A bold-thinking group of strategic advisors committed to guiding Colorado Mountain College to even greater heights
The Colorado Mountain College President’s Advisory Council is a national group of voluntary advisors with distinguished and diverse backgrounds. Members are nominated and selected based on their ability to offer counsel, generate ideas, extend influence, make connections, strategize, leverage resources, and share a passion to support the college and its president.
The late Jim Calaway, a former CMC Foundation board member and philanthropist, founded the council, previously named the CMC Board of Overseers, in 2012. Jim’s vision was to establish a thought-provoking, dynamic forum to help guide the college to further excellence. The council meets annually in person with additional periodic one-on-one meetings with the CMC president.
Bruce Allbright is the founder of Allbright Cotton, a Fresno, California-based company and is also the managing partner of Jacalitos Pistachios in Coalinga, California. Bruce has numerous other business and investment interests across the country as well.
Bruce has served on numerous nonprofit and professional boards in Fresno and Steamboat Springs, including serving as chair of Valley Children’s Hospital in Fresno, and on the boards of the Fresno Art Museum, Rhodes College, and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. He recently ended his term on the Colorado Mountain College Foundation board, where he served as treasurer. The Allbright Auditorium at CMC’s Steamboat Springs campus is named in recognition of the Allbright family’s support.
Bruce and his wife Leslie have lived in Steamboat Springs since semi-retiring in 2010. They have two boys who live in California, one in Memphis, and a daughter in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Allbrights have a deep interest in US and world history and enjoy children, fly fishing, skiing, dogs, horses, travel, philanthropy, and aviation.
Enis Alldredge Jr. is a retired senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. For 20 years he led the payments system division and was responsible for payment activities in the seven-state 10th Federal Reserve District.
Prior to his last assignment, he was the managing officer of the Denver office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
During his career, Enis participated in many Federal Reserve system activities. Prior to his last assignment, he was the managing officer of the Denver office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and was chosen to lecture to managers at the People’s Bank of China. As a member of the bank’s management committee, he interacted with many private sector directors from a wide range of industries and occupations.
Prior to joining the Federal Reserve, he spent five years as an officer in the US Army, including an assignment in Korea. In Kansas City, he served as president of Inroads, Inc., a minority development organization, and served on its national board. He also served as president of the American Institute of Banking.
Enis is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin. He also completed the Executive Program in Organizational Change at Stanford University.
Since his move to the Roaring Fork Valley, Enis has served both as president of the Aspen Glen Homeowners Association and chairman of the Aspen Glen Club. He is also a member of the Sunset Rotary Club. Enis is an admirer of Colorado Mountain College, having taken several of its excellent noncredit courses.
Amy Margerum Berg most recently served as president of The Better Angels Society, a nonprofit supporting the work of documentarian Ken Burns and other filmmakers telling the stories of American history.
Previously, Amy served as executive vice president of operations and development at the Aspen Institute from 2000 to 2016. Under her purview, the Aspen Institute grew from assets of $50 million to assets of over $250 million. Amy successfully oversaw a $115 million capital campaign, which generated funding for scholarships and special initiatives, and spearheaded the revitalization and renovation of the Aspen Meadows campus.
Amy served as the city manager for the City of Aspen from 1990 to 2000. As the chief executive officer for the city, which operates under a council/manager form of government, Amy was responsible for a $45 million annual budget and over 220 employees. She is credited for moving the city from a financial deficit to one of Colorado’s strongest financial municipalities.
Under her leadership, the City of Aspen implemented an innovative performance-based management system that monitors the results of governmental services and rewards employees accordingly. Amy also worked as planning director for Aspen and Pitkin County.
Amy oversaw long range planning in Santa Barbara County, California and worked for the Santa Barbara County Energy Division, a public/private partnership. She also consulted on the coastal plan for the City of Carmel.
Amy holds a degree in planning from the University of California Santa Cruz and a master’s in marine policy from the University of Washington. Amy lives in Jacksonville, Florida and Aspen with her husband, Gilchrist Baker Berg.
