Elisa Overall

Elisa Marie Overall (known also as “Emo”), has dedicated her career to issues of equity, social justice, and inclusion. She has a decade of experience as a non-profit executive, organizational strategist, and advocate. 

Overall became the first-ever Executive Director to the Colorado Access to Justice Commission (ATJC) in 2021. As Executive Director, Overall supports its Commissioners and Staff in implementing a state-wide strategic plan for expanding access, quality, and fairness in the justice system for all Coloradans. The Commission effectuates its mission by conducting needs assessments, uniting stakeholders from diverse sectors to innovate systemic solutions, advocating for funding for legal aid, championing pro bono work statewide, providing access to user-centered legal information, and driving novel legal resources to rural legal deserts.

Prior to joining the Access to Justice Commission as Executive Director, Overall worked in private practice as defense counsel for indigent defendants, and as court-appointed counsel through the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel.

From 2011-2014, Overall served as Executive Director to San Miguel County’s Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant, a large Federal initiative that in large part targeted health disparities in the region’s low-income and minority youth. Prior to directing the PEP Grant, Overall worked to support immigrant communities throughout the Western Slope as Assistant Director to One Telluride, a grant-funded non-profit organization.

Overall has also led political initiatives and lobbied for local legislative change. In 2012 she successfully lobbied the Telluride City Council’s unanimous approval of a soda tax referendum. She helped form Kick the Can, a campaign committee that partnered with leaders in health policy nationwide, attracted high-profile campaign contributions, and brought global media attention to the concept of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages as a public health initiative. Overall went on to advise other similar campaigns across Colorado in 2013 and 2014 and was a guest speaker for the Colorado Health Foundation at the 2015 Colorado Health Symposium in Keystone. 

Overall is one of four 2025 Sturm College of Law DU Law Stars, and was presented with the Bruce B. Johnson Outstanding Young Alumni award for her contributions to the legal profession. A lifelong public servant, Overall is currently a board member and secretary of RISE Colorado, a nationally recognized non-profit organization for educational equity that works to educate, engage, and empower families of color as agents for change in the education system.

Overall earned her BA from Stanford University and earned her JD from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. A seventh-generation Arizonan, Overall is Mexican American and grew up between Tucson, Arizona, and Hermosillo, Mexico. Since then, she has lived in seven countries, and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.