Award Winners

Jennie Baran
Assistant Director
Student Case Management & Referral Coordination

Jennie Baran has been an innovative member of the Colorado State University community following her graduation from the SAHE program in 2009. She played an integral part in the creation of the Fostering Success Program for marginalized populations and has helped secure two $1,000,000 donations that provide continued funding for care packages, scholarships, work study, emergency funds, and a full-time coordinator position for the program. In addition, Jennie tirelessly volunteers her time as a Navigator to help students create a plan that will help them turn their semester around via the U-Turn Academic Success Expo. You may also see Jennie help our student population by training staff on how to respond to students in distress during Notice & Respond trainings.  Jennie coordinates and leads trainings with Residence life staff and has collaborated with the department on multiple occasions in order to better serve students of concern.  Jennie has completed her second Master’s program in Community Counseling this year and continues to inspire her team to do more. She routinely volunteers herself outside the scope of her position to make CSU a better place for students and staff by being honest, ethical and respectful to all.

Mick Livingston
Youth Development Agent
Extension

Mick Livingston has a long history with Colorado youth and has earned a reputation for being knowledgeable, kind, and effective in his work with people around the State. Mick has changed the way he teaches to include interactive methods and strong participation vs. lecture style. Mick involves local, State, and Federal agencies in his trainings to provide a well-balanced learning approach. He has earned several awards for his work including Excellence in Natural Resources/Environmental Ed Team for Wild Bug Fish Camp 2009, and AgFest 2011. He has been recognized at the state, regional, and national levels for his work with the Wild Bug Fish Camp that was designed to increase the knowledge regarding our natural environment among today’s youth. Mick also saw a need to educate youth on appropriate animal welfare techniques and created a mobile Meat Quality Assurance (MQA) lab, which all youth participating in 4-H livestock shows in Colorado must attend. Mick is the driving force behind the AgFest program, which is an annual event that travels across Eastern Colorado providing STEM education related to agriculture. This event saw a 400% increase in participation in 2011 based on the high quality of the outreach. Mick also knows that fundraising is an important part of this education and has taken the lead in developing sources. Mick has shown that he embodies the guiding principles of the 4-H program by teaching leadership, citizenship, and life skills to thousands of Colorado youth each year and has a positive impact on everyone he meets.

Lisa Mason
Publications and Forestry Education Program Manager
Colorado State Forest Service, Warner College of Natural Resources

Lisa Mason is a 2008 CSU graduate currently working on her master’s degree in Entomology while working full-time for the Colorado State Forest Service. She is dedicated to the university, displays a passion for natural resources, and treats colleagues with kindness and respect while serving our community. She is the recipient of the Vice President of Research’s Fellowship in 2017-2018, won the President’s Prize at the 2017 Entomological Society of America student competition, and took home the Young Forester of the Year Award from the Society of American Foresters in 2011. She is committed to outreach, engagement, and citizen education and proudly supports the Principles of Community and the university’s land grant mission in her work. In addition to her many contributions to CSU, Lisa also volunteers with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program and has run four half-marathons to raise awareness and funding for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. She is a shining example of positivity and service.

Tonja Rosales
Assistant Director of Undergraduate Programs
College of Business

Tonja Rosales has worked at Colorado State University for more than 20 years, received her Masters of Education in 2001, and proudly wears green every Friday. She supports the mission of CSU in everything she does. Tonja manages a staff of seven academic advisors within the College of Business by showing trust and high levels of confidence in her staff. Diversity and retention efforts are a priority for her and she is an active member of CSU’s Multicultural Staff and Faculty Network. She has created new programs like the First Generation Initiative and LatinX Business Organization, and took a lead role in the coordination of the inaugural Women in Business recruitment effort in 2016. Tonja participated in the Women’s Leadership series and brought back many inspiring ideas to the college to encourage women to study business. She has also co-led the service learning abroad program to Ecuador during its first two years and takes time out of her schedule to co-teach a preparatory course for Community and Cultural Engagement in Ecuador. During the past year, Tonja has been instrumental in implementing the Salesforce system in the College of Business and is the go-to person for questions and liaison with the software company. Tonja exemplifies a distinguished administrative professional through her commitment to diversity and inclusion, bringing new technology into the office to streamline processes, and efforts to maintain work-life balance for herself and her staff.

Tonie Miyamoto
Director of Communication & Sustainability
Housing and Dining Services

Tonie Miyamoto came to us in 2003 and has used her drive and tenacity to make everyone and everything around her better.  She provided such outstanding leadership in her role as Director of Communication and Sustainability in Housing and Dining Services that she was asked to serve as Director of Communication for the VP of student Affairs. She also serves as Co-Chair of the President’s Sustainability Commission (PSC) and is a member of the STARS subcommittee of the PSC that earned CSU the honor of being named the first STARS Platinum Institution. Tonie helped mentor a student group pursuing a designation for CSU as a Fair Trade University and once approved, made sure that the Fair Trade criteria were included in CSU’s purchasing guidelines. Tonie played a key role in the development of a grant program in conjunction with the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, requiring collaboration across multiple groups. She helped develop the ECO Leaders program into a for-credit course and serves as one of the instructors. Tonie has been recognized locally and nationally for her work in marketing and sustainability efforts: 2005-2007 – Committee Chair and presenter at CSU Women’s Conference; 2008 – Commendation from the State of Colorado for RecycleMania; 2009 – Excellence Award at CSU Alumni Media Festival; 2014 – ACPA Excellence in Sustainability; 2014 – ACUHO-I James Hurd Award; 2017 Safe Zone Certified. As if all of these things aren’t enough, she also has played important parts in Earth Week, Live Green Team, RecycleMania, Green Warrior, Leave It Behind, and CSU’s composting efforts. Tonie demonstrates commitment to her students, the CSU campus, and the world each day by living in an energy efficient home with solar panels, driving an electric car, and offsetting her airline miles. Tonie does all of this with skill, enthusiasm, energy, patience, integrity, and grace.