Mika is the yearlong policy fellow. Having just graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Colorado College, she is grateful for the opportunity to get hands-on experience in public policy with the ACLU of Colorado.
In 2022, Mika began their career in electoral politics working as an intern for Colorado Springs City Councilwoman Yolanda Avila’s SD-11 campaign. After, Mika began working with Upstream, LLC, a political consulting firm focused on getting young women elected into state and local government positions in Colorado. Through Upstream, Mika worked directly with Representative Elizabeth Velasco as her calltime manager during her successful campaign to represent HD-57 on the Western Slope. In this space, Mika began to truly experience the joy of being surrounded by marginalized voices and identities, especially queer and trans people of color, who are – and should always be – at the forefront of state and local elections and policy making. Now, she is incredibly excited to be part of a team that strives for their work to be informed by the lives of those whom it most affects.