Rowena Alegría (she/her) has been a private investigator, journalist, film producer, speech writer and Denver’s chief storyteller.

Adopted at birth and raised in Corky Gonzales’ hometown but arriving late for the Chicano Movement, she is fascinated by inheritance and identity. Much of her writing, including novel-in-progress 500 SPRINGS, explores the many layers of time, where we come from and how our environment helps shape the nature we are born with.

She is a six-time Heartland Emmy nominee, was Naropa University’s 2024 Cobb Peace Lecturer, 2021 Ricardo Salinas Scholar in Fiction at Aspen Words and 2019 Jack Jones Literary Arts Victor LaValle Fellow. She once moderated an evening with the incomparable Rita Moreno.

In 2012, Ro was appointed by Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock to serve as his senior communications adviser and city communications lead. In 2018, she founded the Denver Office of Storytelling and served
as the city’s Chief Storyteller until 2024, when the office was closed. DOST created nine documentary films and about 100 short films, received five official film festival selections, and twenty-seven awards, including one from History Colorado for an outstanding contribution to state history.

Ro earned an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and is a member of Sandra Cisneros' Macondo Writers Workshop. Her creative writing has appeared in publications including The Rumpus, Mississippi Review, Hennepin Review and a 2023 anthology titled We Are the West.

Chris Aguilar-Garcia (he/they) is a Queer Chicanx writer and creative with a 30+ year administrative career in community-minded and nonprofit organizations. Their work has included roles in HR, operations, fundraising, event planning, and internships. Their relationship with The Word began in 2019 as a board member, and they have been engaged in the [margins.] conference since its inception.  As a writer, Chris’s primary interests are creative nonfiction and screenwriting. A noted scholar of the musician Prince, they have presented their work examining the queerness of Prince at international, national, and regional academic conferences. Their work in the entertainment industry included stints as a video editor at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios and as a film producer assistant. Other passions that occupy their time are all things Frida Kahlo, the films of Almodovar, Madonna, concerts, and crossword puzzles. They hold a BA from Antioch University Los Angeles in Liberal Studies with a minor in Queer Studies, and they live in the Denver area with their husband and chihuahua mix.

A Texas native, Leah briefly moved to the East Coast to attend Rosemont College to pursue her dream of working in publishing. Not long after graduating with her B.A. in English and History, Leah found an agency home at Ladderbird Literary Agency as a Junior Agent and now, after five years, has grown to become a Senior Agent and a member of the AALA and an alum of their LAOC mentorship. Leah returned to her alma mater to pursue her M.A. in Publishing. After having accomplished her dream of working in publishing, she moved back to Texas to begin her next adventure and continue searching for the next project that will hook her (or make her cry). She is a tenacious advocate for BIPOC writers and is always looking for ways to bring more diverse intersectionality to the publishing industry.

Viniyanka (she/her) founded the Word in 2016 and serves as Executive Director. She speaks regularly on issues of cultural equity, and serves on a variety of boards and committees including on the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs and as the co-Chapter Head for PEN America's Denver Chapter. She has previously served on the 100th Anniversary Committee for Children's Book Week, and the advisory committee for the Colorado Teen Lit Conference. She is a 2023 Livingston Fellow. 

In addition to her work with The Word, Viniyanka is a practicing criminal defense attorney. She formerly served as a litigation attorney and the Chief Appellate Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana Federal Community Defenders, and also litigated with a civil rights firm in Denver focusing on police misconduct claims. Her legal commentaries have been included in the Chicago Journal of International Law as well as presented to committee at the United Nations. 

​

Viniyanka holds a J.D. from The University of Chicago, a Publishing Certificate from The University of Denver Publishing Institute, and a B.A. from The University of Texas.