Jennifer Piper is the Program Director for AFSC Denver. She goes by Jenn, Jennifer or Piper—your choice! Piper's work amplifies the voice and analysis of immigrant leader members, connects the Colorado office’s membership to campaigns and maximizes the impact of social and traditional media work. She has relentlessly connected immigrant leaders to as large and unedited a microphone as she can find. She offers direct organizing support to the leaders of AFSC’s Not1More Deportation project in the wider Denver Metro area and supervises AFSC’s Fort Morgan staff person, Guadalupe Lopez.

Piper was born and raised in Denver, CO where she grew up on Catholic social teachings in a union, working class family. Family elders shared much with her about her Bohemian and Irish roots and the struggles and sacrifices they made. She graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Social Work and later received a Master’s in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Piper became deeply conscious about immigrant rights during her time in Peace Corps, Paraguay and, upon her return from Paraguay, she became a member of Coloradans for Immigrant Rights, a project of AFSC.

For over two decades she’s worked extensively at the intersection of, and in close collaboration with, legal, community, and policy solutions for individuals as well as the larger community. Her first decade with AFSC focused on fostering faith-based dialogue about, and faith-based actions supporting, immigrants and immigration reform. Her work included coordinating the Metro Denver Sanctuary Coalition, from 2014 to 2019, helping to grow the coalition from 5 to 30 congregations working to embody the integrity of their faith traditions to proclaim and protect the dignity and worth of every human being. In 2018, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition recognized the Metro Denver Sanctuary Coalition with the Leadership in Justice Award for outstanding contributions to advance immigrant justice in Colorado. Jennifer was also a key organizer and early supporter of the campaign to win licenses for undocumented Coloradans and continues to work to improve the program. That work was recognized with a 2019 Champion of the Community award by the I-Drive Steering Committee. She has received the 2010 Amos award from Lutheran Advocacy Ministry and the 2018 Mary Rhodes Award from The Loretto Women’s Network.

Piper lives in Denver with her husband Homero Ocon, who is a fearless immigrant rights leader, artist, master composter, permaculturist. Together they run a small business Champions Paintin, LLC and raise their child (who is now almost 12!). Between their chickens, garden and family camping trips, Piper enjoys writing poetry, singing and dancing and sipping mate in the winter and terere in the summer.