BOETTCHER FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Communications Specialist
Job Titles:
- Former Trustee
- Judge Hatfield Chilson
Job Titles:
- Recipient & Principal Investigator
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications & Community Engagement
Job Titles:
- CEO of the Barton Institute for Community Action
David Miller is CEO of the Barton Institute for Community Action, a Colorado nonprofit organization. The Barton Institute for Community Action brings together resources from the public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors to improve life for people in Colorado communities.
Before joining the Barton Institute, David was president and CEO of The Denver Foundation, the oldest and largest community foundation in the Rocky Mountain region. Under his leadership, the assets of The Denver Foundation grew from $58 million to more than $700 million, and donors contributed over $1 billion to The Denver Foundation as a vehicle for their charitable giving.
David is a fifth-generation Denverite and served as Denver Mayor Federico Peña's Chief of Staff. He is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver, Harvard College, and Harvard Law School. David has worked in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
David and his wife, Lisa Farber Miller, have two children and four grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Chamber of Commerce, Board Member
- Leadership Foundation past Chair Leadership Denver Class of 2006
As program manager, Garrett is the primary point of contact for organizations seeking information on Boettcher Foundation grants. He manages the Foundation's responsive grantmaking program as well as a portfolio of leadership grants, scholar enrichment grants, and the Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards program. Garrett thoroughly enjoys connecting people and ideas with the right combination of opportunities and resources.
Job Titles:
- Chairman - Elect
- EVP and Executive Editor of of the Expert Press
Gregory Moore serves as EVP and Executive Editor of of The Expert Press. He spent 14 years as editor of The Denver Post. During that time the newspaper won four consecutive Pulitzer Prizes, including for coverage of the Aurora Theater shootings. His journalism career has spanned more than 40 years, with stops in Dayton and Cleveland, OH and 16 years at the Boston Globe, where he rose to managing editor.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Greg is the oldest of five siblings. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and political science. Greg loves movies, golf, and family card games. He and his wife Nina have two daughters, Jasmine and Jaden.
As the Programs Coordinator at the Boettcher Foundation, Jackie provides internal programming support across departments and teams. She coordinates logistics and manages the events and special projects for key Foundation programs. She is passionate about elevating people in the communities around her and enjoys working toward this goal by helping to coordinate the inner workings of the Foundation.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Jackie travelled extensively through both professional and volunteer opportunities. Most notably, she worked in Uganda as an international program coordinator at the Foundation for Sustainable Development. Her primary roles included mentoring interns, building community relations, acting as a cultural liaison, and supporting various foundation initiatives and projects.
While growing up in Littleton, Jackie attended Dakota Ridge High School where she was deeply involved in the instrumental music program and was awarded both the Patrick S. Gilmore and the John Philip Sousa awards. She earned a BA in International Studies from Brigham Young University - Idaho before beginning her ventures abroad and is currently pursuing an MPA at the University of Colorado Denver.
Jackie is a big movie buff and can often be found at the movie theater or binge-watching Netflix at home. She also loves hiking, exploring new places, and spending time with friends, family, and her Saint Bernard, Ruby Roundhouse.
Jason Wheeler, a 1992 Boettcher Scholar and Colorado native, is the Head of Corporate Functions for Forward, a revolutionary preventative healthcare membership which puts people in control of their health with world-class doctors and technological support.
Prior to his work with Forward, Wheeler served as the CFO of Tesla, where he raised $1.7 billion in equity and more than $1 billion in non-recourse debt financing. He led Tesla to its second most profitable quarter ever in Q3 of 2016 and co-led their acquisition of SolarCity, which transformed Tesla into the world's first vertically integrated sustainable energy company.
Jason has also worked as the Vice President of Finance at Google, delivering the Annual Finance Plan to the Board, ensuring Google was in good standing with all regulatory agencies, and overseeing all day-to-day aspects of the Finance function.
Jason graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) summa cum laude and number one in his class with a bachelor's degree in finance. He later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. In true nerd fashion, Jason can solve a Rubik's Cube in under three minutes.
