The ADL Mountain States Region is pleased to announce the honorees of our 2023 Civil Rights Awards:  human rights advocate Nga Vương–Sandoval and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. They will be recognized at a reception from 5:30-7 p.m. Sept. 13 at The Cable Event Center in Denver. Full details, including tickets and sponsorship opportunities, are at http://www.adl.org/civilrights2023.

 

Nga Vương–Sandoval is a proud Việtnamese refugee, a product of her ancestors, a fierce human rights and social justice advocate for underrepresented, forcibly displaced, and at-risk communities, a pursuer of knowledge, and a conservator of identity and culture. She and her family fled their homeland due to the Việt Nam War and became refugees. They were displaced in refugee camps before resettling in the U.S. and were known as “boat people.” Nga serves as the U.S. Refugee Advisory Board Project Manager, the first U.S. initiative connecting refugees and forcibly displaced leaders in the U.S. to regional and international policy bodies to ensure meaningful engagement in policies affecting them. She’s a TEDx Presenter, a Refugee Congress Honorary Delegate, an advisor with Refugee Advisory Group for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the first refugee elected to Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains Board of Directors, and a founding member and public speaker with Colorado Refugee Speakers Bureau. She led the effort of the Lunar New Year Allies advisory group to pass legislation in 2023 to recognize Lunar New Year as an observed state holiday.

 

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser was sworn in as the state’s 39th Attorney General on January 8, 2019. As the state’s chief legal officer, he is committed to protecting the people of Colorado and building an innovative and collaborative organization that addresses a range of statewide challenges. Weiser has dedicated his life to the law, justice, and public service. Before running for office, Weiser served as the Hatfield Professor of Law and Dean of the University of Colorado Law School. He served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice and as Senior Advisor for Technology and Innovation in the Obama Administration’s National Economic Council. Before his appointment at the Justice Department, Weiser served as a law clerk to Justices Byron R. White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the United States Supreme Court and to Judge David Ebel at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The son and grandson of Holocaust survivors, Weiser is deeply committed to the American Dream and ensuring opportunity for all Coloradans.

 

The co-chairs of the 2023 Civil Rights Awards Reception are Rebecca Gart and Laura Perlov.

 

Sponsors (as of June 20) are:  The Lusher and Curtiss-Lusher Families, GSR FUND, Inc. by Rosenblum Family, Elisa Moran and Gary Kleiman, The Quiat Companies, and Lisa and Jonathan Perlmutter.

 

More information at:  www.adl.org/civilrights2023