Sue Birch describes herself as “an executive nurse with an MBA.” She is the director of the state of Washington’s Health Care Authority in Governor Jay Inslee’s cabinet. It’s a position she accepted in 2018 after serving as the executive director of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing for the state of Colorado from 2011 to 2017 in then-Governor John Hickenlooper’s cabinet.
As the director of Washington’s Health Care Authority, Sue and her team manage programs and initiatives that range from the administration of Medicaid and behavioral health activities to
developing models for value-based purchasing and health technology assessments. Sue is passionate about improving population health and reducing overmedicalization by focusing on the social determinants of health. Under Sue’s leadership, Washington implemented Cascade Care, the first-in-nation public option aimed at improving access to high-quality, affordable health care.
Prior to her cabinet positions, Sue was the CEO at Northwest Colorado’s Visiting Nurse Association for 16 years. Sue received her Bachelor of Science in nursing degree and an MBA, both from the University of Colorado Denver. Sue’s home state is Colorado, and she continues to keep her house in Steamboat Springs.
Kathy Sharp Borgen has been a resident of Colorado for over 50 years where she divides her time between Denver and Vail.
Kathy has served on numerous boards that complement her science and theology interests. In Vail, she is trustee emerita and former board chair with Walking Mountains Science Center. She is also a former vice chair at the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and the Iliff Eco-Justice Center, and is on the Smith College Center for Environmental, Ecological Design and Sustainability Advisory board. Former board service includes board chair of Rachel’s Network, a nationwide group of women philanthropists active in environmental funding and women’s empowerment, named after Rachel Carson; Colorado Chapter of The Nature Conservancy; the Eagle Valley Land Trust; and the Iliff School of Theology. She also sits on the Borgen Family Foundation board, which concentrates on funding education, humanitarian, and environmental entities. The foundation has generously supported CMC’s Mountain Futures Fund and other college priorities.
Kathy received her bachelor’s degree at Smith College in bacteriology and chemistry and after college, she worked as a research assistant at both Harvard Medical School and the University of Colorado Medical Center. She loves science and has kept up with its developments.
Feeling the need to broaden her perspective, she entered the Iliff School of Theology in Denver and in 2000 received a master’s degree in theology with a concentration in women in religion. Her master’s thesis was on “Women for Social Change – Religious Perspectives on the Environment.”
Both of Kathy’s parents were geologists – her father was a professor at Barnard College and Columbia University – and she believes their influence gave her a lifelong appreciation for education and the planet on which we live. Kathy is married to Bjorn Borgen, a native of Norway, and has a large family, all of whom live in Colorado. She spends the summers in Norway where her family is active in business and sports.
Paul Bushong is an advocate for education and a retired petroleum engineer who moved to Carbondale from Houston, Texas. He is a longtime resident of the Roaring Fork Valley who supports and promotes the education of the region’s students.
In 2014, Paul established the Fast Forward Scholarship with the Aspen Community Foundation to support local graduating high school students seeking a certificate or associate degree in a skilled trade. In 2018, Paul partnered with the CMC Foundation, expanding the scholarship to support Roaring Fork Valley locals of any age pursuing career training. Since its inception, the Fast Forward Scholarship program has enabled dozens of area residents to become certified as medical assistants, nurses, and auto mechanics, among other skilled trades.
Paul again supported the college in 2021, with a $1.5 million gift to support the Promise of Spring Valley Campaign. He encouraged matching donations from friends and community members to renovate an existing campus building into a state-of-the-art nursing simulation lab and student center. In honor of the gift, the building was renamed the Paul & Shirley Bushong Student Center in recognition of Paul and his late wife.
Paul also sponsors an annual 12-day study tour to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans and to the battlefields of Normandy, France, for up to 20 high school sophomores and juniors. A Korean War veteran, Paul is passionate about teaching kids the history of America’s role in world affairs. The local community benefits through Paul’s requirement that the students give presentations about what they’ve learned to other classes and Roaring Fork Valley groups.
