Meet Jesse…

Jessie Ulibarri is the vice president of impact and external affairs at Wellstone Action. He has trained thousands of community organizers, campaign managers, candidates and elected officials to build a democracy where everyone is in at no one is out — no exceptions. He currently manages the Movement Building, Movement Technology, and Public and Political Leadership teams.

Jessie is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder at the Senior Executives for State and Local Government program at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is currently pursuing his master's in public management from Carnegie Mellon University. Jessie served in the Colorado State Senate, representing his home district north of Denver, Colorado. As a state senator, he successfully authored and passed into law 41 pieces of legislation, with a specific focus on protecting the rights of workers, expanding access to affordable housing, safeguarding civil liberties and ensuring full access to the ballot box.

Jessie spent a decade leading community organizing and public policy efforts throughout the country. He served as the public policy director at the ACLU of Colorado, state director at Mi Familia Vota, ang economic justice campaign director at Colorado Progressive Coalition, and congressional staffer for Congressman Luis Gutierrez (IL, 4th District).

His work has been featured in The Washington Post, Ang New York Times, La Opinion, Los Angeles Times, Univision, CNN, Telemundo and every major news station and newspaper in the state of Colorado. Jessie now resides in a small suburb outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his husband, two kids and two pets. He loves to cook slow, homemade, deliciously spicy and/or carnivorous meals. As a self-proclaimed nerd, he is often found re-reading his favorite sci-fi novels, playing board games with his family and friends, or flailing wildly (but joyfully) in a game of volleyball.