colorado leadership alliance Archives

Colorado State University (CSU) junior Carmyn Ginnetti was named Colorado Leadership Alliance’s (CLA) 2020 Student Leader of the Year at the CLA Summit on Saturday, Jan. 25. The annual award is given by the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation and the Boettcher Foundation. (more…)

In my experience, the greater Colorado community is comprised of many different stories. From leaders like Katie Kramer at the Boettcher Foundation, which makes investments in and builds communities for college-bound seniors, to leaders like Steve Foster at Convercent, which works to provide businesses, schools and government agencies resources to create and reinforce strong ethical and moral workplace practices, Colorado leaders at the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation have cultivated an environment where we can listen to community members to create positive change. Without the support of the Colorado Leadership Alliance (and the leaders that heard my story), I would not have had a platform to share my experiences as a queer Latinx student, airmen and local leader at CU Boulder. Since I’ve started college, my leadership has significantly evolved. Today, I understand that leadership boils down to multiple paradigms and philosophies – failing frequently, learning through shared experiences and being vulnerable enough to share my story. This trip was an important stepping stone towards my journey as a leader.

As a student delegate for this year’s Leadership Exchange (LEX) trip, I had the privilege of examining leadership application from a different lens. The common theme I learned from Dallas leaders was the importance of storytelling and active listening. Of all the excursions, from Big Thought to Southwest Airlines, the most impactful excursion for me was Café Momentum. Chad Houser, the CEO and executive chef, shared his experience confronting his preconceived notions about youth in juvenile detention centers – whilst helping them prepare for an ice cream competition. When the young men called him “sir,” he recognized that he connoted them with stereotypes that follow the juvenile detention centers; when he learned their stories, what systemic injustices that brought them into the system and what is keeping many of them there, he was compelled to create a positive impact through cooking. In his organization, he empowers at-risk youth through internships, social support resources, brave spaces to succeed and job-readiness training to break the school-to-prison pipeline in Dallas.

The founders and leaders of the organizations we met with made it clear that their journey started with a paradigm shift, where they learned stories that challenged their single-narrative beliefs or preconceived notions. The true problem facing their communities wasn’t that the people were broken, but instead that they lacked the resources and opportunities to break out of the oppressive systems that they were in. Using their professional backgrounds and relationships, community leaders sought out more stories, and thus built organizations that work to address their communities’ evolving problems. Their work created significant change in the community, as they showed through recidivism statistics and youth reflection stories.

In the town hall discussion following these excursions, it was clear that Colorado leaders felt inspired to discuss the implementation of community-based solutions in Colorado – referencing Southwest’s business model, diversity and inclusion practices in the Dallas Mavericks and the community stories inside Bonton Farms. I shared those feelings; I was grateful to share these learning experiences with local leaders, gain extraordinary lessons in mentorship and build connections with others to devoted to evolving their community. Because of this sentiment, I believe that more students should have the opportunity to come on this trip, and more students should learn about the work that this organization is doing. Every leader has something to bring to the table, they just need the opportunity to share it with you.

Selena Quintanilla is a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, pursuing a major in computer science and minors in leadership studies and computational mathematics. She served as the student delegate on LEX Dallas.

Now that we’re a few weeks into the New Year, we’re all thinking about our resolutions and how we can accomplish our goals. If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that we get more done together. So, why not lean on your fellow alums and the Leadership Foundation to make your resolutions a reality?

Want to increase your impact? Apply for Colorado’s Civic DNA Fellows. Over eight months you’ll get a chance to increase your personal, professional and community impact. You’ll have access to a professional coach, a 360-degree review that you own and a small group to connect with and share experiences. Apply for Colorado’s Civic DNA Fellows by Jan. 27.

Looking to get to know your own backyard better? Discover your city on Access Denver.Ideal for senior leaders who are new to the area, in a community-facing role or are just looking to get up to speed quickly, you’ll learn about the major issues facing the Denver metro area and take advantage of opportunities to make valuable connections through exclusive networking events in this two-day program. Register for Access Denver Feb. 27-28.

