Colorado’s Graduated Income Tax (Amendment 87) and the Rise of Earned Wage Access Lending

Host Carmen continues her Youth Empowerment Radio conversation with Joshua Mantell of the Bell Policy Center about Colorado’s high cost of living and wealth inequality, focusing on Amendment 87, a proposed graduated income tax on the November ballot. Mantell explains Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights and constitutionally mandated flat income tax, arguing the broader tax code is regressive and leaves the state underfunded in K–12 education, healthcare, and childcare. The proposal would cut taxes for incomes under $500,000 (about 97% of residents), raise marginal rates above that threshold, and generate about $2 billion dedicated to those services. They also discuss earned wage access “paycheck early” products that обход Colorado’s 36% APR payday-loan cap, including app-based versions with fees and tips; Mantell notes Attorney General Weiser sued Earnin. Mantell cites civic engagement and sharing information locally as sources of hope and action.

00:00 Welcome Back and Preview
01:07 Graduated Income Tax Explained
02:26 Why Colorado Taxes Feel Unfair
04:49 Funding Schools Health and Childcare
06:17 How Amendment 87 Works
12:44 Flat Tax Myths Debunked
17:40 Earned Wage Access Loans
21:31 Fintech Loopholes and Regulation
28:16 Finding Hope and Taking Action
32:17 Stay Connected and Book Picks
35:14 Final Thanks and Wrap Up

Why Colorado’s Cost of Living Feels Unaffordable: Housing, Wages, and Economic Mobility

The host interviews Joshua Mantell, Director of Government Affairs at the Bell Policy Center, about economic mobility and Colorado’s rising cost of living. Mantell explains Bell is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide research and advocacy organization focused on improving economic mobility for all Coloradans through policy work at the Capitol and ballot guidance, using public data and community partner input to craft actionable solutions. He describes Bell’s focus areas including housing, childcare and care work, consumer protection and lending access, and the challenges of Colorado’s fast-aging population within a constrained budget. On cost of living, he says housing is the main driver, citing inadequate housing supply, rising interest rates, and corporate/private equity ownership contributing to poor-quality rentals. He also highlights widening income inequality, stagnating wages for lower earners, and underinvestment in public systems, leaving people paying more out of pocket despite median income figures that don’t reflect local realities.

00:00 Why Money Feels Tight
03:16 Meet Bell Policy Center
04:39 Defining Economic Mobility
06:36 Key Policy Focus Areas
09:37 How Their Research Works
13:35 When Data Conflicts
18:14 Rural vs Urban Reality
21:00 Colorado Cost of Living
23:26 Housing Supply and Rates
27:24 Inequality and Wealth Building
31:42 Underinvestment and What Next

Youth Empowerment Radio: Social Impacts of Psychosis, Screening, and Reducing Stigma

In a Youth Awareness Week episode of Youth Empowerment Radio, host Katie (a summer associate with Youth MOVE Colorado) interviews Dr. Schiffman of UC Irvine’s PREVENT Lab about the social impacts of psychosis, stigma, and early intervention. They discuss Youth MOVE Colorado’s mission and Colorado’s mental health challenges, highlight Mental Health America and its screening tools (including the PQ-B, Prodromal Questionnaire Brief) for assessing experiences on the psychosis continuum, and note that distress and impairment help distinguish symptoms from common experiences. Dr. Schiffman mentions Colorado’s INVEST program at CU Anschutz led by Michelle West, which provides coaching for students with mental health concerns. They emphasize how stigma can lead to secrecy, withdrawal, shame, and reduced help-seeking, and suggest addressing myths, using respectful language, asking rather than assuming, and fostering curiosity. The conversation closes by stressing social connection, hope, and resources such as school counseling centers and 988.