Paul is a member of the CMC Foundation’s Davenport Legacy Society and has included the CMC Foundation in his estate plans.
Connie Calaway is a resident of Carbondale and has served as chair of both the Colorado Mountain College Foundation board and River Bridge Regional Center. She served on Colorado Governor Bill Owens’ Commission for Science and Technology and on the Colorado State University Board of Governors.
As an accomplished soloist, Connie performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on “Leonard Bernstein Conducting,” a Columbia Records recording, and with the Westminster Choir, Rice University Chamber Players and the Houston Symphony. She toured with the Robert Shaw Chorale and performed and produced for Young Audiences of America.
Connie founded Houston’s “100 Women” and the Texas Institute for Arts in Education, in partnership with the Lincoln Center Institute in New York City. Connie was vice chair for the 1988 Presidential Victory Fund of the Democratic National Committee and was delegate to the Arias Peace Process in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.
She has served on the boards of Houston Friends of Music, Houston Grand Opera, Westminster Choir College at Ryder University, and the National Alliance for Arts Advocates.
Connie and her late husband Jim have provided years of support to CMC students through the Calaway Scholars program. Additionally, The James C. and Connie L. Calaway Academic Building opened in 1998 and continues to be a valuable part of the Spring Valley campus. The Calaways are also included as members of the CMC Foundation’s Davenport Legacy Society.
Connie earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. She attended the University of Washington and the Vienna Akademi für Musik in Vienna, Austria.
Terrance Carroll was the 54th speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives and the only African American to have served in that position. Currently, Terrance is a senior fellow for voting and democracy, advocacy at Fairvote, a nonpartisan organization working for better elections for all.
Previously, Terrance was the executive director of Unite Colorado after serving as a police officer with Colorado’s shared law enforcement reserve. Terrance was the keynote speaker for CMC’s Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy commencement in 2018.
Terrance was part of the legislature from 2003 until being term limited in 2011, known for being a skillful dealmaker as well as a critical and respected negotiator. The Denver magazine 5280 recognized him as one of the “50 Most Influential People in Denver.”
Terrance is a graduate of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He serves on the board of directors for the National Western Stock Show and the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
A graduate of Morehouse College and University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, he holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He is also an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches USA and the Progressive National Baptist Church.
Edward “Ed” Casias is a fifth generation Coloradan. He has been a Summit County Court judge since 2001. As a county court judge, Ed has served on numerous committees within Colorado’s Judicial Branch. Ed served as the Colorado County Court Judge’s Association president and treasurer. In 2023, he received the statewide Anthony Greco County Court Judge award and the 5th Judicial District Judicial Officer of the Year award.
Ed has served on community boards including Summit County Head Start Policy Council, Summit Community Care Clinic, The Summit Foundation, Keystone Science School, The Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, Caring for Colorado Foundation, Summit Youth Baseball and Softball, 10th Mountain Lacrosse, and the Summit Lake Dillon Optimists. Ed has coached Summit County youth in basketball, baseball, and lacrosse and was the recipient of The Summit Foundation’s Dave Olbright Outstanding Youth Mentor award in 2015.
Ed is a first-generation college student, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College and his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University College of Law. He has been a Colorado Mountain College student mentor and a student himself attending classes toward an Associate of Arts degree in outdoor education. He served as CMC’s Summit Campus commencement speaker in May of 2023.
Pat Chlouber served as the secretary of education’s regional representative for six states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, and Colorado from 2001 to 2009 in President George W. Bush’s administration. Following that appointment, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper appointed Pat to serve on the Colorado Charter School Institute board for two terms.
In 2020 and 2021, Governor Jared Polis invited Pat to serve on the Response Innovation and Student Equity Education Review Committee. The funding was targeted to educational institutions across states impacted by COVID-19.