Committed to keeping in touch? Reconnect with your class and support our scholarship fund at Leading Colorado. Our annual luncheon is a great opportunity to connect with your classmates while supporting the next generation of leaders. All ticket proceeds support our Leading Colorado Scholarship Fund, ensuring people with diverse backgrounds and experiences can participate in our programs and enhance their impact on the community. Get your seat or table for Leading Colorado on March 12.

We also announce the 2020 9NEWS Leader of the Year live at Leading Colorado! If you want to reconnect with alumni before then, join us and your Alumni Advisory Council at Leading Colorado: Meet the Finalists on Jan. 29 to hear from the 9NEWS Leader of the Year finalists: Luis Benitez, vice president of government affairs and global impact for VF Corporation; Jerome Davis, regional vice president of Xcel Energy – Colorado; and Tasha Jones, senior director of marketing and community relations for Brookfield Properties.

Pay it forward to future leaders. Share your leadership journey with collegiate leaders in our community. Sign up for our Colorado Leadership Alliance Mentors Walk on Jan. 25.

Every year our New Year’s resolution is to engage with you, our alumni, and give you the tools you need to take the next step in your leadership journey. We’ve got a great year of programs and events ahead – check out our calendar or tell us a bit more about your goals to find out what program is right for you.

Dan Lewis is the executive director of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation

Brandon Bayer, a senior at Colorado State University Pueblo, is dedicated to his community. He is a collegiate leader who is committed to engaging all voices on his campus and working to ensure high school students are prepared for college. He is truly is making his mark as a leader.

Bayer was named the Colorado Leadership Alliance’s (CLA) 2019 Student Leader of the Year in January at the CLA Summit. The award is

given by the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation and the Boettcher Foundation annually.

"Being honored means the world to me,” Bayer said. “I have worked hard these last four years to improve my abilities as a leader, and I am honored to be recognized in this way.”

A student from CSU Pueblo was last recognized with this award in 2012, and Bayer is thrilled to be representing his school: “I cannot express the pride I have in my heart to represent my university.”

Bayer is exemplifying what it means to step up and lead from where you stand. He was the first student to be inducted as a voting member of CSU Pueblo’s Foundation board and was one of 20 students selected to attend the Colorado Rural Health Scholars Program at the Anschutz Medical Campus, all while majoring in biomedical sciences with a minor in chemistry and leadership studies.

“Brandon is a dedicated leader who is actively using his voice to engage other leaders in his community – exemplifying qualities that have served him well in college and will do so into the future. He offers a model to other students on how to lead effectively,” said Boettcher Foundation President and CEO Katie Kramer.

CLA unites collegiate leadership programs from across Colorado and exposes students to community issues outside their campus at the annual summit. The CLA Student Leader of the Year is selected at the summit annually and honored at the Leading Colorado Luncheon on March 14.

Bayer notes that growing up in the small town of Beulah, southwest of Pueblo, he didn’t always have confidence or believe in himself to achieve his potential. But, he realized he wasn’t on the right trajectory: “I knew that what I was doing was mediocre, and if I kept at it, I would be leading a mediocre life, and this scared me.” So, he made a shift in high school to become the person he’d like to be and through the President’s Leadership Program at CSU Pueblo has found like-minded leaders.

“In the President’s Leadership Program, I have found a sense of comradery that I only can describe as family,” Bayer said. “We all look out for one another and do whatever we can to see each other succeed.”

The 2019 Student Leader of the Year has a passion for his community and drive to make a difference in the medical field.

“I keep chasing my dreams with an unhindered relentless spirit, one day I will be making a difference,” Bayer said. “I look back at my life and can’t help but wonder if that little boy running around the forest would be proud of how far we have come. I know I am.”

Read Bayer's acceptance speech for the 2019 Student Leader of the Year:

As I sit back and reflect on how I got to where I am today, I can’t help but understand that it was the leadership that I experienced along the way that helped mold me into what I am and who I aspire to be.

