Our Team
Convivir Colorado
Tania Chairez
CEO & Founder
Tania is an undocumented immigrant with the privilege of DACA who was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.
For the past decade, Tania has prioritized her passion for the intersection of immigration and education as a grassroots community organizer for immigrant rights and as an educator in secondary and post-secondary spaces.
Karen Nuñez Sifuentes
Programs Consultant
- Relationship to migration: Undocumented immigrant from Mexico
- Professional background: BS in Biochemistry, entrepreneur, social justice advocate, researcher, community organizer, program coordinator
- Social Change Ecosystem role: Weaver
- Personal interests/hobbies: Traveling, storytelling, poetry
- Focus areas within Convivir: Mentorship program, Speaker’s Collective, Summer Program
Tiffany Smesrud
Operations Manager
- Relationship to migration: First-Generation American
- Professional background: Educator
- Social Change Ecosystem role: Builder
- Personal interests/hobbies: Volleyball, movies, eating, traveling
- Focus areas within Convivir: Data and evaluation, event logistics, financial processes, communications
Yesenia Hernandez
Spanish Outreach Coordinator
- Relationship to migration: Immigrant from Mexico
- Professional background: Sales, operations, customer service, Aurora Public Schools volunteer
- Social Change Ecosystem role: Caregiver
- Personal interests/hobbies: Time with family, karaoke, dance, travel
- Focus areas within Convivir: Parent engagement, Spanish outreach, Cafecitos
Vanessa Quevedo Barrios
Programs Consultant
- Relationship to migration: Immigrant from Mexico
- Professional background: Scientist, Arabic scholar, chemistry Ph.D student, community organizer
- Social Change Ecosystem role: Experimenter
- Personal interests/hobbies: Dancing, languages, painting, traveling
- Focus areas within Convivir: Arts and Conversation Series, Youth Leadership Council
Melany Muñoz
Executive Assistant & Facilitator
- Relationship to migration: Immigrant from Merida, Yucatan
- Professional background: Student at MSU Denver, pursuing BA in public health with a concentration in community health work and education
- Social Change Ecosystem role: Guide/Healer
- Personal interests/hobbies: Paddle boarding, working out/being active, and trying new food
- Focus areas within Convivir: Executive Assistant to CEO and Arts and Conversation facilitator
Tri Nguyen
Vietnamese Outreach Coordinator
- Relationship to migration: Immigrant from Vietnam
- Professional background: Financial Technology
- Social Change Ecosystem role: Disruptor
- Personal interests/hobbies: Fishing, gardening, and sports
- Focus areas within Convivir: Parent engagement, Vietnamese outreach
Tania Chairez
CEO & Founder
- Relationship to migration: UndocuQueer immigrant from Mexico with the temporary protection of DACA
- Professional background: Educator, community organizer, public speaker
- Social Change Ecosystem role: Visionary
- Personal interests/hobbies: Reading by rivers and oceans, Latin dancing, movie marathons
- Focus areas within Convivir: Financial development, people leadership, UndocuFriendly professional development, school partnerships