The Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights partnered with Centennial 38, the official fan club for the Colorado Rapids, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City on March 22 to cheer on the Rapids as they faced off against the Portland Timbers.
But the organizations didn’t just get together for camaraderie, and the Rapids literally wore their support on their flashy, hot-pink kits.
March is Women’s History Month, and to celebrate and show support for women who have served and are serving as trailblazers in sports and society as a whole, the Rapids hosted Women’s Empowerment Night. COLOR and C38 hosted a fundraiser for some of the women in COLOR to travel to Washington next month to lobby for causes paramount to the Chicana community.
The Rapids also took advantage of the evening as an opportunity to give a warm welcome to the Denver National Women’s Soccer League, selling scarves in support of the NWSL’s 16th team coming to Denver in 2026.
La Ciudad had a chance to speak to some of the high school and college-age women involved with COLOR at the game about what this opportunity meant to them.
Aliyah Acevedo, a senior at Adams City High School and student board member for Adams 14 School District, described what the partnership with the Rapids meant for COLOR’s advocacy efforts.
“It means a lot to all of us because we are working so hard to empower other people who are people of color, people who identify as female or non-binary,” Acevedo said. “It’s so big because we don’t see this recognition very often. For someone as big as the Rapids to give us the opportunity, it just means we’re doing the work that really needs to be done and that someone is recognizing that, and we are getting somewhere.”
Acevedo first got involved with COLOR through Karen Varón, who encouraged her participation in the organization and connected her with opportunities to engage deeply in advocacy and leadership.
Mellanie Santaella Ornelas, a student studying neuroscience psychology on a pre-med track at Front Range Community College and CU Denver, was introduced to COLOR through a friend involved in Weld County activism. She described her involvement with COLOR as a lark that became a mission.
“I have a friend who works for Weld County; her name is Ceci, she goes to CU Denver,” Santaella Ornelas said. “She sent me the opportunity. [My friend] Diana likes to call it my little side quest to my field, but it’s definitely something I’m very passionate about.”
Next month, the COLOR group, including nine students, will travel to Washington on April 6-9 to lobby lawmakers directly for issues deeply impactful to the Latina community. The students had a preview of this process at Latino/a Advocacy Day and gave them hands-on lobbying experience.
“We have the opportunity with the program after the sessions to go to D.C. and lobby,” Santaella Ornelas said. “Just a few weeks ago, we went to Latino Advocacy Day, where we also got to lobby. We got a little bit of experience to prepare us for D.C.”
Acevedo said the bills that COLOR would be advocating for in Washington reflect the concerns of their community.
“We’re lobbying for a lot of the bills that we ourselves are passionate about and do research on, as well as asking our community what bills … they’d also like us to lobby for,” Acevedo said. “For example, on Latino Advocacy Day, we were lobbying on Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 1285, which protect workers from extreme temperatures and extreme weather conditions. These bills reflect what our community needs, like school funding, immigrant protections and Medicaid.”
For many of the participants, lobbying efforts are deeply personal. They see this advocacy as necessary and urgent; they say marginalized communities increasingly need strong voices in their corner. Santaella Ornelas added that supporting marginalized communities isn’t limited to those who can afford to donate.
“You also have the opportunity to use your voice,” she said. “Your voice can be very loud if you want it to be. Share it on social media, share it with your community. The more people learn about nonprofit organizations like COLOR, the more involvement we’re going to have, and the bigger our voice is going to get.”
Diana Pantoja Ortiz, another student activist involved with COLOR, emphasized the importance of people physically showing up to support activism efforts, particularly those who have privilege and access.
“If you feel comfortable enough, put yourself on the front lines,” Pantoja Ortiz said. “A lot of minorities are putting themselves on the front lines. For instance, Jeanette [Vizguerra], she’s in the ICE center, and she’s a prominent undocumented activist. If you have the privilege, put yourself in front.”
Beyond financial donations and social media advocacy, COLOR members said that community presence at rallies and other events significantly bolsters the visibility of critical issues affecting marginalized groups.
“One of the biggest things is just coming down to these rallies and saying, ‘I support the people in this community, and I support the people who don’t have the voice to support themselves,’” Acevedo said.
The group is still collecting contributions for the Washington trip. Click here to donate.