About Us

Lauren Dirr is currently a senior in high school and has been a member of YLA since April 2022.  Lauren is the current chair of YLA and absolutely loves the work she does through YLA. Throughout middle and high school she worked on student council and other youth-based groups in order to advocate for student needs. She has lived in Nederland for her entire life and is deeply invested in the community and working on community projects through YLA. In her free time, she enjoys reading, gardening, and hanging out with friends. She is so grateful to be a part of YLA and contribute to the community in a new way.  

​Blue Garcia-Paine is a student at Nederland Middle Senior High School. She has been a part of YLA since April 2022 and has participated and contributed to many activities and organizations like Student council, performances in High school musicals, and the Girl Scouts. She is very passionate about starting more direct communication between the YLA and the Town/Youth and has started this endeavor through her participation in the Youth Board! She’s incredibly excited to bring her passion and fresh perspective to the YLA!

Hi, my name is Amelie Bodnar, and I am currently a student at Nederland Middle-Senior High School. I recently joined YLA in the summer of 2022, and I'm excited for this opportunity to amplify youth voices. I believe that now more than ever, it is important for youth to speak out and advocate for our needs, but it isn't always easy. Organizations like YLA are important because they offer platforms and tools to youth in order to help improve communication and empathy. Throughout high school, I have also worked on the Youth Board, which is what led me to join YLA, and I'm very grateful for both of these opportunities. In my free time, I love to listen to music, read, and hang out with my friends and family. 

Eliza Brundege is a high school student at NMSHS, and she has been in YLA since November 2022. She has been part of other groups in middle and high school such as middle school 360 leaders and student council. She enjoys drawing and reading in her free time. Giving youth a voice in Nederland and helping the community are both important to her. She is very happy to be in YLA.

Asher Hughes is a Nederland Middle-Senior High School senior who joined YLA in August of 2023 and strives to help people grow and leave things better than he found them. Asher has worked with Teens, Inc. to facilitate a safe and positive space for teens as well as coordinating events to encourage growth and help people pursue their interests. He has lived in the Nederland area for his whole life and wants to grow his influence in his community to address the concerns of his peers. Asher has been a proud member of the band throughout his education at NMSHS and enjoys pursuing his own musical interests as well as providing opportunities for musically inclined youth in the community to do the same!

I am Liam Robertson. I'm 15 years old and go to NMSHS here in Nederland. I joined YLA because I have always loved to be involved in organizations like this to be able to help the youth, especially in my own community, and when I saw that multiple different people that I knew were associated with this program, I had to see what it consisted of, so I hopped right onto the team. I worked at the Gilpin County Rec Center for a few years helping youth find different things to do such as fun activities and trips that were planned by a group of us called YLT with the EAGLE program funded by the state. I also worked in the Teen Center located in Ned, helping plan fun things for teens to do, as well as helping clean up the building and assisting the staff. I joined YLA  in early September 2023, and even though I have only been on the squad for a very short time, I am very excited to be working with the amazing people involved in this group, to help better our community in many ways.

Lauren Schrader is currently a junior at Nederland Middle-Senior High School who joined YLA in September of 2023 with the drive to make changes in a town that means so much to her. She believes it is very important for youth in our community to have a strong platform to speak out and be catalysts of change. YLA is something that strengthens such platforms. Lauren is a strong leader in her junior class, high school student council, and National Honors Society as she works hard to make impactful contributions to her community. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing sports, and being outside!

Gideon Emery is currently a junior at Nederland High School who joined YLA in September of 2023. He was born in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean and moved to Nederland in the 3rd grade, where his extended family resides. 
I joined YLA because I'm interested in participating in town government and getting an inside look at how to problem solve and how decisions actually get made. Gideon enjoys watching the Premier League and is a Arsenal and Denver Nuggets fan. He plays soccer, basketball, and runs track. In the winter you can find Gideon skiing and in the summer, river rafting.