05/06/2026
The International Leadership Foundation proudly recognizes Judge Joe Jefferson for receiving two distinguished honors: the 2025–26 Colorado Municipal Judges Association’s (CMJA) Distinguished Jurist of the Year Award and the 2026 Minoru Yasui Community Service Award.
Judge Jefferson serves as an Honorary National Advisor to the International Leadership Foundation and has a decades-long devotion and commitment to public service, civic leadership, the law, and community advocacy. Born and raised in Englewood, Colorado, he earned his B.S. from Cornell University and his J.D. from the University of Denver. His family also operated Twin Dragon Restaurant, a longstanding local business that served the Englewood community for more than four decades.
The Distinguished Jurist of the Year award recognizes excellence in judicial service for displaying outstanding character, leadership, competency, and innovation in the performance of judicial duties, while the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado (APABA) Minoru Yasui Community Service Award goes to an individual whose community service exemplifies the lifetime achievement of Mr. Minoru Yasui. Mr. Yasui famously challenged the laws applied to Japanese Americans during World War II and advocated for civil rights and liberties of American citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity.
On April 9th, in acceptance of the 2026 APABA Minoru Yasui Community Service Award, Judge Jefferson reflected, “My earliest lessons about justice as well as personal courage and belief in community did not come from law school or the courtroom. It came from experiences at our family restaurant in Englewood. I did not realize it back at that time, but those lessons would shape my understanding of these ideals. Judge Jefferson expressed his gratitude to his mother, Ms. Shiou Jefferson, ILF Colorado Honorary Chair, for her courage in coming to the United States with only $1,000 and a determination to build a better future. He concluded, “Her sacrifice to improve her life for my benefit is the greatest gift I’ve ever received. She is one of the giants on whose shoulders I stand. Her resilience and her unwavering belief in education and service made everything in my life possible. She taught me that success is not defined by recognition, but by responsibility; by what we do for others with the opportunities we are given. Thank you Mama for everything, I love you.”
Judge Jefferson has played a significant role in local government, serving on the Englewood City Council for over 10 years and as mayor from 2015 to 2018. He made history as the city’s first mayor of Asian heritage and the State of Colorado’s first Taiwanese American mayor. In 2017, he was elected as Englewood’s Presiding Municipal Judge, becoming the only publicly elected and Asian presiding judge in Colorado, and was reelected in November 2025.
Read more here: https://www.ilfnational.org/judge-joe-jefferson-award-2026/
