Colorado native Monisha Merchant has always had a commitment to giving back to her community.

After studying both at MIT and Yale respectively, she returned to Colorado ready to devote herself to making her home state and even better place to live, work, and receive an education.

That’s why Monisha, a 2009 graduate of the CPL Colorado Political Leadership Fellowship, chose to run for the University of Colorado Board of Regents. “The University of Colorado is three billion-dollar institution and we are the 4th largest employer in the state,” Monisha explains, “But as a member of the Board of Regents, I also am committed to making sure that we address the needs of the students first.”

A New Opportunity
Before winning her seat in the University Board of Regents, Monisha was very politically involved in Denver and other parts of the state, being a very visible volunteer on Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign.

During the 2008 election, she had the opportunity to meet and work with other political leaders in the state. Monisha’s work on the Clinton campaign and her passion for expanding access to education got the attention of key leaders in the state, who encouraged her to run for the Board of Regents.

“I was campaigning [for Clinton] all over the state, and established relationships with other local elected officials, “ says Monisha. When Congressman [Ed] Perlmutter asked me about running for the Board of Regents, I agreed to run because as a native of Colorado, I thought it was a great way to give back to the state and put my passion about education into action.”

Introducing Technology to Youth and Closing the Achievement Gap

Since being sworn into the Board of Regents in January 2009, Monisha has set goals that speak to her devotion to widening educational opportunities for underrepresented communities. “In addition to a more diverse community at the University, I want for students who come from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to feel that everything the University of Colorado has to offer is accessible to them.”

Monisha is also passionate about getting more women and people of color to pursue careers in science and engineering. For Monisha, this devotion is a very personal one; she studied electrical engineering as an undergraduate student at MIT. “There are some great opportunities in the science and technology fields, and I would love to see more kids getting excited about math and science early.”

A New Vision for Local Leadership

Monisha has begun exploring ways to reach out to underrepresented groups about opportunities in science and engineering as a result of her CPL Fellowship training. It was during the fellowship that Monisha realized that she wanted her impact in the community to go beyond the Board of Regents.

“Through CPL, I realized that there are many more organizations I needed to work with in order to reach out to more students about career opportunities in technology,” she says. As a result of this lesson learned from the CPL Fellowship, Monisha has taken on other leadership roles in addition to the Board of Regents. She was recently elected chair of Colorado Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA). Mesa works with middle and high schools across the state to engage students in hands-on science and engineering learning projects.

In addition to encouraging her to expand her community involvement, Monisha says the CPL Fellowship helped her navigate Colorado politics.

“Even though I was very active during the 2008 Presidential Election, I didn’t know much about the political landscape in Colorado, and CPL helped me better understand what organizations work to advance a progressive agenda.” The Political Leaders Fellowship was a place to explore her passion and to create a roadmap for making the changes she wanted to see in her home state of Colorado, and reflect on her own place in the progressive community.

“It’s not often that people spend time being self-reflective,” Monisha says when thinking about her experience with the Fellowship. “The CPL Fellowship helped me focus on my personal development and to set more effective political goals.”