Anthony Grimes

As a social engineer and creative, Anthony has leadership experience executing brand creation and development, company marketing, corporate strategy, and film production across a wide array of industries.

His creative influence and strategic thinking have effected long-lasting change ranging from human rights movements and civic justice to technology.

Anthony founded the Denver Freedom Riders to provide infrastructure and organizing support around the Ferguson uprisings, growing a grassroots network that became the center of the movement for black lives in Denver, Colorado. The organization trained thousands of organizers and became the central movement arm in holding Denver’s political leadership accountable for community safety, youth education, and harm reduction in black and Latinx communities with resulting policy formation and cultural change in Colorado and abroad.

Anthony was invited to create his own position as Director of Campaigns and Strategy for the Fellowship of Reconciliation — the largest, oldest interfaith peace organization in the United States. During his tenure, Anthony designed national responses to some of the country’s most challenging human rights issues. Anthony created the Give Refugees Rest campaign to effectively end the Muslim refugee ban of dozens of states; Co-led the Bridging the Americas tour throughout the US to bring attention to the connections between Afro-columbian and African American crises; Anthony co-led a People of Color delegation to Palestine comprised of some of the world’s top organizers across a variety of movements; his team mobilized resources — both people and money — to shift national thought around Islamaphobia and to build infrastructure in urban communities.

Anthony was invited by the Netherlands to give the keynote speech for the inauguration of the United Nation’s Decade for People of African Descent. He was also the inaugural touring speaker for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Beloved Community tour in Europe. As part of the tour, Anthony supported African descendants in the diaspora to form strategic responses to racism and classism of local governments.

Anthony worked as Director of Marketing at the Korbel School of International Studies at the Univerity of Denver, introducing a monumental marketing campaign (“your turn”) to increase the school’s enrollment by 42 percent after historically low enrollment the prior year. He created the podcast The Anatomy of Resistance: Where We the People Won and Why, collaborating with such partners as the founders of the Women’s March and Harvard Professor, Erica Chenoweth — a leading strategist of nonviolent social movements.

As Director of Brand at Fairwinds Ops, Anthony led the company’s rebrand after a multi-million dollar acquisition to shift to a product-based business model.

As a filmmaker, Anthony has had lead roles in several award-winning films, including Mr. Somebody (Producer) — a biopic about a gang member in Watts, LA; To the Muse (Producer) — a fictional story about an aspiring artist in Cuba; and Remix the City (Creator, Executive Producer) a TV show he co-hosts about equitable urban planning around the world.

Anthony received his Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication and Ethnic Studies from Colorado State University and was recognized as a Distinguished First Generation Scholar.

Anthony earned his Master of Divinity degree from Denver Seminary, receiving top honors.

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