The Open Door Fund of the Community Foundation is pleased to announce that Mardi Moore and David Ensign have been honored as Change Makers 2017. The awards were announced at the 20th annual Open Door Fund Gala on April 8. More than $70K was raised for the Open Door Endowment. The above photo features Amy Zuckerman and Kevin Ellis (far left and right), Co-chairs of the Open Door Fund; David Ensign (second from left); Kate Kendell Gala Guest Speaker (center); and Mardi Moore (second from right).
Mardi Moore
Mardi Moore has accomplished so much during her tenure as Executive Director of OUT Boulder County that it is hard to believe she’s only been here since 2013 and not forever. With almost thirty years of community activism behind her, Mardi came to Boulder County hoping to help make it a place that she would have felt comfortable growing up in. As a young Lesbian born and raised in the rural Colorado town of Las Animas, Mardi knew two things for sure. That she had to leave, and that her future had to include helping create a world more welcoming to queer kids than the one she left. At ODF, we believe she has done that and more.
We present a Change Maker award to Mardi for her tireless efforts to build bridges and make connections where none have existed before. Most especially we commend her for tripling OUT Boulder County’s programs and support base; for her work on behalf of the LGBTQ communities in Longmont where visible support groups were previously nonexistent, for her work to educate our public school administrators, and for her work in strengthening relationships between the LGBTQ communities and leaders in varied faith communities. In today’s political landscape Mardi believes more than ever that we not only must have faith in the fundamental goodness of human beings, but that we must also build lasting relationships with faith leaders if we are to preserve the political gains we’ve made as a community. Among Mardi’s strongest held beliefs is that laws are only the beginning of equality. Societal change only happens when hearts and minds change. In her role with OUT Boulder County, Mardi provides services for those who are the most marginalized, while at the same time having tough conversations with power brokers and folks who actively discount those they don’t understand.
Mardi has won many awards in the last year, including the 2016 PFLAG Boulder GLBT Activist of the Year, the GLBT Center of Colorado’s Trans Ally of the Year, and BCAP’s Local Legend award. She has earned every one of them, and we are proud to add the ODF Change Maker Award to recognize the range and magnitude of her accomplishments for our community.
David Ensign
Raised in Wisconsin, David Ensign built his career on the east coast and then moved to Boulder in 1994. He took an early retirement package from Cisco Systems in the summer of 2011, and has spent his time since then enjoying travel, interesting projects, and volunteering. Dave’s professional experience is in telecommunications and Internet services. He worked for ten years as technical staff for the Bell Telephone system, six years in the Cable TV industry, and eleven years for Cisco. One of David’s intellectual skills is to build opinions based on thorough research. Many of us eagerly awaited his editorials during the five years he wrote bi-weekly commentaries in the Daily Camera as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board.
We present a Change Maker award to David for the depth and breadth of service he has given the LGBT community in Boulder County. Rather than simply preparing for and attending board meetings, Dave actively participates in organization leadership. From 2007 through 2011 he was on the Board of Directors of Out Boulder, where he was treasurer for three years and president for one year. His focus was development of the fiscal health and financial infrastructure of Out Boulder. One of his ongoing contributions has been the annual garden party. David has been serving on the Boulder County AIDS Project board since 2012, where he was president for two years, and secretary for two years. Additionally, his focus at BCAP was to draft and spearhead adoption of the Policy and Procedures manual for the organization, a major undertaking. Since 2015, Dave has added two more organizations that have benefitted from his membership on their boards of directors. First, Motus Theater facilitates dialogue on critical issues by using the power of art to build alliances across diverse segments of the community. Secondly, the Gender Identity Center of Colorado provides support for all gender identities and expressions through direct services and social change.
Dave and his husband, Mike Mills, live in Boulder, where Mike is an Atmospheric Scientist at NCAR. Enjoyment of outdoor recreation has led Dave to complete nine marathons and climb almost all of the Colorado 14ers. He enjoys Nordic skiing, and has put many miles behind his skis in marathon Nordic races worldwide.
