Valerie Mays is originally from Manhattan, Kansas where she earned an Anthropology degree with minors in Leadership Studies and Spanish at Kansas State University. After that, she decided to adventure onwards to Southern Colorado in 2019 where she got to do a year and a half of service with AmeriCorps. In Alamosa she learned of people’s stories about poverty, homelessness, and what kind of barriers people may have to accessing their basic needs. From here she fell in love with embracing her values of service and community while helping empower others to find a way to thrive in whatever ways that may look like. Living in Durango, Colorado is an absolute dreamland to her and feels lucky to be here. In her free time, she likes getting lost in the woods, taking a swim in lakes and rivers, cooking, and live music.