The Alliance for Collective Action is grateful for the contributions that Colorado State Senator Faith Winter made to her colleagues and friends as we mourn her tragic and premature loss yesterday for her family, children, her partner, and this state.
After Faith was National Program Director for EnviroCitizen from 2003 to 2005, we in the Alliance Center first met Faith when she was hired to be the National Field Director for The White House Project. WHP became a tenant in our Center where it ran its Vote/Run/Lead program focused on supporting and building a pipeline of women, especially younger women, across states who aspired to run for office or take on leadership roles and participate in activism and civic leadership.
Faith’s commitment to collaboration and innovation was evident in her tenancy in the Alliance Center. There, she fostered partnerships across sectors, connecting nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government entities to drive meaningful and lasting change. The Alliance Center was a hub of creativity and collective action, embodying her belief that diverse voices and shared purpose are essential to building a better world.
In her Director’s role at the White House Project from 2005 – 2010, Faith coordinated and expanded nationwide fieldwork to identify, recruit, mentor and support prospective candidates, organized trainings or “boot camps,” built regional outreach. Following WHP’s closure in 2013, Vote/Run/Lead was re‑launched as an independent nonprofit organization in 2014. Faith continued to work part-time with V/R/L for the rest of her life.
Utilizing years of experience training others, Faith herself ran for public office and served as a member in the Westminster city council from 2007 to 2014. During this period, we were fortunate to continue working with Faith when she held the position of Program Director for Colorado Conservation Voters 2010-2013, also a tenant in the Center. In 2013, CCV merged with the Colorado Environmental Coalition, the Alliance Center’s vey first tenant, to become Conservation Colorado. Faith then became Executive Director for Emerge Colorado from 2013 – 2015, where she continued to help women run for office.
Faith was elected in 2014 and then re-elected in 2016 to represent Colorado State House District 35. In 2018, she decided to run for the Colorado Senate as one of the “Fab Five” Democratic women challenging or defending competitive seats. Faith won her race handily and was re-elected in 2022 culminating in being elected assistant majority leader in September 2023. Her background in training and organizing provided her with deep understanding of both policy and civic organizing — a foundation that informed her legislative work to advance gender equality, promote equity and civil rights especially women’s reproductive rights and
choices, protect the environment, and mitigate global warming.
Faith’s resilience and tireless dedication touched the lives of all who knew her. While her passing leaves an irreplaceable void, her spirit lives on in the policies she championed, the leaders she inspired, and the community she so dearly loved. We honor her memory by carrying forward her vision of a Colorado—and a nation—where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Our deepest condolences go out to her family, friends, and all those whose lives she enriched. May her memory inspire us to continue her work with her passion and
dedication.
On behalf of all who knew and cared for Faith,
John Powers
Alliance Co-Founder and Board Member