Tasia joined the Colorado Health Institute (CHI) in July 2009 as a Colorado College Public Interest Fellow. She provides research support for several staff members on various projects and represents CHI as a member of the Recruiting and Retaining Youth of Color Task Force. One of her major projects is staffing the Colorado Alzheimer’s Coordinating Council (CACC). Tasia acts as liaison between CHI and CACC and provides the council with background research on Alzheimer’s disease in Colorado. The council will produce a report to the legislature in the fall of 2010.

Before coming to CHI, Tasia attended The Colorado College and graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts in American political economy and a minor in urban studies. Her degree integrated politics and economics to examine social structures, institutions, ideologies and culture within the United States.

Tasia spent a semester studying social justice issues in Chicago through The Associated Colleges of the Midwest Urban Studies program. She interned at Chicago Jobs with Justice where she was responsible for maintaining the outreach database and organizing public meetings and actions for workers’ rights. For her personal project, Tasia worked with the Hyde Park Herald on an oral histories project documenting the lives of people living in the soon to be demolished public housing developments on Chicago’s south side.

Tasia also had the opportunity to study social justice and nonprofit culture in Bahia, Brazil. Her experience helped her bridge the gap between the American and global political economy and helped her gain a global perspective of the issues facing society today.

Except for her brief stints in Chicago and Brazil, Tasia has lived in Colorado her whole life. She grew up in Pueblo, Colorado, and attributes her passion for social justice to growing up in the old steel city. She hopes to live in several places throughout her life, but will always call Colorado home.

Tasia’s interest in urban studies also stems from her love of art and music. Though she does not create much of either, Tasia enjoys living in the city because of the vast opportunities to interact with art and the wealth of music that cities attract. She worked in art galleries in college and hopes to someday combine her passion for social justice and art.