Community Voices
Real Stories from Real Coloradans — Told in Their Own Words
Community Voices
Real Stories from Real Coloradans — Told in Their Own Words
Community Voices is a storytelling collaboration between Rocky Mountain Public Media (RMPM) and the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange (CEME), created to share personal reflections from people across all 64 counties of Colorado.
Each story comes directly from community members—offering honest, heartfelt perspectives on life in our state. They’re not news reports, but first-person essays that build understanding, spark connection, and help us all feel a little more seen and heard.
Every month, Community Voices features new essays that celebrate identity, belonging, and the beauty of different lived experiences across Colorado. Stories are translated into Spanish and Mandarin and shared with CEME partner outlets, ensuring that people across languages and regions can read, hear, and recognize themselves in Colorado’s public media.
Community Voices is a storytelling collaboration between Rocky Mountain Public Media (RMPM) and the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange (CEME), created to share personal reflections from people across all 64 counties of Colorado.
Each story comes directly from community members—offering honest, heartfelt perspectives on life in our state. They’re not news reports, but first-person essays that build understanding, spark connection, and help us all feel a little more seen and heard.
Every month, Community Voices features new essays that celebrate identity, belonging, and the beauty of different lived experiences across Colorado. Stories are translated into Spanish and Mandarin and shared with CEME partner outlets, ensuring that people across languages and regions can read, hear, and recognize themselves in Colorado’s public media.
Why It Matters
When people tell their own stories, they reclaim power.
When those stories are shared widely, they help us recognize our shared humanity.
Community Voices is more than a column—it’s a bridge. It connects neighbors across cultures and counties, and it strengthens trust between local communities and the media that represents them.
This partnership helps RMPM and CEME:
- Amplify underrepresented and multilingual voices across Colorado.
- Create a more inclusive statewide public media network.
- Use local insight to inform future coverage, dialogue, and engagement strategies.
Together, these stories remind us that belonging isn’t something we’re given—it’s something we build by listening to one another.
How It Works
- Monthly Series: New stories published each month online and through CEME’s ethnic media network.
- Translation & Reach: Essays translated into Spanish and Mandarin to ensure access across Colorado’s multilingual communities.
- Audio Narratives (Coming 2026): Writers will soon narrate their own stories for radio and digital platforms.
- Community Insight: Themes and lessons from these essays inform future Above the Noise dialogues and Ambassador64 gatherings.
“Every story we tell is a bridge—between languages, cultures, and communities.”
Explore essays from Coloradans across the state: Each piece offers a glimpse into what makes Colorado home—from the Eastern Plains to the Western Slope, from mountain towns to city streets.
“Every story we tell is a bridge—between languages, cultures, and communities.”
We Want to Hear from You
We’re inviting Coloradans everywhere to share their stories—of identity, discovery, and what it means to belong.
Tell us about a moment, a place, or a person in Colorado that changed how you see yourself or your community. Your story doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be real.
Every submission helps public media better reflect the people it serves—starting with you.
You can also email your reflections directly to Ambassador64@rmpbs.org.
Part of a Statewide Movement
Rocky Mountain Public Media’s Statewide Civic Engagement initiative creates a continuous listening framework—a statewide civic infrastructure where residents don’t just consume stories, they shape them.
Above the Noise
Community gatherings and film-based dialogues that help Coloradans listen, reflect, and connect across difference.
Ambassador64
Brings together individuals and organizations who are already trusted connectors in their communities.
Community Voices
First-person stories from Coloradans, shared with the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange and translated into Spanish and Mandarin.