Strong leadership is critical to our success as a community. Next month, we’ll welcome a new board chair and incoming chair, along with 15 new board members.
Please join me in welcoming Linda Childears, president and CEO of the Daniels Fund, as chair of our board of directors. She’ll officially receive the gavel from our current board chair, Denise Burgess, at our Annual Meeting on Sept. 11. We’ll also welcome David Eves, EVP and Group President of Utilities for Xcel Energy, as our incoming board chair for 2019-20.
She’s worked across sectors. Linda is our first chair from a philanthropic organization, but her background is in banking. She started at First National Bank and eventually ran her own banking consulting firm until she met Bill Daniels and opened Young Americans Bank – the first bank for kids.
She’s driven. It’s clear in her work ethic, from her career to her approach in engaging on the Chamber board and committees. She’s always sees how things can be improved – it’s been an asset in her career and will help the Chamber on its effort to continually improve our work as well.
She lives Bill Daniels' values – and is sharing them with the Rocky Mountain region. Linda has so many qualities, but you will hear people talk about her integrity. She is someone whose word is always good. These two important values also guided cable TV pioneer Bill Daniels. Linda took the helm of the Daniels Fund in 2005 and she not only keeps Bill Daniels’ legacy of ethics in business alive but is also making a huge impact in her work. As of 2017, the foundation has awarded more than $186 million in scholarships helping students go to college and nearly $575 million in grants across Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
You’ll see more about Linda in our next issue of Business Altitude.
Our board of directors represents companies big and small, in a variety of industries and across the state. Our new board members are:
- Steve Carter, General Manager of 9NEWS
- Patrick Cowan, Senior Vice President of U.S. Bank
- Mark Cordova, President of Centennial Bolt
- Carla Dore, President of Workplace Resources
- Noel Ginsburg, CEO of CareerWise
- Chad Jones, Senior Vice President of U.S. Onshore for Charles Schwab
- Carl Koelbel, Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Koelbel & Co.
- Peter Lauener, President of McWhinney
- Kirk Mielenz, CEO of RevGen
- Marc Neely, CEO, Employer and Individual for UHC
- Ruth Rohs, Vice President of Corporate Communications for the IMA Financial Group and Executive Director of the IMA Foundation
- Dean Sanpei, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Centura Health
- Rob Smith, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute
- Edie Sonn, Vice President of Pinnacol Assurance
- Maureen Tarrant, President and CEO of Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center
And, I cannot thank Denise Burgess enough for her leadership over the past year as our chair. Denise, you made our 150th year as an organization truly unforgettable and you brought your expertise and insight as a small business owner to the forefront, advocating for our members big and small. Thank you!
You can share your thanks and congratulations to all our board members at Annual Meeting – see you there.
Kelly Brough is president and CEO of the Chamber.