Jason is a proud husband and father to his wife, Robyn, and their three children.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Finance & Operations
As the vice president of finance & operations at the Boettcher Foundation, Karen Kruse develops the financial strategies, oversees the execution of investment management, and provides operational oversight to ensure alignment with the Foundation's donor intent and strategic objectives.
Karen is a proven operational and financial executive and entrepreneur with a unique blend of leadership, business, technology, and service expertise.
Karen most recently served as the vice president for finance and chief operating officer at the Boulder Chamber, where she was primarily responsible for overall organizational excellence, but also served as the Boulder Chamber community driver for areas including DEI and Leadership Fellows, and was responsible for the launch and growth of the Boulder Chamber Foundation.
Previously, Karen was president of a business providing strategic consulting for the private, education, and non-profit sectors, served as chief operating officer for the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, and served as chief technology officer in multiple companies delivering technology solutions to the financial services, telecom, and e-commerce industries, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Karen received a dual B.S. degree from the University of Colorado in marketing/finance and electrical engineering/computer science. Karen is a graduate of Leadership Denver and a Boettcher Scholar.
Karen enjoys tennis, traveling, camping, and hiking with her husband, daughter and two dogs.
As president and CEO, Katie has come full-circle with the Boettcher Foundation. She was selected as a Boettcher Scholar in 1993 and has been at the Foundation in various roles since 1997, including as the director of the scholarship program and vice president - a title she assumed at the age of 26.
Katie has been recognized as one of the Denver Business Journal's "40 Under 40" and the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce's "Top 25 Most Powerful Women."
A fourth-generation Colorado native, Katie attended the University of Colorado Boulder, where she was a Presidents Leadership Class Scholar and honors graduate at the Leeds School of Business. In 2009, she completed her Executive MBA at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business.
Katie has served extensively in the community on both local and national boards and is widely regarded as a national expert in scholarship selection processes. Recently, Katie and her colleague wrote and published All the Wisdom and None of the Junk: Secrets of Applying for College Admission and Scholarships in an effort to demystify the scholarship selection process and help the next generation of talented citizens apply for college and scholarships.
Katie is a harmonica-playing, trout-catching, Star Wars-watching, country-dancing, scuba-diving, elk-hunting, Grand Canyon-rafting, mountain-hiking, family-loving, outdoor enthusiast. She lives in Arvada with her husband and two sons.
From Dinosaur to Walsh, Ovid to Mancos, Katie has been to every county in the state of Colorado and has also traveled extensively on an international level.
Job Titles:
- Grants and Database Manager
Job Titles:
- Family Physician
- Member of the Wray
Lindsey Paulson, M.D. is a Family Physician in Wray, Colorado. She practices full-spectrum family medicine including obstetrics, pediatrics, inpatient, outpatient and emergency medicine. She is one of few family physicians nationally trained in surgical obstetrics and is passionate about providing safe, high quality maternity care in rural Colorado. She has served two terms as chief of staff at the Wray Community District Hospital and is active on the Wray Hospital Foundation Board.
Prior to moving to Wray to fulfill her lifelong dream of practicing rural medicine, Lindsey completed her residency at North Colorado Family Medicine in Greeley where she was administrative chief resident. She currently serves as faculty at the NCFM Wray Rural Training Track where she works to train the next generation of rural family physicians.
As part of her advocacy for rural medicine, Lindsey devotes much of her time to teaching medical students and mentoring young people interested in pursuing careers in health care. She is on faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the department of family medicine where she participates in the longitudinal training program for rural track students. She has spoken nationally about educating medical students in rural practice settings.
A 1999 Boettcher Scholar from Sargent High School in the San Luis Valley, Lindsey is a proud graduate of the University of Denver and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her husband, Noah, and their children Scarlett, Jack and Bradley are the great joys of her life-they are always looking forward to their next great adventure together. She loves hiking in the Colorado mountains, is an avid high school sports fan, and can always make a great book recommendation!