I was raised in a small cabin that my parents had built on the edge of a canyon a little ways past Beulah Colorado. It was remote, and isolated, but it was our paradise. It was on the side of that mountain that my parents raised me with the values that I have today, to be a caring and compassionate human being who will do what he can to help those around him. I know in my heart that my passion for wanting to be a positive force in other people’s lives stems from them and the lessons that they taught me. One day I hope to give back to a small rural community, by practicing as a physician, helping to give to those that don’t always have the most prominent voice. This journey into medicine really began with my grandfather. Growing up, I really didn’t have many aspirations as to what I was going to be or where I wanted to go for sure. One week I was going to be an actor, and the next, a police officer. Yet, as the years went by, I would observe my grandfather who was a physician in Pueblo. I began to notice that every time I would be out with him, someone would come up and say hello, and then I would be told “ your grandfather is an amazing doctor” I saw that what he did was having an impact, he was benefiting not only the community, but the people that resided in it and called it home. That was when the seed was planted in my mind and when I began to consider Medicine as an option for a carrier path.

I am a Biomedicine major, with minors in chemistry and leadership studies. As you heard, I am a proud student at Colorado State University-Pueblo. I cannot express to you the amount of times that my school has been written off by current or perspective students because of it being to “small” or because of the smaller community that we are a part of. Honestly, I believe that this is our greatest strength, and what makes us so powerful as a university, and a community. There I’ve watched people be encouraged to follow their dreams and staff, professors, and other students, all willing to help make those dreams a reality Through my involvement in the president’s Leadership Program, I was given amazing opportunities to be involved in my community, and to work with some of the most amazing people that I have ever met. My campus ensures that its students are given every tool they need to be successful leaders in their respective fields. It is one of the numerous reasons, that I am so proud of where I come from and the community that I have been a part of.

In the experiences that I have had with the Colorado Leadership Alliance, I have been able to learn about this extremely interesting idea known as Colorado’s Civic DNA. Being a Biology major, this DNA thing is right up my alley! And as I learned more about what those values of collaboration, shared vision, leadership, responsibility and inclusivity meant to the people around me, I could not help but feel pride, because these values are what my community in Pueblo has placed as an extremely high priority. I see these values every day, and I cannot express my joy in knowing that my community, and those in it, are striving to do amazing work though the enhancement of Colorado’s Civic DNA.

I would like to conclude by just saying a quick, but meaningful thank you. Thank you to the selection committee that decided that I should be up here representing my school and those who have made me into who I am today. Thank you for seeing my passion and encouraging me toward my future with a fiery persistence that says, “I will make it one day!” Thank you to my Program directors Shelly Moreschini, and Dr. Trish Orman. Finally, to my parents Susan and Michael Bayer sitting out there. Honestly, I was told that at this point I could say a quick thank you to them, but I don’t thing that such a thing exists. How do you thank the people that made me who I am today? I suppose all I can say is that from the bottom of my heart thank you. Thank you for consistently inspiring me to be better and for always providing me with unconditional love and support in all my endeavors.

Everyone needs outside eyes to solve problems and I love having the opportunity to be that person,” said Dan Kobler, partner at Campfire Digital and a current member of the Leadership Denver (LD) 2018 class.

Dan had the opportunity to be that person for Paul Hunter, a student leader at Regis University, this past fall through the Colorado Leadership Alliance (CLA) Mentoring Program, which connects all ages of Leadership Foundation participants by pairing Denver metro area-based leaders with collegiate student leaders over a semester to help them kick start their engagement in the community.

“It has been great to get to know Paul and find out what he is working on and how I can help. I’ve learned a lot about how to ask the right questions and help him get to the core of what is next,” Dan said. “The most meaningful part has been being able to see some lights go on and help a fellow entrepreneur figure out his path.”

After meeting Paul, Dan was surprised by how much he had already accomplished at a young age. Paul founded Repurpose Bowties in 2015 to connect families with the memory of their fallen soldiers using fabric from military uniforms. Repurpose Bowties handed out 400 bowties to celebrities in a gifting suite at the 69th annual Emmy Awards. Read more about Paul’s success in The Denver Post.

