When Jennifer Kostka Beck told her friends about her new position as communications and marketing director at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, almost all of them said, “That’s perfect for you. You love Colorado!”
Beck, a metro Denver native, started at the Chamber in October and is excited to combine her past experience in nonprofit communications and marketing with her passion for her home state.
“Colorado is a wonderful place because the community seeks opportunities to open its doors and welcome new people and businesses,” Beck said. “I’m excited to join an organization that is dedicated to the future by putting Coloradans to work in great jobs.”
Beck is proud to come from a long line of journalists and public relations professionals. Her grandfather started what is regarded as Denver’s first public relations firm, William Kostka & Associates, and her grandmother wrote a column for The Denver Post. Her father, Bill Kostka Jr., was a Rocky Mountain News reporter before taking over his father’s firm. Her mother, Cynthia Gleason Kostka, who joined Bill in leading the firm, was raised by parents who owned and operated a small-town newspaper in Clintonville, Wisconsin.
Beck is a graduate of Rangeview High School in Aurora and the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied journalism. She began her career as a newspaper reporter at The Durango Herald in southwest Colorado. After moving back to Denver, her path took her to nonprofit communications, because she wanted to be part of organizations making a difference.
Most recently, she was national director of development communications at National Jewish Health from 2010 to 2018, before working as director of communications and community relations at Rocky Mountain Human Services until October.
Beck is excited to join an already-strong communications team at the Chamber, where she will continue to work on projects that make a difference, including Prosper CO, a non-partisan research and communications initiative, managed by the Chamber, the Chamber’s Leadership Foundation and the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, that is working to ensure that all Coloradans can find a path to success.
“Jenn’s diverse background in communications and marketing will help the Chamber further its work to build a healthy economy for all Coloradans. She has already jumped into the work with both feet, and we look forward to seeing what she will accomplish in her role,” said Chamber President and CEO Kelly Brough.
Beck lives in Wheat Ridge with her husband, Brian, their two children, Tucker and Isla, and her black Lab, Boo.
