DENVER — After a decades-long career in social justice advocacy and nonprofit leadership, Deborah Richardson, ACLU of Colorado Executive Director, has announced her upcoming retirement. She will serve as executive director until June 20, 2025, while the organization’s board of directors and its national office conduct a nationwide search for interim executive director. Richardson has been executive director since March 1, 2021.
"To serve as a leader for such an impactful and historic organization has been the honor of a lifetime,” said Richardson. “Moving the ACLU of Colorado from defense to offense has been long been a goal of mine. Our countless victories in this process have only been possible with the work of our dedicated staff, volunteers, supporters, and donors.”
Raised in the historically Black community of Collier Heights, Richardson was surrounded by civil rights icons, professionals, and organizers. She has more than three decades of experience in nonprofit executive leadership in global, national, and local organizations working to advance civil and human rights for marginalized communities. Richardson is a nationally recognized expert and advocate for women and their families, convening diverse, cross-cultural, community-based coalitions committed to equitable societies.
“Deborah has exceeded our board's expectations from day one,” said Adam Abdulhafid, ACLU of Colorado Board President. “She continues to demonstrate her keen insight and courage for us. She is setting us up to better succeed in a different world than when she joined. On behalf of our board, Coloradans, and anyone with a need or passion for civil rights, we thank her for her service.”
Under Richardson’s leadership, the affiliate has achieved landmark victories, including:
- Securing millions of dollars in damages in a precedent-setting case on behalf of Ruby Johnson after Denver police SWAT conducted a search of her home based on a faulty warrant;
- Ending the Pueblo Municipal Court’s illegal practice of criminalizing contempt of court;
- Defending the Aurora Public Defender’s Office from privatization;
- Launching the affiliate’s Public Education, Advocacy, and Know your rights (PEAK) program, culminating in an annual lobby day with hundreds of participants;
- Advocating for alternatives to incarceration for the state’s overdose crisis, including by defeating punitive substance use legislation and fighting for local harm reduction programs;
- Ongoing efforts to protect the rights of the state’s immigrant communities, including limiting the use of the Alien Enemies Act, upholding state law intended to protect immigrant tenants, and ending Teller County Sheriff’s practice of denying or delaying the release of people based on detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
- Launching We Are the Vote, the affiliate’s annual election initiative; and
- Releasing Expanding the Table for Justice, a 2022 report detailing listening sessions held with partners across the state, among other accomplishments.
“As our democracy continues to face unparalleled threats, I have full faith and confidence in the organization to continue its work in protecting — and even expanding — the rights of all Coloradans,” added Richardson. “Onward we will press.”
In addition to its interim executive director search, the board of directors and the ACLU are seeking a search firm to assist in its nationwide search for a new permanent executive director.