DJPC Director – Rebeca Zúniga-Hamlin
Born in Nicaragua and grew up in both Nicaragua and Guatemala, from a young age, she has been committed to political action on behalf of the excluded by serving the poor and underprivileged. Her own mixed background – Nicaraguan Miskito Indian and white North American – has allowed her to commit to the long-term struggle for social justice, challenging unfair economic and criminal systems that affect the immigrant communities. She also has a keen understanding of the intersecting patterns of exclusion along dimensions of race, ethnicity, language, gender, immigration-status, and class. Rebeca has served as a translator and interpreter providing humane and culturally aware services to people in need. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, where she serves as the director of the Denver Justice and Peace Committee, a grassroots organization that advocates and educates for human rights, economic and environmental justice in Abya Yala.
DJPC Board of Directors
Lynn Holland, has been a board member since 2017. As a student, she spent a summer in Nicaragua and toured a Salvadoran refugee camp while the contra war was going on in the 1980s. In more recent years, she has traveled with DJPC human rights delegations to Honduras, Peru, and Chiapas, Mexico to learn about efforts to combat the adverse impacts of metal mining on human health, community life, and the natural environment. As part of the board, Lynn has helped coordinate the Chiapas human rights delegation, assisted with fundraising and written frequently about the impacts of mining in rural areas and the dangers of authoritarian rule in Latin America. She teaches international studies at the University of Denver and serves as an expert witness in asylum cases.
Preston Enright, was born in Philadelphia, where he attended a Quaker elementary school, and lived subsequently in Omaha and Fort Collins, where he attended Colorado State. During a year off, he worked as landscaper and met a veteran of the Salvadoran military who told Preston of the massacres and human rights violations of the US-backed regime. Preston’s interest in US empire had been awakened, and on his return to CSU, he saw a talk by Noam Chomsky, and things haven’t been the same since. He subsequently worked with the Committee for Peace and Justin in Latin America and went to Nicaragua on a cultural exchange with a Boulder-based solidarity group, “Los Pipitos.” He has continued travel in Latin America, and he has politics has evolved to focus on grassroots media, including a YouTube channel called The Public Mind of Denver, and a program of leftist lectures on Denver’s community access television station, working with David Barsamian of Alternative Radio. For fun, he rides his bike, hands out copies of Yes! Magazine, and volunteers his time representing DJPC at community fairs, tabling and meeting people to educate them about DJPC and the causes DJPC defends.
Natasha Kerr has worked on social and economic justice issues relating to migrant farm workers, refugee, & immigrant rights, environmental justice, nutrition and homelessness for a variety of statewide, national, and international organizations. She is a long-time supporter of DJPC and joined the board in 2019. Her recent work on the board involved coordinating the 2019 Build for Peace volunteer project. Natasha supports DJPC’s efforts creating greater awareness, political action, and solidarity across borders. She is inspired by the community activists in Latin America struggling for land, water, and self-determination and believes people in the U.S. have a great deal to learn from communities in resistance. She holds a M.A. in International Development with a concentration in Environmental Studies. Natasha graduated from the Circle of Latina Leadership in 2007. She currently lives in Denver and enjoys the outdoors, cultural events, concerts, traveling and everything involving DJPC.
Adrina Shaikh joined the DJPC board in 2022. She first supported DJPC in 2012-2013 as a Sustainable Development and Mining Intern, elevating Indigenous Peruvians’ voices in their journey to uphold environmental justice and human rights. Before her internship with DJPC, she graduated from the University of Denver with an M.A. in International Development. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Anthropology. She has several years of experience as a Research Associate crafting narratives for clients who were seeking asylum in the U.S. Currently, Adrina works as a Tribal Relations Specialist for the Indigenous Engagement program at AECOM. She is passionate about issues that affect Indigenous Peoples and local communities and in applying a human rights-based approach to environmental projects, conservation and community engagement. Uplifting voices has been a common thread throughout her career and she hopes to continue this work as a board member for the Denver Justice and Peace Committee.
Ruby Tedeschi
Mariah Richardson
Michelle Moran-Taylor