President’s Message  August 2024

Writing my first President’s message for The Docket suddenly became this herculean task; “What should I say? Why do they care? What do people want to hear?” And so, I did what so many of us do when anxious and stumped: I put it off. Again and again. Our gracious Communications and Marketing Director (and the guiding hand of The Docket) gave me a couple of nudges, and so, at almost the very last minute, here we are.   

Hi.   

Let me start off by saying it is an honor to serve as your 2024-2025 President of the Denver Bar Association, the DBA’s 132nd President. As past president of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and having served two terms as 2nd VP before being selected as President-Elect, I am prepared for the year that is to come.  

The first President’s message is always lauded as a big deal, justifiably so. You need to introduce yourself, your vision, the themes for the year, what you have in store, and probably more. The expectations are high! 

But knowing that, I will tell y’all I won’t be so pretentious to think I will write some brilliant, inspiring piece that will change the world. And yet, isn’t that part of why we are DBA members to start? This is why we choose to serve and give back. Why do we volunteer with Metro Volunteer Lawyers, join committees to advance the profession, participate in Roll Out the Barrels, and mentor and commune with one another so we aren’t so alone? For most of us, our work doesn’t change the entire world, but it can change our small part of the world, and maybe that’s all we can strive for. 

With that, I think I have gained clarity on our vision for 24-25: “changing our world.” Cheesy, I know. But hear me out! The goals for the year are to enhance membership benefits and opportunities, cement and support our public policy committee to find ways to give back to our Denver community and grow our social events so people who want to have more community will be able to access them. So no one ever feels alone.  

As you can see, the board’s goals for the year truly are about changing our world—our little slice of it here in Denver—to make it just a little bit better. I hope you’re as excited about that prospect as I am and are ready for the year we have in store! 

I want to close by saying thank you. Thank you to our amazing board and officers. I am so excited to work together and eternally grateful that each of you chose to serve with me. I want to thank our amazing staff, who keep us going and share their time and energy with us.  

Pa’lante todos! 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Annie Martínez, Esq., is a first-generation Cuban American from Hialeah Florida. They graduated from Law School in 2014 and have been practicing law in the Metro Area since 2015. Annie was the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association’s youngest president, sits on various community organization boards, and won the Outstanding Young Hispanic Attorney in 2019, the Up & Coming Lawyers in 2020, and the DBA Young Lawyer of the Year in 2022. Annie is the current president of the Denver Bar Association.