00:00 Welcome And Introductions

01:00 Katie And Dr Schiffman Reconnect

02:50 Youth MOVE Colorado Context

04:51 Mental Health America Screening Tools

06:28 PQ B And Psychosis Continuum

08:05 Colorado Programs And Invest

09:36 When To Seek Help Online Symptoms

13:24 Neurodiversity And Stigma Cycle

18:42 World Is Mad Lyric Reflection

20:04 Artistic Expression And Meaning

20:49 Music and Vulnerability

21:19 Stigma Blocks Care

22:16 Psychosis and Extra Stigma

23:56 Shame Isolation and Growth

25:47 Self Compassion and Grace

27:54 Myths Language and Education

31:08 Ask Dont Assume

32:41 Curiosity Over Anger

34:43 Connection and Hope

38:03 Youre Not Alone Resources

39:52 Closing Thanks and Goodbye

Youth Awareness Week: Leadership, Advocacy, and Getting Started with Nora Armstrong & Lydia Lee

Youth MOVE Vista associate Tomas Alazar records a conversation for Youth Awareness Week’s Leadership and Advocacy Day with CU political science students Nora Armstrong and Lydia Lee about advocacy, leadership, and how youth can get involved. Norah describes work with the National Foundation for Women Legislators and Phil Weiser’s Colorado governor campaign, and discusses leadership through elections, voting, and policy; she cites the 2022 Roe v. Wade overturning as a turning point and emphasizes that politics affects daily life and that youth should educate themselves, engage locally, and learn to disagree better. Lydia discusses activism related to immigration enforcement, starting a CU political education and action club, and work to get a graduated income tax measure on the ballot to fund public schools; she frames leadership as learning from others, notes politics can feel inaccessible and overwhelming, and encourages small steps, community conversations, and finding supportive networks. Both express hope about growing people power and community-centered change.

00:00 Welcome and Context
00:54 Meet Nora and Lydia
02:10 Defining Leadership Styles
04:45 What Sparked Advocacy
07:41 Why Youth Disengage
12:39 Pitch to Get Involved
16:53 Small Steps to Start
22:55 Looking Ahead and Hope
26:57 Final Thoughts and Wrap Up

Jesse Sena on the Origins and Vision of Colorado Youth Awareness Week

Tomas of Youth Empowerment Radio interviews Jesse Sena—CEO, licensed counselor, writer, CSU Pueblo psychology professor, and founder of Youth Awareness Week—about his background and the creation of Youth Awareness Week. Sena shares being a first-generation college student who struggled academically, became a single parent while earning a psychology degree, and later completed a master’s in marriage, family, and child therapy with doctoral studies in marriage and family psychology. He explains his philosophy of giving youth a “taste of success” through exposure to opportunities like college visits and mentoring, and describes Pueblo’s poverty, generational challenges, and the importance of collaborative community networks. Youth Awareness Week was designed to highlight youth voice and connect families to local resources through events and open houses. Sena discusses expanding from Pueblo to Colorado, tailoring the week to each community, challenges like personal agendas, and plans to pursue National Youth Awareness Week, while emphasizing passion, empathy, and responsibility in human service work.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:59 Jesse’s Journey to Psychology

05:42 A Taste of Success Philosophy

07:36 Why Pueblo Needed Awareness

10:12 How Youth Awareness Week Began

14:19 Mentoring High Risk Youth

18:13 Collaboration Makes It Work

21:13 Taking It Statewide

23:26 Protecting the Core Mission

24:39 Challenges and Critics

27:24 Vision for National Expansion

30:27 Passion Driven Service Mindset

34:30 Favorite Moments and Community Joy

36:00 Event Timing and Closing Thanks

37:58 Final Message Celebrate the Work

What Happens When You Delete Something Online? Secure Messaging, Data Breaches & Password Safety | Youth Empowerment Radio

Host Carmen continues her conversation with cybersecurity expert MJ on Youth Empowerment Radio, covering what really happens when you delete content online, differences between non-secure communication (SMS/HTTP), encrypted-in-transit tools (HTTPS/email), and end-to-end encrypted “lockbox” platforms like Signal, Telegram, and Proton. They discuss consent and data practices in systems of care (foster care, juvenile justice, public benefits), highlighting frameworks like Responsible Data and consensual tech, and questions young people can ask providers about necessity, retention, and deletion of sensitive information. MJ explains why email is risky for sensitive documents, suggests safer sharing methods and limiting unnecessary personal data, and walks through data breaches using haveibeenpwned.com. He emphasizes unique passwords, password managers, multi-factor authentication, credit monitoring, and replacing compromised cards, then closes with reflections on the internet’s potential, mesh networks, and Pride Month book recommendations.

