Kayvan Khalatbari is an entrepreneur and advocate whose work focuses on the preservation of historic buildings, the development of attainable housing, and the creation of wealth development opportunities for young people. He joined the board of CCW because its mission aligns directly with his work.

After a lengthy career in the cannabis industry, operating a comedy production company and arts magazine, and many other ventures across the country, today Kayvan largely focuses his time in Trinidad, CO and Raton, NM, where he is redeveloping a dozen historic properties totaling more than 100,000 SF. These projects include a theater, dry goods stores, hotel, church, train depot and more. Together these properties house nearly 30 small businesses that employ approximately 100 people. Kayvan is also developing 24 attainable housing units in Trinidad in partnership with Elevation Community Land Trust.

Kayvan’s history of entrepreneurship and civic engagement is an asset to CCW’s community work. As an example of how his work has been informed by and furthered CCW’s mission, Kayvan was inspired to convert Sexy Pizza, his successful five-location pizzeria, into an employee-owned company based on his work with CCW’s founders.