Lindsey is an active member of the Wray community where she has served on many boards and in numerous community groups. She finds it incredibly rewarding to participate in the lives of the babies she has helped deliver as they grow up. She can be found on any given day on the sidelines at flag football practice, sharing stories with her elderly neighbors, mentoring resident physicians and medical students, and screaming her heart out for the Wray Eagles basketball teams.
Megan previously served as the manager of operations and engagement at the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation. In this role, she was responsible for program logistics for the annual Leadership Exchange trip, Colorado's Civic DNA Fellows and Leadership Denver. She also led efforts in alumni programming, donations and oversaw a broad range of the organization's administrative functions.
Michelle has the best job in town as Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary (and of course the Chief Flashmob Officer) for Children's Hospital Colorado. Before joining Children's, she held some pretty rad jobs with fancy and damn impressive titles with Centura Health, the City and County of Denver, US West, and Denver Health.
Michelle truly believes it's an obligation to give back to the community. As such, she's blessed to serve on the boards of a number of organizations. These include the Boettcher Foundation Board of Trustees, the Vectra Bank Advisory Board, the Supervisory Committee for the Denver Community Credit Union, the Denver Art Museum's Marketing and Strategic Alliance Committee, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science's President's Leadership Council. Michelle is also the co-chair of United States Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper's United Stated District Court Judicial Advisory Committee. Michelle wore "Roadrunner Red" as past Chair of the Board of Trustees for Metropolitan State University of Denver, was named to the Denver Chamber of Commerce Leadership Foundation Board for a six-year period and served on some other pretty amazing boards and taskforces. Globally she is a board member of the Papua New Guinea Tribal Foundation doing "change the world" kind of work with an amazing team in a beautiful country. Michelle has recently been elected to join the Board of Directors of COPIC Companies as an Independent Director.
Over the years she also received some rocking accolades, like the 2022 "Power Award" from the Girls Athletic League School ("GALS"); 2021 "Raising the Bar" Award from the Colorado Women's Bar Association Foundation; the 2020 "Athena Award" given by the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce; 2019 Top 100 Influencers (Law Executives) in the United States - named by National Business Journals': 2018 Denver Business Journal (DBJ) C-Suite Awards; 2017 "Outstanding Woman in Business (Law)" by DBJ; 2016 "Business Woman of the Year" by Colorado Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; 2016 "Outstanding Corporate Counsel" by University of Colorado School of Law; 2015 Trailblazer Honoree by Latinas First Foundation; CWCC 2015 "25 Most Powerful Women in Colorado, and 2013 Girl Scouts' "Woman of Distinction".
Michelle has delivered keynote addresses focusing on leadership, mentorship, and women's empowerment to groups such as the Denver Scholarship Foundation, Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, the national Women in Leadership organization, Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation and was invited by the US Embassy for Papua New Guinea to be one of the keynote speakers at both the 2017 and 2016 PNG Women's Forums.
Her biggest accomplishments have been her three wonderful humans, her children, Jordan, Alex and Noah. Oh, and she loves her Jeep and the places it can go.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Advisory Committee at Bow River Capital Partners
Rick Pederson is partner and chair of the Advisory Committee at Bow River Capital Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm that acquires interests in middle-market business services companies. Bow River is also a sponsor of real estate and energy investment funds.
Rick was born in Denver and grew up in Lakewood. After earning BSBA, MSBA, and JD degrees from the University of Denver, he began his career at Harbridge House, a Boston-based management consultancy company. Rick returned to Denver and soon after founded Ross Consulting Group, providing real estate-related counsel to private and public clients worldwide. Subsequently, he created and managed a number of successful real estate co-investment funds as president of Foundation Properties Inc.
He is a board member of several publicly-traded investment vehicles including the Westcore Mutual Funds complex, ALPS ETF Trust and Principal Real Estate Income Fund.
