News from the DA / July 15, 2016

The Latino Engagement Fund’s New Director

Dave Montez, Executive Director of One Colorado and former Acting President of GLAAD, will begin as the Director of the DA’s Latino Engagement Fund in September. Dave also spent five years at the Gill Foundation, where he spearheaded the Latino Initiative, building support among Latinos for marriage equality, nondiscrimination, and safe schools – in addition to encouraging many LGBT organizations to push for immigration reform.

More about Dave:

Dave Montez is the Executive Director of One Colorado and One Colorado Education Fund, overseeing the development and strategic advancement of both organizations’ vision and overall mission.

Under Dave’s leadership, One Colorado saw phenomenal success from helping to bring the freedom to marry to Colorado to defeating anti-transgender bathroom bills and religious exemptions legislation and expanding One Colorado’s visibility and donor base outside the Denver Metro area.

Prior to joining the One Colorado team, Dave served as the acting president of GLAAD. During his tenure there – where he also served as Chief of Staff – the organization made its final push to lift the Boy Scouts’ ban on openly gay youth. He also helped develop a coordinated strategy within the LGBT movement in support of immigration reform.

Dave also worked for five years as a program officer at the Gill Foundation, one of the nation’s leading funders of LGBT equal rights work. While there, he focused on comprehensive advocacy campaigns to achieve policy change at the state level.

He also spearheaded the foundation’s Latino Initiative, which has built support among Latinos for marriage equality, nondiscrimination, and safe schools – in addition to encouraging many LGBT organizations to advocate for immigration reform. Through the Latino Initiative, Dave oversaw a seminal project to establish a values connection with the Latino community on LGBT issues. The results of this project now serve as the basis for many public education campaigns focusing on Latinos.

Dave grew up in the southern Colorado town of Gardner, later graduating from the Metropolitan State University of Denver. He has served as a mayoral and gubernatorial appointee to a number of Colorado boards and commissions.