Rising Stars: Meet Kevin Castaneda of Denver Colorado

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Castaneda.

Hi Kevin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi I’m Kevin Castaneda, a proud Chicano, born and raised in Denver, and someone who has spent a lot of time shrinking myself to fit into spaces that weren’t built for me.

For a long time I didn’t realize how much I was making myself smaller just to survive. Especially in white workspaces, I felt like I had to tone myself down, code-switch, or erase parts of who I am just to make it through the day. And it wasn’t just about race or class. It was also about queerness. As a gay Chicano, moving through white-centered industries was exhausting. I was navigating spaces where I rarely saw people like me in leadership. I was moving through systems that didn’t reflect me, didn’t value me, and didn’t know how to nurture someone with my identity.

It felt like no matter how hard I worked, I wasn’t getting ahead as fast as I wanted to. I kept being overlooked. I kept being underappreciated. I was constantly treated differently, passed over for opportunities, given the scraps of what others didn’t want. And for the longest time, I convinced myself it was my fault. I told myself I just needed to work harder, be quieter, prove myself more, hustle harder, show up earlier, stay later.

But the truth was, I was trying to grow in a place that didn’t have any of the right conditions for me. I was planting roots in soil that was never going to nourish me. And the wild part is I kept telling myself I was the problem. That I was lacking. That I wasn’t smart enough or fast enough or organized enough. I burned myself out over and over again, every couple of months, pushing myself to the edge to prove I was the ideal employee.

And even when I was promoted, even when I “got ahead,” it never felt like enough. Because I wasn’t being valued for who I was. I was being tolerated for how well I could play the part.

That shift didn’t happen overnight, but it started when I got connected to Ednium. I heard about their Leadership Launchpad through my cousin. Honestly, I just thought it would look good on a resume. What I didn’t expect was that it would lead me back to parts of myself I hadn’t felt in years. I’m talking before 8th grade. Before self-doubt. Before I started shrinking. Before I convinced myself that being small was safer.

Through Ednium I met other DPS grads who not only looked like me but thought like me, cared about this city the way I care about it, and were actively building things that make Denver better. For the first time in a long time, I felt seen. I felt held. And I felt like I could start showing up fully again.

Since then I’ve gone deeper. I joined the Advocacy Accelerator, the Alumni Council, and just finished out my cohort for the Denver Deep Dive program. I went from barely surviving to building real relationships with people who are doing meaningful work in this city. And when I lost my job earlier this year, the Ednium community was the first to show up for me. They reminded me that even though I don’t have a degree, I do have skills. I have leadership. I have value.

Through Ednium I got connected to Moonshot EdVentures where I now work, and for the first time in my adult life I feel fully celebrated in a workplace. Not just accepted, celebrated. It feels like I am finally in spaces where I don’t have to shrink. Where my creativity is wanted. Where my leadership is recognized. Where I get to show up as me.

I haven’t felt this kind of confidence since I was a kid. And now I have this deep sense of autonomy over my life. I get to decide where I’m going. I get to build a life that feels good to me. It finally feels right.

For anyone who is in survival mode right now or who feels like they’ve had to make themselves small just to get by, I want you to know that spaces like Ednium exist. People like us belong here. We deserve to bloom.

This isn’t just about career moves. This is about coming home to yourself.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
What made it harder was how isolated I felt while it was happening. I didn’t have a big professional network at the time, many of us didn’t grow up around people who could guide folks through these systems. I was figuring it out as I went, and a lot of the time it felt like I was building the plane while I was already flying it.

The more I tried to “prove” myself, the further I felt from who I really was. And I think that’s one of the hardest parts that doesn’t always get talked about. You can get so used to shrinking that you start forgetting what your full self even looks like. I got to a place where I was second-guessing everything about myself. I thought I wasn’t smart enough. I thought I wasn’t “professional” enough. I thought I wasn’t worthy of leadership because I didn’t have a degree. And I know now that none of those things were true. I wasn’t broken. The spaces I was in were.

