Profile in Philanthropy: Aspen Rawson, Policy and Advocacy Intern
Meet Aspen Rawson, WFCO Policy and Advocacy Intern
Aspen Rawson joined The Women’s Foundation of Colorado as policy and advocacy intern in October 2025. Aspen is passionate about ensuring equal access and safety for queer and trans people and reducing violence against women. Aspen finds joy in shaping policy and engaging in mutual aid in their community, and outside of their policy endeavors, they enjoy watching Colorado sunsets and are a lover of Grey’s Anatomy.
Tell us something not many people know about you?
When I was 11 years old I lived in Iquique, Chile without my family for five months. I went to school and spoke Spanish full time and learned about the international impacts of United States political decisions.
Why is supporting women a top priority for you?
Women as a whole have historically been pushed to the margins, having their voices silenced and ignored. We know how impactful and influential women have been throughout history and yet their contributions have consistently been minimized or dismissed. I believe we need to do everything we can to even the playing field, not just so that women’s voices are heard, but so that society and culture can thrive!
What is your vision of equity for women in Colorado?
My vision for equity for women in Colorado looks like women having the ability to choose for themselves how they lead their lives. This means women being able to choose who and how they love, being paid appropriately for their skills and labor, having equitable housing options, and creating conditions that allow women to thrive independently of people we have historically been expected to rely on.
What other philanthropic passions do you have?
I spend most of my time working on queer and trans issues and working to reduce violence against women. As a nonbinary person, having spent most of my life living as woman, I’ve personally experienced the impacts of holding these identities. Ensuring that queer and trans people have equal access and safety protects all of us from targeted legislation and violence. I also believe that reducing violence against women creates an equitable and safe environment for all people. Spending my time working on these issues creates social change that supports other important changes like impacts on homelessness and immigrant rights.
What do you believe is the most pressing issue women and families are facing in Colorado?
I think it’s so difficult to choose a single pressing issue facing women and families in Colorado. As we continue this government shut down, we see families facing increasing health care costs, putting women, children, and families at risk. We are also seeing an impact to SNAP benefits, forcing families to choose between food and other basic needs. Finally, we see women and families facing housing insecurity across the state with private equity buying single family homes and apartment buildings and rapidly increasing the rent, pricing families out of their neighborhoods and potentially causing them to face homelessness.
Who is your Shero? Who have been the leaders/mentors on your journey?
I have so many! Activists like Dolores Huerta and Angela Davis loom large in my mind as aspirational figures, people who have dedicated their whole lives to the act of changing the world. On a personal level, my mother has been a powerful example of a strong woman who works hard for herself and her family and knows how to stand up for herself. In my academic education, Dr. Hillary Potter has been a major influence on my education and the path I choose to take in my career. Her support of my education and my thesis work has been so important to my advancement as a student and as a person.
If you had to teach a class, what would it be?
If I got to teach a class on any topic, I would teach a class on the ways that white dominant cultural beliefs influence all of us and enforce the conditions that we currently live under. This class would cover the ways that our thoughts and actions have been shaped around promoting white people over people of color, even when we believe we hold no racist beliefs. We would focus on things like all-or-nothing thinking, the hyper-individualism of our culture and how it serves to divide rather than unite us, and the belief that we have a right to comfort over the discomfort of others. These ideas can shape the way we interact with both our neighbors and with policy and legislative changes. By uncovering the impacts of these dominant ideas we can notice when they are influencing our choices and work to make different ones that benefit everybody.
Where do you find the most joy in your life?
Supporting my community in growing and thriving is where I find the most joy. I find that shaping policy and engaging in mutual aid are both necessary parts of creating thriving conditions for the people that surround me. Shaping policy creates high level changes, but we need people to actually enact and enforce these changes in our daily lives. We also have people who are left out of high level policy changes and they still need support to, by engaging in mutual aid, we can ensure that these people who have been missed by policy changes are still allowed the opportunity to thrive. For instance, my friends and I worked together with Boulder County to eliminate their county level sales tax on menstrual products (a policy advanced at the state level by The Women’s Foundation of Colorado). We chose to do this because we saw the gap left between state policy and local policy and knew it needed to be addressed. We also started a stockpile of needed supplies for women and gender minorities to address the affordability gap of these products.
What would you tell your 15-year-old self?
I would tell my 15-year-old self that things get easier. “The big feelings that feel so overwhelming right now will get easier to manage. As you gain control over your life and choices life will feel bigger and more free, you will have more opportunities to do what you want to do and express yourself in ways that feel authentic. You just need to slow down for now and learn what is important so that when you get control of your life you manage it well.”
What is your favorite place or activity to do in Colorado?
There’s a hill on Lowell Blvd. between 92nd and 88th that has a perfect view of the mountains at sunset. I love to drive up and sit on my car as the sun sets and observing the beauty of our state.
Should pineapple exist on pizza? What is your favorite pizza topping?
Pineapple should absolutely exist on pizza, it adds a nice sweetness to an otherwise wholly salty meal, breaking up the flavor profile and creating a nice flavor.
What is the most binge-worthy show? No judgement.
Obviously, “Grey’s Anatomy”! I’ve been watching this show since I was 11 years old. I feel as though I grew up with these characters and I love watching their journeys across almost two decades. And the drama of a soap opera is always a nice break from the drama of real life.
