Colorado State University - Pueblo conference discusses creation of Pueblo’s future

Pueblo-  Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Center for Leadership and Community Development will host a community-wide conference on directions for Pueblo’s future, “Creating Pueblo’s Future,” on May 9 and 10.

In the opening plenary session on Friday, May 9, the Pueblo Poverty Study Group will present a panel discussion of the economic and social challenges and choices currently facing the community. The session will be held from 7-9 p.m. in the Life Science Auditorium. Presenters include David Cockrell, senior planner for the City of Pueblo; Corinne Koehler, vice president, Wachovia Securities; Hector Arambulo, management consultant; Mary Gunn, Pueblo grantmaking manager for the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and Jayne Mazur, executive director of Catholic Charities of Pueblo.

The presentation will be followed by a full day of working strategic planning sessions sponsored by CSU-Pueblo’s Center for Leadership and Community Development and funded by the Packard Foundation. The sessions will be held from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 in the Occhiato University Center. Registration is required. Only attendance at the Saturday conference requires registration. The Friday session is open to the public at no charge.

Over the last year, the CSU-Pueblo Center for Leadership and Community Development, led by CSU-Pueblo Professors Gayle Berardi and Colette Carter, conducted leadership training for residents of the Y-neighborhoods, with the intention to engage and develop leadership resources in the less advantaged city neighborhoods. The May 10 conference seeks to move forward that leadership training and to serve as a launching pad for projects aimed at solving some of the common problems the Y-neighborhoods and the entire community share. The conference will create a platform for collaboration and cooperation among the neighborhoods and among the citizens of Pueblo. Ultimately, the Center’s vision is a city with more self-sufficient neighborhoods engaged in civic matters.

A 4:30 p.m. concert by the Veronika String Quartet, artists-in-residence at CSU-Pueblo, will conclude the day.

For more information, contact Gayle Berardi, professor of political science and co-director of the Center for Leadership and Community Development at CSU-Pueblo at 549-2679 or gayle.berardi@colostate-pueblo.edu or Colette Carter, assistant professor of political science and co-director of the Center, at 549-2426 or Colette.carter@colostate-pueblo.edu



Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.