Pete Maysmith, Executive Director, began doing organizing work immediately after graduating from Duke University in 1991.  Over the course of the last 20 years Pete has done on-the-ground organizing, run state and national field campaigns, lobbied at the city, state, and national level, done extensive earned media work, directed statewide candidate and ballot campaigns, run a statewide non-profit, and served as senior leadership staff of national organizations.  More recently, Pete was making a difference in key Colorado races as a partner with Confluence Strategies.

Pete brings energy, passion, hard work, and creativity to the non-profit work he does. He moved back to his home state of Colorado in 1996 and lives with his wife and two red-haired daughters in Denver. He completed an evening law degree from the University of Denver in December of 2008, graduating with honors. In whatever spare time he can find he trains for marathons, bikes, reads, and cooks.  Pete’s two favorite Colorado places are Rocky Mountain National Park and the San Juan Mountains.

Julie DeSisto, Development Coordinator, brings enthusiasm and a political organizing background to CCVEF. Over the course of the last few years, she has organized numerous events for nonprofits, alongside working with many of the state’s politicians. Prior to being involved in politics, Julie attended the University of Colorado where she graduated with Honors in 2005. Her father encouraged her beliefs of being active in the issues she found important at a very young age. Having grown up in Boulder, she was energized by the solidarity of community. She stood along side her father protesting for local business, the closing of Rocky Flats, and stood alone advocating for a veteran librarian whose job was cut due to budget restraints. She only further realized her passion for politics after traveling to Cuba and Venezuela for humanitarian purposes and saw first hand the importance of a democracy. When Julie is not volunteering within the community, she is enjoying the beauty of Maroon Bells and spending time with her family and friends hiking in Boulder’s 43,000 acres of Open Space.

Brian Graves, Online and Field Organizer, brings a tireless attitude and campaign organizing experience to CCVEF. He was the field organizer defeating both “personhood” initiatives. He also completed voter outreach projects on behalf of numerous candidates. With a background in sales he found that advocating for causes rather than products was much more enjoyable and rewarding, and being an Eagle Scout he has found a home with environmentally focused CCVEF. You can find him hiking Mount Evans and camping out near Goose Creek.

Ben Gregory, Deputy Director, brings fourteen years of development experience to CCVEF. His past experience includes fundraising for the Science Museum of Virginia, Averett University and the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center. He holds a B.S. in Business Management from Averett University. A native of rural Virginia, Ben has been proud to call Colorado home for over ten years.  Ben’s two favorite Colorado places are the Pawnee Buttes and Colorado National Monument.

Faith Winter, Program Director, also serves as a Westminster City Councilor. Faith has spent her entire career inspiring people to action whether it is the thousands of women she trained to run for office at The White House Project, the young voters she turned out in 2004 or engaging her constituents on important issues facing Westminster. In 2004 Winter was named one of 30 people under 30 showing political leadership by the Youth Vote Coalition, in 2008 Winter was named one of the top ten most influential women in Denver by the Denver Examiner and in 2010 she was named Woman of the year by Colorado Business and Professional Women, northwest chapter. Winter loves organizing because she believes the best way to create change is by building power through people. She has fun doing it, because a job isn’t worth doing unless you laugh once in a while. Faith’s two favorite places in Colorado are Rocky Mountain National Park and the Roaring Fork Valley.