Pat was an elementary reading specialist for over 20 years, served on the Lake County School Board for nine years, and was elected to the Colorado State Board of Education from the 3rd Congressional District from 1996 to 2001 where she served as president of both these boards. In 2011, she was elected to the CMC Board of Trustees and served two terms.
Pat holds a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and a master’s degree from the University of Colorado. She and her family have been residents of Leadville for over 40 years.
Charles Cunniffe, as the principal of Charles Cunniffe Architects, has worked as an architect in Aspen since 1979.
Charles was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects for recognition of his notable contributions to the advancement of the profession of architecture. Charles Cunniffe Architects was selected by Outside magazine as one of the top “50 Best Places to Work” in 2022, marking the ninth consecutive year the company has made the list.
Charles served on the CMC Board of Trustees from 2013 through 2021 and has been an active college supporter for many years, including serving as a member of the CMC Foundation board.
In addition to his role with CMC, Charles is involved with various community affiliations, including the AIA Colorado West Board of Directors as past president, and the AIA Committee on Design. He is a founder of Jazz Aspen Snowmass and is currently its governance chair.
Additionally, he is a founding board member of the River Bridge Regional Center and currently serves on its board, is vice chair of the Aspen Historical Society, is a member of the Aspen Rotary/Rotary International World Service committee, is a founding member of the Aspen Science Center, and serves on the EcoFlight board. In addition, Charles currently serves on the Pitkin County Board of Adjustment, the City of Aspen Commercial Core & Lodging Commission, and is an elected director of the Aspen Fire District. Charles is a member of the Society of Fellows of the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Elks Lodge #224 and serves on the Urban Land Institute.
Charles enjoys sponsoring and providing pro bono services to many programs such as The Buddy Program, Mountain Rescue Aspen, Challenge Aspen, Aspen Film, and Theatre Aspen.
Charles holds bachelor’s degrees in architecture, fine arts, and sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, followed by studies at Harvard Graduate School of Design, MIT, and Brown University.
An avid traveler and lifelong learner, Charles has taken a number of classes at the college over the years, as well as through the American Institute of Architects. He finds great joy in piloting his own plane, skiing, playing golf, and, most of all, his family.
Glenn Davis was elected to the Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees in November 2009. He served until 2017, chairing the group from 2011 to 2017.
Glenn is a longtime Colorado resident, banker, and community volunteer. He initially served on a CMC Edwards Campus Consolidation and Development Steering Committee in 2003 and later joined the CMC Foundation board in 2004. He served as chair of the board for three years before becoming a CMC trustee.
During his time serving the CMC Foundation, Glenn was most proud to be a part of establishing the HERO Scholarship at CMC Edwards – an effort that became an effective template for campus-based fundraising across the college’s footprint.
As a trustee, Glenn’s goals included helping to strengthen community members’ knowledge of and appreciation for the entire CMC district, which stretches across all or part of nine sprawling counties in western Colorado.
He said his first exposure to the mission of the college came with his work helping to select recipients of the Alpine Bank Latino/Hispanic Scholarship, now the Alpine Bank First Generation Scholarship. The more he got to know the college staff, the more he was impressed.
Glenn also has devoted time as a board member for Wings Over the Rockies, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, Vail Mountain School, Vail Junior Hockey, The Literacy Project, and Vail Valley Partnership.
Glenn earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Lake Forest College in Chicago and has worked at Alpine Bank since 1988. He currently serves as Alpine Bank’s chief development officer.
Glenn enjoys skiing with his wife, Rebecca, and their two sons. In the warmer months, the New Hampshire native likes to bike and play golf.
Greg Felt has worked on the Arkansas River as a guide and outfitter since 1985 and is one of the founders of ArkAnglers in Salida and Buena Vista.
With a life and career built around water, he serves as a director for both the Upper Arkansas and Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy districts and has been twice appointed by the governor to represent the Arkansas River Basin on the Colorado Water Conservation Board, where he is serving as Chair for 2023 and 2024.
