Sexual Health Educators Convene at Fourth Annual CoSHI Summit

On August 5-7, almost 70 individuals from across Colorado’s youth-serving organizations convened in Avon for the fourth annual CoSHI Summit. Over the three-day conference, speakers from diverse initiatives and community organizations led group discussions and self-reflection activities to teach strategies for professionals to more effectively work with youth and communities.

A pervasive theme explored throughout the presentations was the importance of connecting culture and history to sexual health advocacy. The Denver Indian Family Resource Center (DIFRC) discussed how connections to native culture like ribbon work, beading, and teaching the medicine wheel act as a protective factor for native youth. América Ramírez from the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) detailed the history of reproductive rights and justice in Colorado, the United States, and Puerto Rico.

Other sessions — such as presentations by Life as Told by Youth, Andrew Aleman with the Lived Experience (LEX) Project, and Gen Morris from Western Slope Empowerment — highlighted the power of storytelling, centering lived experiences, and taking a trauma-informed approach. After learning how to “Harness Your Innate Power” from Dominique Morgan of The Fund for Trans Generations at Borealis Philanthropy, and investigating the intersection of faith and sexual health education with Reverend Candace Woods participants left the Summit with new internal insights and skills. The hope is that participants will use the knowledge they have gained to continue engaging in complex conversations with young people and the communities that support them.