Team

Coming soon!

Nadia Rendón Talavera (she/her/hers) got her first thesaurus in seventh grade. Flipping through its pages, she became fascinated with words and their meaning. It was this book that sparked her lifelong fascination with language.

She brought her thesaurus with her as she moved around the world, growing up in Mexico City, El Salvador, Ukraine and the United States. Her love of words grew into a desire to understand how language shapes culture and vice versa; how the power of words can influence narratives.

As Barefoot PR’s Bilingual Strategy Associate, Nadia applies her love of language to break barriers and build bridges for the purpose-driven organizations we partner with. With two communications degrees and experience working in a global capacity, Nadia uses her skills to help organizations better connect with and represent the Latinx community. When she is not flipping through her thesaurus, Nadia can be found working out, wandering around art museums, or shopping for great vintage finds.

Laura Schwinkendorf (she/her/hers) is Barefoot PR’s strategy guide, leading the work we do to build Communications Roadmaps for clients. Laura has an eye for opportunity and a mastery of tactics that work. As she learns about a client’s audiences and the outcomes they hope to achieve, Laura builds Editorial Calendars, Story Banks, Big Ideas and Tactical Plans to guide clients through the actions they need to take to infuse purpose into their communications.

Her approach to communications planning was shaped by a desire to seek out new ideas, experience different ways of living and stretch her comfort zone while traveling to Maui, Paris, Uganda and the neighborhoods of Denver. She brings skillful exploration to her work with clients – balancing proven recommendations with opportunities to stray from the path and try something new. 

When she is not at work, Laura volunteers her time as a board member for Youth on Record, dotes on Dez the cat, and cheers on the Texas A&M Aggies alongside her partner, Michael. If you ever need a restaurant or happy hour recommendation, Laura will have one ready and she suggests walking along Cherry Creek Trail or through the Jefferson Park neighborhood to soak up the best Denver vibes.

Katie Deng (she/her/hers) loves the process of creating something new. Whether it’s box stitching lanyards, coding websites or sewing hats, Katie finds joy in the ebb and flow of the creative process. 

As a student of Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, Katie became fascinated with the creativity baked into our brain chemistry. She studied the intersection of neuroscience, technology, design and media – finding joy in the process of coding languages and playing with visual aesthetics. 

Katie brings this sense of play and passion for process to her role as Barefoot’s web and design associate. She loves using her skills in design and technology to tell visually engaging stories for our clients. When Katie isn’t flowing in the creative process, she’s spending time with loved ones, getting active outside, pondering the meaning of life, and staying young learning the latest slang terms from her brothers.

Annabelle (she/her/hers) remembers getting in trouble for turning her house into her art studio as a kid. She’d color on the furniture and bring buckets of sticks and dirt inside to build sculptures. She might not use as much dirt in her art today, but she brings the same creative energy to her role as a visual storyteller for Barefoot PR. As Barefoot’s Graphic Design Associate, Annabelle uses design to serve a meaningful purpose for individuals and organizations that work to create community change. She is passionate about creating visual solutions that support social impact alongside Barefoot’s creative team.

But her creativity extends beyond the universe of graphic design. Outside of work, Annabelle can be found assuming the role of Lady Annabelle, The Royal Peacekeeper as she builds her empire in a game of Settlers of Catan. She enjoys sipping green tea during the day and sampling craft beer at night. She lives in Westminster with her partner Carter in a house with forest green walls.

Mayte Porragas Paseiro (she/her/hers) is passionate about exploring the intersection of humanity, art and technology in her work as a Barefoot PR’s Web Design Associate. As a student at CU Boulder, Mayte learned that storytelling is about much more than putting pen to paper. She uses this knowledge to craft community-centered graphic and web design for our purpose-driven clients.

Mayte has been expressing herself through painting, drawing, dancing and arts for as long as she can remember. She found herself drawn to the technology and design of the art she loved. To this day, she’s an avid film watcher and music lover – learning about the art of storytelling through sci-fi movies,  animation, multilingual music, vampires and werewolves, and alien CGI.

Growing up bilingual, Mayte appreciates the value of diversity and the power of inclusivity. She infuses this passion for learning from and connecting with the community into her work today. When Mayte is out of the office, she enjoys volunteering at Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema and taking pictures of dogs.

Tara Riseley (she/her/hers) is a service-oriented, intentional graphic designer and brand strategist who believes design can be a catalyst for positive change in the world. As a visual storyteller, she helps Barefoot PR’s clients bring their message to life and their audience close to their mission through compelling imagery and branding.

Tara was drawn to design at a young age when she started noticing how the shapes, colors and patterns her great-grandmother and mother wove together in quilts evoked emotion. Later, she studied color theory and learned the science behind the art of pairing colors to generate an emotional response. Today, she starts most projects for Barefoot PR’s clients outdoors with a pen, paper and a great view of the Boulder Canyon where she lives with her family.

When she is not at work, Tara enjoys live music festivals and weekends adventuring with her husband, Will, and three kiddos, Hattie, Louise and Fin. She is also known for serving up delicious dishes that have earned her the title of “casserole queen” and for supporting women-led nonprofits.

Jinha (she/her/hers) loves the feeling of pride that comes from sharing the final result of a project that took a lot of creativity, time and heart. She remembers the first time she got this feeling. Her grandmother taught her how to sew when she was young, and together they made her sister a skirt. Her sister never wore the skirt, but it didn’t matter. That was the moment that set her up for a career in and passion for design. This career started in the fashion industry. After a decade, Jinha switched to the non-profit sector and found fulfillment she didn’t realize she was missing.

Today, as the Director of Design at Barefoot, she has the perfect mix of working to build something useful and helping fill a gap for individuals and organizations who need support. When she’s not on the web, she is a self-proclaimed “boardgame-playing-super-nerd” who enjoys running, hiking and snowboarding her way through Colorado. She lives in Denver with her husband Ryan and their two boys, Sam and Remy, who are artists in the making. Their preferred mediums are Legos and car tracks.