East Colfax holds a special significance for Nebiyu Asfaw and many in the Ethiopian and Eritreans communities, a neighborhood that celebrates diversity and welcomes thousands of new immigrants and refugees as the first place of settlement in Colorado since the 1970’s.
Like many in the community, Nebiyu is passionate about East Colfax, where he has served the community in different capacities for two decades; including being a proud co-founder of the East Colfax Community Collective (ECCC).
Nebiyu is a Senior Business Operations Leader at Verizon Business Group, a division of Verizon Communications that provides services and products for enterprise and government clients around the world. In addition to his leadership role in Global Operations, Nebiyu is an active contributor to Verizon’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, where he actively volunteers and facilitates activities to give back to society through Digital Inclusion, Climate Protection, and Human Prosperity.
Nebiyu has the passion to help his community locally and globally through organizing and policy advocacy to improve conditions for immigrant and underserved minority groups. As a native of Ethiopia, Nebiyu emphasizes the rich cultural landscape of his community as co-founder of the Taste of Ethiopia Festival; one of Denver’s largest summer festivals. Nebiyu is also a proud member of “Denver’s 100 Men Who Cook” where he volunteers as a Chef to help raise education funds for local African-American youth.
Nebiyu is also co-founder of the Ethiopian American Development council that works to advance the human rights, political, educational, social, and economic interests of Ethiopian-Americans and Ethiopians. Nebiyu also serves in several community advisory roles, including Governor Jared Polis’ Community Engagement Team, Congressman Joe Neguse’s Immigration Stakeholders team and the Community Police Advisory Team (CPAT) for Aurora Chief of Police Vanessa Wilson; where he contributes in the effort to improve police-community relations.
For his contribution to the community; Nebiyu was awarded the “African Americans Who Make a Difference” award in 2019 from the Denver Urban Spectrum; a Congressional Recognition from the United States Congress in 2018, and a “Life Time Achievement” award in 2017 from the East Colfax St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
