She seeks out opportunities for storytelling projects with an eye for new voices and new approaches, as well as projects that involve research, writing, and community planning and empowerment.
Ro began her career in a newsroom, from reporting and editing at The Denver Post to editor and publisher of the state’s largest and most influential Latine media outlet at the time. Appointed by Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock to serve as his Chief Communications and Community Engagement Officer, she oversaw strategy for all media, communications, marketing, crisis and engagement for the administration and the city. She founded the Denver Office of Storytelling, the world’s only storytelling, cultural preservation and narrative change project, which was nominated for six Heartland Emmy Awards, created nine documentary films and about a hundred short films and made four million impressions on social.
Ro was among the urban thought leaders at the first Bruner Debates on Urban Excellence in 2025 and is a contributing author to “Place and Placemaking,” a book that resulted from the debates and is forthcoming from Routledge Press. She was the 2021 Ricardo Salinas Scholar in Fiction at Aspen Words and the Jack Jones Literary Arts Victor LaValle Fellow in 2019. She is writing a novel that plays with time and the history of the Southwest. For more, see RowenaAlegria.com.
Closing Keynote Speaker | Thursday, October 8 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Session Title: Coming Soon
Session Description: Coming Soon
 About the Speaker
Vivek Shandas
Vivek Shandas is a professor and researcher at Portland State University whose work focuses on urban planning, public health, climate adaptation, and the built environment. He supports public agencies and non-profit organizations in addressing challenges related to extreme heat, air quality, environmental justice, and climate resilience through data-driven and equitable approaches. Dr. Shandas has authored more than 100 journal articles and five books, with work featured in The New York Times and National Geographic. He serves on the USDA’s National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council, National Academies, and is lead scientific advisor to CAPA Strategies.
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