Sam Battan

Founder and CEO, Colorado Youth Congress

Denver, CO, USA
Cohort: Ashoka Bootcamp, New York, 2019

As the founder and CEO of the Colorado Youth Congress, Sam Battan brings together diverse communities of young people to lead the fight to solve our most complex problems. CYC is a nonprofit civic leadership organization that organizes and trains a large community of high school students across the state so they can lead efforts to change organizations and systems. Prior to starting CYC, Sam worked in New Orleans for five years teaching in an alternative high school designed for students who were overage and behind in school. Sam was recognized as the district’s Teacher of the Year and has worked passionately to expand leadership opportunities for youth. In addition to being an educator, Sam is a proud community organizer, recently co-founding Equity Network United for Metro Denver, an advocacy organization, and previously serving as the education chair for the Welcome Table New Orleans, the nation’s first city-sanctioned initiative on racial reconciliation. His advocacy work has been featured on NBC, NOLA.com, the Denver Post, and The Advocate.