Get to know Board Member Ana Temu Otting

As one of BVSD’s newest Board of Education members, Ana Temu Otting brings a lifetime of advocacy, organizing, and lived experience to the role—along with a clear belief that schools are not just places of learning, but powerful engines of opportunity and community transformation. 

Early in her career, Temu Otting worked on pro-immigrant legislation at both the state and federal levels, including efforts that helped lead to the creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) under the Obama Administration in 2012. 

“During that time, I didn’t just work on policy,” she said. “I was on the ground helping students and families complete paperwork, navigate systems, and access opportunities that were often intentionally hard to reach.”

Temu Otting later worked with organizations such as the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and the ACLU of Colorado, always centering civil rights, access, and the voices of impacted communities. Today, she is an entrepreneur and small business owner, leading Corazón Consulting, a political consulting firm that supports values-driven candidates and nonprofits, and Corazón Printing, the only Latina-owned, unionized print shop in Colorado.

Her civic engagement extends statewide. Temu Otting serves as a Commissioner on the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and chairs the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI), where she helps oversee efforts to expand access to higher education and reduce student debt.

“I’ve worked to create scholarships for undocumented students, supported legislation that allowed undocumented students to access in-state tuition, and spent years working in higher education spaces to ensure campuses are equitable, inclusive, and just for all students,” expressed Temu Otting.

Her professional experience is paired with a personal connection to the district. Temu Otting is the mother of a kindergartener at Emerald Elementary School, and she navigates BVSD not only as a policymaker, but as a parent.

“I want to make sure my son, and every BVSD student, has a thriving, meaningful, and impactful public education,” she said. “I understand this work both as a policymaker and as a parent navigating the system alongside other families.”

Temu Otting credits public education with changing the trajectory of her own life, which ultimately motivated her to seek a school board seat.

“If it weren’t for public schools, I wouldn’t have had the opportunities that led to a successful career in politics, advocacy, and entrepreneurship,” she said. “Education quite literally changed the trajectory of my life.”

One of Temu Otting’s primary focus areas as a board member will be bridging systemic gaps between K–12 education and pathways to higher education. She believes BVSD has the opportunity to be the gold standard for how school districts coordinate with colleges and universities to ensure students are not only academically prepared, but also supported socially, financially, and culturally as they move forward.

As a board member, Temu Otting sees her primary responsibility as listening—intentionally and deeply.

“My approach to community engagement has always been human-centered and heart-driven,” she said. “I believe deeply in the power of story. When people are given space to share their lived experiences, it becomes one of the most powerful tools for advocacy and change.”

Temu Otting hopes to create conditions where trust, transparency, and accountability are the norm, and where all community members feel empowered to engage, even if they have not traditionally felt welcome at the table.

“Not everyone comes to the table with the same level of comfort or access,” she said. “Part of my role is to help lower those barriers. I want to bring more diverse representation to the board. Not just because I’m a woman of color or a Mexican-Guatemalan daughter of immigrants, but because representation tells a broader story of what’s possible.”

She wants students to see themselves reflected in leadership and understand that success can take many forms. “I want students to see that you can come from poverty, navigate systems not designed for you, and still build a life rooted in values, authenticity, and service,” she said.

As Temu Otting begins her term on the BVSD board, she is clear about working together towards shared values and what she hopes to offer to the conversation.

“I don’t believe leadership is about having all the answers,” she said. “It’s about asking the right questions, listening deeply, and building solutions together. I deeply believe in In Lak’ech, a Mayan philosophy that means ‘I am another you.’ It’s the belief that what I do to you, I do to myself. That value guides how I show up in leadership, community, and service, with empathy, accountability, and shared humanity.”

Outside of her professional and civic life, Temu Otting loves to cook—“my favorite Mexican or Guatemalan restaurant is my house”—and enjoys salsa dancing in the kitchen with her husband Seth. A lifelong boxer, she credits the sport with teaching her discipline and resilience.