Auna Jornayvaz

Auna has spent more than 15 years as a journalist and research strategist working for magazines and lifestyle brands across Colorado, New York and Australia. She has a BA and MA in journalism from The University of Denver and The University of New South Wales. She has been involved with the Faber Writing Academy and was accepted as one of only 185 writers in Australia to attend the prestigious Varuna Writing House in New South Wales. She had an excerpt of her memoir published in the Faber 2021 Anthology. She lived in Sydney for nearly a decade where she worked for major hotel and lifestyle brands, speaking and advising at wedding conferences, and educating audiences on how to target the luxury demographic.

Since recently returning to Denver to raise her two young children, and recovering from a debilitating childbirth injury, she is now focused on long-form writing and collaborating with spinal cord injury patients and those suffering from chronic pain to use narrative medicine for healing purposes. She is deeply committed to the causes of postpartum trauma, mental health, childbirth injury and invisible disability and looks forward to supporting the incredible work of Denver Health. In addition to her position at The Denver Health Foundation, Auna serves as a board member of the LARRK Foundation and is actively involved at The University of Denver and Mackintosh Academy.