“I have learned so much from my mentor, Dan, but most of all, I feel like I have somebody well-connected in the Denver network who has my back and my best interest at heart,” Paul said. “Dan has shown that he is interested in my success and well-being, and it’s great to have somebody like that in your corner.”

Do you want to become a mentor for the next generation of leaders? Sign up for the spring semester CLA Mentor Program or join us for a group mentoring experience at the CLA Summit Mentors Walk on Saturday, Jan. 27.

This blog was originally published on the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation's blog. Click here to view the original post.

Erica Rutledge is the program and events coordinator for the Leadership Foundation.

“It has been great to get to know Paul and find out what he is working on and how I can help. I've learned a lot about how to ask the right questions and help him get to the core of what is next,” Dan said. “The most meaningful part has been being able to see some lights go on and help a fellow entrepreneur figure out his path.”

Editor’s note: An important part of leadership is bringing in others to learn and grow their leadership skills. With that in mind, the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation provides opportunities for college students in its Colorado Leadership Alliance of university leadership programs to attend other programs with more seasoned leaders. One student explains his experience on Access Denver (the next program—ideal for senior-level executives—will run Aug. 3-4, 2017), in his own words.

I woke up half an hour earlier than I usually would, had laid out my best suit the night before, and even made sure I knew exactly how long it would take me to drive to the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce downtown. I couldn’t explain why I did all of these things that certainly weren’t a part of my normal routine, other than that day had a sense of importance.

In all honesty, I didn’t have the slightest idea what to expect from the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation’s Access Denver. I had only heard bits and pieces of what it was, and from what I could gather it was some sort of networking event for which I was a student representative. Based on that vague idea of what I had landed myself in, I didn’t expect the experience to feel too unfamiliar. Pulling on previous networking events I had attended and interactions with business professionals I had, I invented a story in my mind about how the two days would go: There would be a lot of small talk, a little cliché advice and not much of anything impactful. In addition to this, my youthful ingenuity would be met with a few friendly reminders not to “reinvent the wheel” and a couple “how the real world works” speeches.

I was wrong.

I showed up just on time, filled a plate with food and a cup with coffee and sat down at a table with an open seat. Immediately, the businessmen and women at the table began flooding me with questions. “Who are you?” “Who do you work for?” and most importantly, “How old are you?” I assumed the last question was because I looked a little young to be sitting in that room; I felt a little young to be sitting in that room.

All at once it became crystal clear to me what was fostering that sense of importance I had been feeling. Sitting in that room, I could feel the collective power, motivation, intelligence and experience. Then there was me – feeling eager and a bit anxious to soak it all in. It was almost instantly that I knew Access Denver was going to be a significantly different experience than the one I had made up.

Over the course of two days I was overwhelmed by more than my fair share of creativity, passion and brilliance. Where I expected small talk, I found that the only topics we covered were ones with massive implications. When I was only prepared for cliché advice, I was provided wisdom and expertise that was reassuring and motivating. And while at first I didn’t hold my breath for impact, I was left feeling like my perspective of Colorado and the business community in Denver had been changed forever. I was surrounded by true change makers within the business community in Denver. The company that I was keeping for those two days in August were intelligent people, genuinely eager to understand more about the issues our communities face and how they can leverage their own leadership to make a difference.

When I reflect on the wealth of knowledge that I walked away with from Access Denver, it all falls under two main themes. First, Denver is different than most other places, but what makes it special is this unifying mindset among its leaders to foster and rely on collaboration as a way to take on our greatest issues we face as a community. The other, perhaps even greater lesson I learned was this: leaders – true and genuine leaders – like to see other leaders succeed. Leadership is not about competing for the spotlight or the greatest achievements, but it’s being a member of the collective desire to see good done in a community.

Access Denver was truly a transformative experience, and one that I have reflected on a lot since August. I am continuously honored and inspired by what I learned as a student participant and by the people who taught me.

Senior executives can learn more about Access Denver or apply for the upcoming program, Aug. 3-4.

Vincent Villarreal, Colorado Leadership Alliance student and Access Denver 2016 participant.