Crisanta Duran: Speaker, Colorado House.

AuthorAndrade, Jane Carroll
PositionTHE FINAL WORD - Interview

Crisanta Duran is a sixth-generation Coloradan who grew up in an activist and union family. She received the 2016 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award from EMILY's List in 2016 and was A included on The Washington Post's "40 Under 40" list of rising political stars in 2014. Duran majored in public policy at the University of Denver and earned her law H degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was elected to the House in 2010.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? It was not speaker of the House! When I was 15 years old I traveled to Watsonville, California, to march with strawberry workers and community activists to bring a voice to the voiceless and try and elevate some of the issues they were facing related to wages, health conditions and so forth. I was raised with that value of bringing people together to create change. The older I got, the more I started to think about politics and how being a legislator could be a vehicle to create change and make sure the voices and values of people in the state were well represented.

What is your most important legislative priority and why? To make sure that our budget reflects our values, so that we are investing in boys and girls across the state of Colorado to be able to reach their full potential. We have an incredible quality of life in Colorado, but to be able to preserve that, we have to do some serious planning as it relates to our budget and our transportation and education systems.

What does it take to be an effective leader? I think an effective leader is somebody who listens to a variety of different perspectives and tries to problem solve, and is someone who will speak out against issues that can be divisive. In my opening-day speech this year, I talked about how we cannot and must not tolerate attacks against women, minorities or anyone based on their religion or LGBT status. It's crucial that we don't normalize language that is simply not normal, and that we rise above partisanship and ugly politics 1 to do what is right.

What are the advantages and drawbacks of being a leader at a relatively young age? I think it's a great advantage being 36 in this role. Politics is changing and we have more young people, women and people of color getting involved with the political process. I'm a firm believer that the more inclusive government is, the more likely we're going to get the best policies.

What will it take to achieve more diverse representation in...

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