Job Titles:
- Superintendent of Aurora Public Schools
Rico Munn serves as the 16th superintendent of Aurora Public Schools. Prior to joining APS, Munn served in a variety of leadership roles in Colorado's legal and business communities. In 2012, he was appointed to the Board of Governors for the Colorado State University System by Governor John Hickenlooper and served until 2020. In 2002, he was elected to the Colorado State Board of Education where he served until 2007. In addition, he was a member of Governor Bill Ritter's Cabinet where he served as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education from 2009-2011.
Munn also served on Governor Ritter's Cabinet as executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies from 2007-2009 where he oversaw the Colorado Divisions of Civil Rights, Banking, Real Estate, Insurance, Financial Services, Securities, Professional Licensure, Public Utilities and Consumer Counsel.
Munn has also been a successful attorney and practiced commercial litigation with a national law firm for over a decade. He describes his law degree as "a graduate degree in problem solving." As a litigator, Munn dealt with a wide variety of people and situations, including financing, construction, education, refugee populations and crisis management.
Munn is a graduate of Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska, where he received his B.A. in secondary education and was named Student Teacher of the Year in 1993. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law.
Munn has been married to his wife Kay since 1998, and he is the proud father of two middle school students.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Programs & Strategic Initiatives
Tiffany Anderson oversees the Boettcher Foundation's portfolio of programs and grants including the Boettcher Scholarship, Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards, and other grants. She also serves as the Foundation's primary contact for scholarship relations.
Before joining the Foundation team, Tiffany developed and directed the Leeds Scholars Program at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business. Prior to that, she served as the program director and senior program manager of the Presidents Leadership Class at CU Boulder for 10 years.
Tiffany is originally from a farm in Idalia - a small town on the eastern Colorado plains. For perspective, there were only 10 people in Tiffany's high school graduating class. From there, she attended the University of Colorado Boulder.
Tiffany is an advocate for K-12 education and has also been active in numerous educational task forces in our state. She and her husband, Jason, live in Broomfield with their three energetic children: Hunter, Adelynn, and Sophia. In her free time, Tiffany enjoys participating in service activities with her family, watching her son's band and her daughters' soccer games, or exploring some of Colorado's local breweries.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chairman - Elect
- Chancellor of the Colorado State University
Tony Frank is chancellor of the Colorado State University system, where he is proud to work closely with faculty, staff, students, and alumni. He served as CSU's president for 10 years, following roles as provost and vice president for research.
Tony's commitment to the mission of the land-grant university was shaped by his own experiences growing up on a farm in rural Illinois, and later by his experience as a student, faculty member, and researcher. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Wartburg College and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Illinois. He completed a Ph.D. and residencies in pathology and toxicology at Purdue University and served on the faculty at Oregon State University before joining Colorado State in 1993.
He has served on several federal panels and was awarded the Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teaching Award at both Colorado State and Oregon State University. His research interests have included toxicologic and infectious disease pathology, and he has authored and co-authored numerous scientific publications.
Tony enjoys hiking around Maroon Bells and fishing on Blue Mesa Reservoir. He and his wife, Patti Helper, have three daughters.
Job Titles:
- Director of Scholarships & Foundation Programs
Vanessa Roman is thrilled to join the Boettcher Foundation as Director of Scholarships & Foundation Programs, where she oversees the Boettcher Foundation programs including the Boettcher Scholarship, Doers & Difference Makers Fellowship, and the Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards.
Prior to joining the Foundation team, Vanessa served as the Head of Outreach at AdvanceEDU, a Denver nonprofit where she managed the organization's recruitment and outreach efforts. Prior to AdvanceEDU, Vanessa spent nine years in various roles in the Office of Admissions at the University of Colorado Boulder. Vanessa has dedicated her career to helping all students access higher education and postsecondary opportunities.
Vanessa attended CU Boulder as a Boettcher Scholar, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in psychology and Master's Degree in educational, foundations, practices and policy. Originally from Pueblo, Vanessa lives in Denver with her husband Jack, their two young children, and their dog, Cocoa.