Lindsay Gilchrist

Lindsay Gilchrist is running for the Colorado State Legislature to represent House District 8. Lindsay was born and raised in Denver, and she is deeply proud of her roots. She went to East High School like her uncles and grandmother before her. She lives in Park Hill with her wife and three kids, just a block away from where her Dad grew up. Her kids attend the same elementary school that her Dad attended decades ago. She considers it a privilege to be running to represent HD8 and the community she holds so dear.

Lindsay strongly believes that government is a place where we can come together to address some of our greatest challenges. She always knew that if she wanted to be a part of improving people’s lives on a grand scale, changing public policy was the way she could do that. That is why she is running.

After graduating college from the University of San Diego, Lindsay traveled to Swaziland, (now Eswatini) Africa to volunteer with an organization working to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. During her time in Africa, she saw firsthand the remarkable impact US foreign assistance can have on other countries, an experience that shaped her view on US foreign policy and continues to inform her work today.

When she returned home, she got her first job in Senator Ted Kennedy’s office. In that role, she gained valuable insight into how Congress worked, learning how to bring people together from different sides of the political spectrum and pass legislation. Following the Senator’s passing, Lindsay moved over to the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. In this role, she advised Subcommittee Chairman Donald Payne on matters concerning global health, security and humanitarian issues in Africa.

After working in Congress, she moved back to southern California to pursue a Masters in Public Policy from UCLA. While she was in school, she was hired as the Senior Advocacy Officer at mothers2mothers (m2m), an international organization that partners with mothers and pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In that role, she represented m2m with members of Congress, the Executive branch and other organizations. While working for m2m, Lindsay realized the potential of small, community-focused organizations’ to positively influence policy-making. Their advocacy could help ensure we have policies that truly reflect the needs of our communities. This realization prompted her to establish Gilchrist & Company in 2012, with the vision to work alongside organizations, foundations and policy-makers to improve public policies in the United States and around the world. The company’s mission is to advance organization’s agenda’s through advocacy, policy research and analysis, strategic planning, communications support and political strategy.

Gilchrist & Company works with criminal justice reform organizations to help train and equip newly elected prosecutors from around the country to reform the system.  They also work with international organizations like Nuru International on developing a whole-of-government initiative to prevent and combat violent extremism in fragile states. Additionally, Lindsay leads an initiative called CHAMPS Colorado, ensuring we have high quality family-based settings for kids in foster care.  Throughout her career, Lindsay has continually been inspired by the organizations she works with that are not only leaders in their field, but who also share her ambition to effect positive change by improving public policies for the people they serve.

For over a decade Lindsay has been working on policy issues from outside and alongside the government. Now she would like to bring that expertise and dedication to the inside, to be a champion for those issues she has fought for her whole career. She hopes to put her passion for public service and her extensive policy experience to work in the Colorado State Legislature. Lindsay is determined to tackle some of the state’s most pressing issues, including reforming the criminal justice system, safeguarding LGBTQ rights and implementing robust gun violence prevention policies to protect our children. Lindsay and her wife are also foster and adoptive parents and know personally how important it is for youth, particularly youth in foster care, to have access to mental health services. Improving the child welfare system will be a central priority for her.

Lindsay has always deeply believed in public service and that government should be a place where we come together to solve real problems. That is why Lindsay is running, and she is looking forward to earning your support.