“Youth Can Lead Now”: Jen Landers on Building a Culture of Service in Colorado

Jen Landers has spent the last seven years helping high school students discover something many adults still struggle to believe: they already have what it takes to lead.

As executive director of Colorado Young Leaders, Jen and her team are driven by one core belief—youth don’t need to wait to make a difference. CYL empowers teens to lead with courage and kindness, take action on issues they care about, and shape their communities with purpose.

But for Jen, this work isn’t just organizational—it’s deeply personal.

“The young people in our community are navigating growing mental health challenges,” Jen said. “They’re navigating increased social isolation and lack of meaningful opportunities to connect with others and contribute to something bigger than themselves.”

At the same time, Denver metro communities face challenges that are happening across the country and around the world. Political, generational and cultural divides are making it harder to work toward shared goals.

“As we look at our work, we want to find the intersection between those challenges. We want to figure out how we can really engage youth to feel a sense of belonging in communities, while we give communities the resources and talent of young people to help them solve their biggest issues and take advantage of their greatest opportunities.”

This simple insight, grounded in years of community-building, shapes how CYL works with young people. The organization doesn’t tell students where to serve—it gives them the space to choose, building resiliency, passion and confidence. Whether it’s environmental justice, food insecurity, or mental health, CYL meets young people at the intersection of passion and purpose. That trust not only keeps students engaged, but helps them grow into confident, community-minded leaders.

Earlier this year, Jen traveled to New Orleans for the Points of Light Conference—her first time at the international conference where social impact leaders come together. Her attendance was made possible from a scholarship from Points of Light, with generous support from the CSAA Insurance Group. The experience offered more than just inspiration. It provided a critical pause to reflect, connect, and realign.

“Receiving the scholarship for Colorado Young Leaders enabled us to do something that we would not have been able to do,” Jen reflected. “Our budget to participate in things like this is so small, but we recognize that really being able to have access to ideas and best practices is critical for us.”

For an organization at a key point in its evolution, the timing couldn’t have been better. CYL is currently expanding its reach beyond the Denver metro area with a bold vision: to bring diverse youth together from across Colorado—not just demographically, but across lived experiences, political perspectives, and cultural backgrounds.

“The conference helped reenergize my passion for our mission,” Jen said. “I walked away with fresh insights and practical tools we’re already weaving into our strategic plan—everything from how we train mentors to how we tell our story.”

Jen knows that kind of growth won’t happen in isolation. It will take partnerships, mentorship, and a shared belief across communities that youth-led service is not a “nice-to-have”—it’s essential. That’s the kind of message she brought to the conference, and the kind she returned home determined to amplify.

Today, as she and her team move forward with new tools and deeper clarity, Jen and the team at Colorado Young Leaders remain focused on the young people at the heart of it all. Every program, every decision, every story is about helping them lead—not someday, but now.