The financial struggles only made that pressure heavier. I was working jobs that paid just enough to scrape by, but never enough to really breathe. I remember walking long distances to bus stops late at night after double shifts, wondering how I was going to make things work. I would apply to jobs that I was overqualified for, only to be told I didn’t have the right experience. But what they really meant was that I didn’t look or sound like what they expected leadership to be.

And on top of that I was navigating the world as a queer brown person in a city that’s changing fast. Watching my own communities get pushed out. Watching opportunities go to the same types of people over and over again. And wondering where I was supposed to fit in all of it.

It was exhausting. And it broke my heart a little every time, and I constantly convinced myself that maybe I wasn’t enough.

But that’s why Ednium hit me so hard. It was like someone finally handed me a mirror, and for the first time in a long time I saw myself clearly again. I saw my value. I saw my skills. I saw that everything I had been through didn’t make me weaker no, it made me powerful. I just needed people to reflect that back to me. I just needed to be in spaces that didn’t require me to shrink.

So no, it hasn’t been a smooth road. It’s been lonely. It’s been tiring. It’s been filled with self-doubt. But I’m grateful for all of it, because it led me here. And now that I’ve found my footing, I’m not shrinking for anyone anymore.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an artist, a storyteller, and a community builder at heart. Everything I do, whether it’s organizing spaces, creating mixed media art, or curating events, is about weaving together people, place, and story.

My creative work is rooted in identity, resilience, and belonging. As a proud Chicano born and raised in Denver, I use my art and creative practice to explore both personal memory and collective experience. I work across mediums including digital art, collage, photography, and poetry.

Professionally, I wear a lot of hats. I’m currently the CEO’s Executive Assistant and The Manager Operations for The Station at Moonshot EdVentures, where I support leaders of color in education. What I’m most proud of is that I get to bring my full creative self to that work. Whether I’m designing community events, curating intentional experiences, or building systems for our coworking space The Station, I bring the same care and attention I bring to my art. I’m always thinking about how space can feel good for people. How can this process be more human. How can this experience be more beautiful, more easeful, more reflective of the culture we want to build.

What sets me apart is that I move between creative and operational spaces fluidly. I’m just as comfortable designing a collage series that explores ancestral memory as I am running point on a professional retreat for BIPOC leaders. Both are creative. Both require vision. Both require care.

Right now, I’m most proud of how my personal creative work and my professional work are finally starting to overlap in a way that feels natural and right. I’m proud of the way I’ve kept art in my life even when I was in survival mode. And I’m proud that I’ve chosen to build a life where I don’t have to separate creativity from career. It’s all connected.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The quality that has carried me through and shaped my success is authenticity. It is about showing up as my whole self honoring my roots my culture my creativity and my truth without trying to fit into molds that were never made for me. When I stopped shrinking and started embracing all the parts of who I am I found a deep sense of freedom and belonging that opened new doors in my life and work.

Authenticity is like tending to a garden inside myself. It takes patience care and courage to nurture that soil where my truest self can grow strong. It means being honest and vulnerable even when it feels risky and trusting that my voice and presence matter exactly as they are. It is the source of real connection and meaning in everything I create and the relationships I build.

When I lead from a place of authenticity I invite others to do the same. It creates spaces where people feel safe seen and valued. It roots me in purpose and keeps me grounded when challenges come. For me authenticity is the heart of the work I do and the life I want to live a bridge between my story and the impact I hope to leave on others.

Pricing:

• As you may know, Moonshot officially launched **The Station** in late 2024 — our co-working space in North Denver built specifically for mission-driven leaders, youth-serving teams, and BIPOC-led organizations. It’s more than a workspace; it’s a vibrant hub where purpose-driven people come together to collaborate, connect, and build a better future. We’d love for you to come check it out! As a first-time guest, you’ll receive **20% off your first booking** if you reserve within the next month — that’s just **$20 for a full day pass**, complete with great perks like fast Wi-Fi, fresh coffee and snacks, phone booth offices, and access to beautiful, thoughtfully-designed spaces.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sites.google.com/view/hijitokev/home?authuser=0
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hijito.kev/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-castaneda-5767982a9/