00:00 Welcome Back Intro

01:01 Encryption Explained

04:09 Consent In Care Systems

08:20 Questions To Ask Providers

10:11 Avoid Email For Sensitive Data

14:26 Data Breach Alerts

15:17 Have I Been Pwned Demo

17:21 Checking Breach Results

18:24 What Breaches Reveal

19:52 Why Stolen Data Matters

22:45 Password Managers Explained

23:29 Two Factor Authentication

25:02 What To Do After Breach

26:23 Top Three Online Tips

28:16 Mesh Networks Autonomy

29:43 How To Stay In Touch

30:10 Three Pride Reads

32:24 Final Thanks And Wrap

Cybersecurity, Agency & Online Consent (Part 1) | Youth Empowerment Radio S3E13

Host Carmen welcomes MJ, a cybersecurity expert and owner of Tiny Gigantic, to Youth Empowerment Radio (Season 3, Episode 13, Part 1) for a conversation about digital security, agency, and consent online. MJ shares their background—Korean adoptee, queer, early tech interests, photojournalism, and community organizing—and explains how their work supports activists by helping them communicate with appropriate privacy and confidentiality. They describe cybersecurity as an ongoing behavior and process centered on aligning tools with movement values, protecting relationships with differing risk levels, ensuring reliability and incident response, and building user agency around who we communicate with and what data trails exist. They discuss how “free” platforms monetize users via targeted advertising and profiling, how engagement-driven algorithms can amplify polarization and radicalization pathways, and raise concerns about AI tools retaining prompts even after users delete conversations, while noting Proton’s Lumo as a privacy-forward alternative.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:07 Why Cybersecurity Matters
02:05 MJ Background and Tiny Gigantic
04:32 From Photojournalism to Security
06:55 Defining Cybersecurity for Movements
12:58 Agency and Online Consent
14:55 Terms of Service and Being the Product
17:48 How Targeted Ads Really Work
22:23 Algorithms Rage and Polarization
29:01 AI Privacy and Deleting Data
33:24 AI Risks and Closing Thoughts

Marijuana, Anxiety, and How to Talk to Youth About Addiction (with Amber Hollingsworth)

Host Carmen continues her conversation with addictions counselor Amber Hollingsworth on Youth Empowerment Radio, focusing on teen marijuana use and practical ways to support young people. Amber explains that marijuana can be physically and psychologically addictive and is hard to identify because its negative impacts develop slowly, often increasing anxiety and depression while users believe it helps. She argues vaping may worsen use behavior by removing barriers and enabling frequent, hidden consumption. On support, Amber advises avoiding direct confrontation that triggers defensiveness and power struggles; instead, “pull information out” by asking questions, helping youth define their own “lines in the sand,” and connecting choices to their values. She recommends teaching early symptoms of addiction rather than scare tactics, urges adults to build credibility by acknowledging perceived benefits, and shares books she likes: 10X Is Easier Than 2X, Scaling/Scaling Up, and 10X. Amber directs listeners to her YouTube channel, Put the Shovel Down.

00:00 Welcome Back

00:45 Marijuana Normalization

02:48 Slow Burn Effects

03:38 Ocean Current Analogy

05:48 Physical Dependence Signs

06:14 Vapes Versus Joints

08:15 Supporting Youth Recovery

10:16 Pull Truth Out

12:32 Let Them Define Lines

16:19 Early Addiction Symptoms

18:04 Build Trust Credit

20:57 Book Recommendations

23:29 Where To Find Amber

24:06 Final Thanks