Meet Her Agenda’s Denver Event Curator: Kristen Petty

Her Agenda has officially launched a local event curator program. We are looking for women who are in the know, to contribute to our database of events, conferences and panels focusing on their local communities. If you are interested in joining, or learning more, fill out this form.

Kristen Petty initially planned to pursue a career in writing with a focus on the environment. She’s a 2010 graduate of Colorado State University where she earned a degree in Journalism and Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism.   However, after being involved in several community service clubs and other extracurricular activities, she realized that she enjoyed working in communities rather than simply writing about them. Following her graduation, Kristen took on an internship at Engaged Public, a small firm that strives to bridge the gap between people and policy. Three years later, she now serves as their Senior Project Specialist. In the future, Kristen hopes to transition to a career in teaching; her passion lies in women and girls education.

To get the scoop on this unique and impressive, young professional, I had the honor of interviewing Kristen for Her Agenda’s ongoing eventcuratorseries. Read on and find out what life experiences have attributed to Kristen’s career:

Her Agenda: What does your typical workday look like?

Kristen: I get in between eight and nine o’clock in the morning, and I’ll check my emails and voicemails. My day depends on the client we have. We might have a large-scale public engagement effort where we’re used to set up meetings across the state of Colorado. I’ll be contacting venues. I’ll be trying to get bids and contracts for hotel rooms, or I could be creating a PowerPoint for a presentation that we’re having with a client. I could be doing phone interviews, asking our client stakeholders questions about the issue at hand. We also get to do some fun things. We partner with this organization called WorldDenver, and they work with the state department to host international groups that come to Colorado to learn about different organizations’ groundbreaking work and how they engage the public. We just had one from Palestine yesterday, and we had one with India a couple weeks ago. So, my day really doesn’t have a typical routine. The only thing that’s routine is emails. I live in email.

Her Agenda:What motivated you apply to the event curator position?

Kristen: I wanted to be involved in something that would be beneficial for women my age, and I felt that I had the time, skillset and the knowledge to do a good job. I also want to put Denver on the map. So, it just seemed like a good mission and something that I would like to be a part of.

Her Agenda:What do you think makes Denver a unique city?

Kristen: They’re doing a lot of innovative things to try and bring more art and culture to Denver. Our former mayor and now governor is all about art, culture and innovative businesses, so a lot of new things are happening here in our town. I think Denver has an interesting, old pioneer spirit with this new combination of art.

Her Agenda: Her Agenda’s motto is “no one ever slows her agenda”- what is your personal motto/mantra?

Kristen: My mom used to say this a lot- “Wherever you go, there you are.” I think people sometimes limit themselves and say, “I can’t do x, y or z unless I move to New York,” or, “I’m not going to be happy until I (fill in the blank).” It really doesn’t matter where you are when you have the talent to pursue whatever you want to do. So I guess by saying “wherever you go, there you are,” it means just trust in yourself that you have it within you to do what you want and need in your life. Don’t rely on what’s around you or wait for the opportunity to come to you.

Her Agenda: Have you ever experienced an “aha” moment after leaving an event, panel or conference? What was that feeling like?

Kristen: At the International Women’s Day event that I went to a couple months ago, there was this young woman from Poland who was my age, like twenty-five or twenty-six. I learned that in Poland, there are no women in politics; they just don’t have a lot of say or voice in the political process. The Polish woman kind of just said, “Well, that’s not fair,” and she got a bunch of women together to make this organization to lobby for women. I remember feeling really happy to see someone so young and ambitious making a difference. Taking on something like that isn’t easy, so seeing her have the courage to do that made me feel that I can do what I want to do. Teaching isn’t as noble as overcoming gender-inequality in a country, but it’s kind of my equivalent. I want to teach, so I’m going to pursue that. I left feeling like, “Well, if she feels like she can do this, and she’s making a difference, then I can too.”

Her Agenda: What is your favorite place that you have traveled?

Kristen: It may be because this was the most recent trip, but India has to be my favorite. I’ve been to Jamaica, Ecuador, and Italy. I also went to Catalina and South Dakota for some service work too. But yeah, I would definitely say India. The people there were the most generous, loving, and spirited people that I’ve met. That’s usually my favorite part about my travel experiences; it’s who I meet and interact with. The work I did with the all-girls school was really rewarding and further set in stone my path to pursue education as a career.

Interested in becoming a local event curator? Fill out this form, and we’ll be in touch with more details. 

Also, be sure to check out the events, panels, and conferences you need to add to your agenda in our calendar, here.

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