About
Our mission is to build a strong and thriving Colorado where all residents are treated with dignity and respect and have equal access to a fair and just quality of life and the opportunity to live united with family members. We achieve this mission through advocating for fair, humane and workable public policies and by increasing the civic participation of new Americans.
History of CIRC
Cool Timeline
CIRC Action Fund Staff
Gladis Ibarra
Deputy Director
Gladis Ibarra born in Zacatecas, Mexico, immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 8. From Boulder to Broomfield, she grew up in Colorado and graduated in 2008 from Vantage Point High School. Gladis has been an active volunteer with CIRC since 2012. In September of 2017, DACA was threatened and rescinded by the administration, Gladis participated in the massive Denver Public School walkouts where students marched to Metro State University. She joined the staff as a Denver regional fellow, gained experiences as a hotline coordinator and Denver Region Organizer. Now, she serves as the deputy director for CIRC and CIRC Action Fund. As a DACA recipient, Gladis’ passion is the main thing that drives her in this fight to protect her family, her community. She is excited to be able to dedicate her time and energy to fight and defend people like herself.
Email: Gladis@coloradoimmigrant.org
Henry Sandman
Managing Director
Henry grew up with a deep appreciation for Human Rights and Immigration Justice because his grandparents came to the US from Europe to escape the Holocaust. His involvement in political activism and immigrant rights began in college when he majored in International Affairs with a concentration on Latin American politics. He also started a chapter of an organization focused on getting young people more engaged in politics.
Henry has worked on a variety of progressive political campaigns and labor organizing movements in Colorado and Ohio. As a Regional Organizer, he built a team of grassroots volunteers that knocked on over 15,000 doors in a challenging rural county. In Denver, he worked on a campaign to secure wage increases and healthcare protections for janitors in the midst of the COVID pandemic at SEIU Local 105. Prior to working as an organizer, Henry supported a government program focused on improving land management of Tribal Reservations.
Before becoming Managing Director, Henry was the Campaign Manager for CIRC AF’s campaign in Aurora in 2019, the Electoral Program Manager for CIRC AF’s statewide campaign in 2020, and the C4 Operations Manager in 2021. As Campaign Manager in 2019, Henry led CIRC AF’s campaign in Aurora, where CIRC AF knocked 100,000 doors in to help elect progressive candidates Juan Marcano and Allison Coombs to Aurora city council. As Electoral Program Manger, Henry oversaw CIRC AF’s Field Operations in support of 16 endorsed candidates where CIRC AF contacted nearly 1.4 million voters. As Operations Manager in 2021, Henry helped CIRC AF develop its first ever non-electoral year budget and created independent C4 internal operations to support its program.
Email: Henry@circaction.org
Raquel Lane-Arrellano
Policy Director
Joining CIRC as the Policy Manager is a dream come true! Ever since Raquel had her first taste of grassroots organizing as a high schooler on Obama’s campaign in 2012 to protect friends and loved ones who had just applied for DACA, she has been eager to help grow our pro-immigrant policy and political power here in Colorado. As a first-generation college graduate and Chicanx/Latinx major, she moved back to Colorado after college to empower her community and increase access to opportunity for all in our state.
In the 2018 midterm election, Raquel worked as a Family Defender Field Coordinator with CIRC leading CIRC’s civic engagement efforts in Aurora to promote sanctuary city policies and energize immigrant and POC voters. She looks forward to growing with CIRC and the immigrant rights movement in Colorado to continue crafting better realities and futures for our community together.
Email: Raquel@coloradoimmigrant.org
Chris Davis
Mobilization Manager
Early in their career, they worked as a field manager for the Fund for the Public Interest to facilitate a consumer pressure campaign against Subway’s use of factory farm meat raised on antibiotics. They also organized alongside DACA students as a Student Senator at Metropolitan State University to advocate for sanctuary state policies. As such, they know the success of the immigrant rights movement, as with any movement, not only requires policy changes, but changes in the hearts and minds of the public as well. Chris is excited to work with the CIRC Action Fund team to help bring community power into the electoral arena.
Email: Chris@circaction.org