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My name is Jovita Schiffer, and I am proudly joining the race for Colorado State Senate District 18 as a progressive Democrat and innovative equity-focused leader.
Born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, I moved to Superior, Colorado in 1999, shortly after falling in love with the Boulder area during a business trip. I knew on my first visit here that this was where I wanted to raise a family.
At the time, I was a director of human resources in the telecommunications industry and I later built and operated a family business, for several years. I joined Boulder Valley School District in 2012, where I create and oversee extended learning centers that help close opportunity gaps for historically marginalized students. In addition to my role with BVSD, I work closely with the University of Colorado as an independent consultant and research partner, promoting equity in the county through collaborative research on teacher wellness, STEM programs for minoritized youth, social justice teacher education, and community partnerships to support families.
As your Senator, I will continue that work of expanding Colorado’s advocacy for children and families while ensuring everyone in our community has opportunities for well-being as we confront the challenges of housing, the climate crisis, and its direct impact on our residents, and preparing our kids and ourselves for the known and unknown challenges of the 21st century.
I trust that my diverse lived experiences will resonate with many fellow District 18 residents, and my history of practical leadership, creative problem solving, and unwavering commitment to social and economic justice will give District 18 residents, students, workers, and businesses a strong champion in the Senate.
I have a long history of elevating the voices of those who are often left out of the conservations and decisions that impact them most, and I believe that our common humanity strengthens our ability to work together toward the values and dreams we all share.
This campaign isn’t just about me running for office, it’s about the progress we can make together, and about the future we envision of a more progressive Colorado where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, and people matter more than politics. As I build my platform in collaboration with the community, I will spend the next few months on a listening tour to ensure that the issues I prioritize reflect those that our community feels the most urgency around and that I can authentically fight for and champion.
If you share that vision, please consider getting involved with my campaign using the form on this page or reach out to me directly at [email protected]. We can do this!
Elevating the voices of those who are often left out of the conversations and decisions that impact them most.
Together we can do this!
My name is Jovita Schiffer, and I am proudly joining the race for Colorado State Senate District 18 as a progressive Democrat and innovative equity-focused leader.
Born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, I moved to Superior, Colorado in 1999, shortly after falling in love with the Boulder area during a business trip. I knew on my first visit here that this was where I wanted to raise my family.
At the time, I was a director of human resources in the telecommunications industry and I later built and operated a family business, for several years. I joined Boulder Valley School District in 2012, where I create and oversee extended learning centers that help close opportunity gaps for historically marginalized students. In addition to my role with BVSD, I work closely with the University of Colorado as an independent consultant and research partner, promoting equity in the county through collaborative research on teacher wellness, STEM programs for minoritized youth, social justice teacher education, and community partnerships to support families.
As your Senator, I will continue that work of expanding Colorado’s advocacy for children and families while ensuring everyone in our community has opportunities for well-being as we confront the challenges of housing, the climate crisis, and its direct impact on our residents, and preparing our kids and ourselves for the known and unknown challenges of the 21st century.
I trust that my diverse lived experiences will resonate with many fellow District 18 residents, and my history of practical leadership, creative problem solving, and unwavering commitment to social and economic justice will give District 18 residents, students, workers, and businesses a strong champion in the Senate.
I have a long history of elevating the voices of those who are often left out of the conservations and decisions that impact them most, and I believe that our common humanity strengthens our ability to work together toward the values and dreams we all share.
This campaign isn’t just about me running for office, it’s about the progress we can make together, and about the future we envision of a more progressive Colorado where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, and people matter more than politics. As I build my platform in collaboration with the community, I will spend the next few months on a listening tour to ensure that the issues I prioritize reflect those that our community feels the most urgency around and that I can authentically fight for and champion.
If you share that vision, please consider getting involved with my campaign using the form on this page or reach out to me directly at [email protected]. We can do this!
As a progressive democrat, my foundational beliefs align with many in District 18 and the generally left-leaning Front Range. I believe that every human born into this world deserves an equal chance at happiness and wellness. I believe that government has a societal, moral, contractual obligation to provide for its people. And I believe those people should be celebrated, regardless of race, culture, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Where I differ is that I don’t pretend I have immediate solutions for these wildly complex problems.
My life has been built on research and analysis, problem solving, and overcoming adversity. My lived experience coupled with my lifetime of work in equity-focused, intersectional spaces has given me an unusual lens (at least for a Boulder politician) through which I view mechanical and interpersonal solutions. One of those beliefs is that elected officials hold the sacred job of being able to listen, analyze, adapt, and actualize solutions, even if they came from someone else with a better idea.
These are some of the issues that are front-of-mind for the people of Boulder and District 18. They will evolve as my campaign continues.
Celebration of Diversity
Why this is close to me: As a woman of color, I have faced obstacles that others have not faced. I empathize with those whose identities are not the “default” for the Front Range, because I am one of them.
Why Colorado: Colorado sits at the center of the national debate on what it means to be accepted as queer, as black, as human. The recent Supreme Court cases of 303 Creative and Masterpiece Cake Shop do not reflect the hearts and minds of the average Coloradan, but rather are the results of the tremendous strides we have made as a state toward equality colliding with outdated, conservative, non-constitutional thinking.
I have spent the last two years leading a research project funded by CU Boulder’s Renee Crown Wellness Institute to study the harms of racism. I’ve learned that we have a long way to go in the fight for social justice and equality, and I will prioritize legislation for the rights of all who are excluded.
Practical, Sustainable Housing
The obvious need: People who work in a community should have the opportunity to live in that community. It’s ok to downsize. It’s ok to commute. But it is not ok to live without dignity.
Complex thinking: With rising rents, competitive housing market, insurance rates and real estate taxes, many families and individuals are being squeezed out of the neighborhoods they called home. This issue is far more nuanced than building more condos and calls for the lived experience of navigating this community to discover genuine solutions.
I’ve spent years working on my own housing stability in Boulder County. I lost a home to foreclosure in 2012 and worked hard to rebuild my life and my credit for 8 years. In 2020, I bought a home again, only to nearly lose it to the Marshall Fire. As a Senator, I will work to find practical solutions for sustainable housing, climate resilience, a livable wage and other issues that promote housing stability for all.
Education
We can all agree: Every child deserves equitable access to a high-quality education that will meet them where they are and give them every opportunity to succeed, regardless of race, social or economic status.
We aren’t there yet: Despite Colorado’s extraordinary growth and progress, our public education system remains underfunded and under-resourced. As a result, kids slip through the cracks, and opportunity gaps persist.
I work with teachers who support our kids and community and see what they can accomplish when given the resources to do their work. I will fight for increased funding for education, extended learning centers, mental health support and the wellness of every child in Colorado.
Mental Health + Wellness
A foundation: Happiness and connectedness vs. loneliness and otherness. As a region, as a state, and as a society we have undervalued the importance of these foundational human needs.
Recognition: United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is calling attention to the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in our country. The human desire to feel joy and belonging—while never replacing food, clothing, and shelter in our hierarchy of needs—should always be paramount in governance.
Transportation
Why it matters: Transportation intersects directly with the challenges of housing, climate, infrastructure, and employment.
The bigger picture: Transportation needs to always be part of the larger conversation around the issues we face together in Colorado. It represents a climate-friendly, people-forward, mechanical solution to a better quality of life.
Together we can do this!
Paid for by Jovita for Colorado. Registered Agent: Jovita Schiffer