Community Voices
Real Stories from Real Coloradans — Told in Their Own Words
Community Voices is a statewide storytelling initiative from Rocky Mountain Public Media’s Statewide Civic Engagement department. It uplifts first-person perspectives from across Colorado—through essays, audio stories, and short reflections that honor the lived experiences of the people who make up our state.
These stories deepen understanding of everyday issues, spark local connection, and broaden whose voices are represented in RMPM content across all our brands—RMPBS, KUVO JAZZ, THE DROP 104.7, and our digital platforms. Community Voices helps ensure our programming reflects more of Colorado’s communities, identities, and perspectives.
Every story we tell is a bridge—between languages, cultures, and communities.
As part of Community Voices, we partner with the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange (CEME) to share first-person narratives of lived experience from across the state. These essays are created and published through multilingual, community-rooted outlets, offering perspectives that are often missing in mainstream media.
CEME stories complement the voices surfaced through Ambassador64 and the dialogue sparked by Above the Noise—helping ensure RMPM’s storytelling reflects the full richness and diversity of Colorado.
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.
These pieces reflect different communities, experiences, and histories. We invite you to notice both what feels familiar and what feels new.
Community Voices
Native Lens
Native Lens is a film and video project that celebrates and amplifies Indigenous voices. Hosted by KSUT Tribal Media Center and Rocky Mountain PBS, Native Lens provides training and support to both showcase and help produce films by Indigenous filmmakers. By sharing vibrant works of Indigenous storytelling and cinema, Native Lens seeks to create community by connecting the stories, cultures and histories of Indigenous peoples throughout North America.
If you have a story to tell or a short film to share and you identify as Native/Indigenous, submit your work to be featured on Native Lens.
There is no single Colorado story. What you will find here are many lived experiences, shared in people’s own words.
Community Voices
Tribal Water Media Fellowship
The Tribal Water Media Fellowship is a partnership between RMPM, KSUT, and Fort Lewis College that has propelled over thirty college students to the forefront of research, community collaboration and equitable storytelling realms. Focused on Indigenous water topics to diversify the voices and stories being told in media, the fellowship takes a novel approach to teaching both ecological media and collaborative storytelling. Each fellow, with their unique blend of creativity and passion, chooses a subject from a broad range — from the intricacies of water rights in the American Southwest to personal narratives that reveal Tribal relationships with water as more than just a resource.
The Tribal Water Media Fellowship is open to current college students or recent graduates and they are invited to apply to join the next cohort of fellows.
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.