1,000 Words: A 'Rising Leader'

This post was excerpted from the Western Resilience Center and reporting by Shannon Lukens/Steamboat Radio.

Each year in Steamboat Springs, the Western Resilience Center, formerly known as the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council, recognizes businesses and community members for their efforts to build a more sustainable future.

On Jan. 22, 2026, the center honored Colorado Mountain College Steamboat Springs graduate Shea Speer with its Rising Leader award, recognizing her leadership and commitment to local climate action and sustainability initiatives.

Speer’s path into environmental leadership took shape early through Colorado Mountain College’s concurrent enrollment program, which allowed her to earn college credit while still in high school. In December 2024, she completed her Associate of Science degree at CMC, a milestone she reached before graduating from Steamboat Springs High School a semester early in December 2025.

While studying at CMC, Speer deepened her involvement with local sustainability efforts, volunteering with the Western Resilience Center beginning in 2023. During a summer 2025 internship with the organization, she conducted forest regeneration surveys, analyzed environmental data, and created an illustrated children’s book focused on reforestation for use by local educational organizations.

She has since been accepted to Williams College in Massachusetts, where she plans to pursue environmental studies with minors in math and coastal and oceanographic studies.

Speer’s experience reflects how access to early college opportunities can help students connect classroom learning with real-world impact — and carry that momentum forward.