Dennis Barcial Apuan was a Filipino-American community leader and lifelong advocate for civil rights, equality and peace.

Mr. Apuan was born in Manila, Philippines before moving to the United States in 1984 and to Colorado Springs in 1997. Throughout his time in the Pikes Peak Region, Mr. Apuan was a tireless civic leader and represented a diverse constituency in southeast Colorado Springs’ 17^th District during his tenure at the state house from 2009-2011. Outside of public office, Mr. Apuan served with the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, El Paso County Democratic Party, Colorado Unity, the UCCS Diversity Strategic Planning Committee and the National Federation of Filipino Americans Association.

In 2010, Mr. Apuan founded the Endowment for the Asian Pacific American Collection at the Pikes Peak Library District dedicated to building a substantial collection of books, DVDs and CDs that speak to the Asian American experience. He was awarded later that year with the Organization for Chinese Americans’ Asian American Hero of Colorado award.

Over the course of his life, Mr. Apuan founded multiple other civic ventures and organizations, including the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Colorado, KCMU 93.9 Colorado Springs Community Radio/Colorado Media Justice Foundation, Colorado Springs Council for Justice and Colorado Springs Says Welcome.