In 2016, he was elected Chaffee County commissioner and will finish his second term at the end of 2024. During his time as commissioner, he led the county’s response to the Decker Fire, served as the Chaffee County Board of Health chair through the pandemic years of 2020 through 2022, and was co-lead of the Envision Chaffee County process.
Greg’s outdoor leadership interest began early. As an undergraduate at Yale, Greg co-founded First Year Outdoor Orientation Trips, or FOOT, after completing a NOLS course and wanting to bring a similar experience to incoming students. Today, FOOT runs over 40 trips with more than 130 leaders. Greg lives in Salida with his wife, Susan.
In 2019, voters overwhelmingly chose to annex Salida into CMC’s district.
Russ George is a multi-generational Coloradan who has dedicated his life to public service. As Colorado statesman and lawyer, Russ has held leadership roles for over a dozen government, nonprofit, and educational institutions and organizations.
Russ served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1993-2000, where voters elected him four times to represent the 57th district, comprised of Moffat, Garfield, Rio Blanco, and Pitkin counties. He served as Speaker of the House during his final term. Other roles included executive director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife – now Colorado Parks and Wildlife; executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources; director of the Colorado Department of Transportation; president of Colorado Northwestern Community College; and director of compact negotiations of the Interbasin Compact Committee, a division of the Colorado Water Conservation board.
Russ was born in Rifle, where his family ranched and farmed for four generations. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colorado State University, and from Harvard Law School with a J.D. Early in his career, he worked as a lawyer with the Rifle law firm of Stuver & George. He has taught classes and served as a commencement speaker at CMC’s Rifle campus.
Scott Gilbert retired in 2020 as president of Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley after 15 years developing the organization from an all-volunteer operation to a staff of 50. During his time at Habitat, Scott re-focused the affiliate's efforts on building homes for essential workers in the community, especially teachers. He also oversaw the exponential growth of Habitat’s ReStore home improvement and donation center to become the 10th largest in the country.
Before moving to Colorado, Scott had a successful career in the advertising industry as co-CEO for Saatchi & Saatchi’s flagship office where he oversaw 500 employees and focused on building the culture of the organization. Scott also served on the 12-person Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Executive board. At Team One, a division of Saatchi & Saatchi, Scott was instrumental in launching Lexus and building the Lexus brand for 10 years. Scott was selected as Leader of the Year by the Los Angeles Advertising Agencies Association in 2000 and 2001.
Since moving to Colorado, Scott has consulted with chancellors at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Denver. Scott has served as an adjunct faculty member at CMC, teaching an advertising class for the Bachelor of Science in business and administration degree program.
Scott’s volunteer activities center on the Roaring Fork School District’s PreCollegiate Program, which is a partnership with CMC, CU Boulder and the school district, and where Scott is a mentor and a board member. He has also served on the boards of Colorado Rocky Mountain School and the Chadwick School.
Prior to entering the advertising field, Scott taught, coached, and was the head of the middle school of Greens Farms Academy in Westport, Connecticut.
Mark Gould is chairman of Gould Construction, Inc. in Glenwood Springs, a fully integrated heavy construction and site development general contractor providing construction services within the state of Colorado.
Depending on the season, GCI employs more than 150 tradesmen and women. Construction services provided by GCI include all elements of infrastructure including bridge construction, utility and excavation work, and residential site development.
Mark has also served on the Valley View Hospital Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2010, where he was chairman from 2005 to 2007. He was the chairman of the Colorado Chapter of YPO from 2000 to 2001, the education chairman of the YPO Western Area Conference in 2002, and a member of the Colorado Mountain College Foundation board from 1996 to 2001 and from 2009 to 2013.
Bob Hartzell was elected to the CMC Board of Trustees representing Lake County after being elected to the board in 2019. He served one term.
Bob was a high school business teacher in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Leadville. He served as assistant area manager at Ski Cooper. At Copper Mountain he was on the ski patrol, worked in lift maintenance, and was the director of lift operations. Bob was president of the Rocky Mountain Lift Association and was a member of the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board for 11 years. For five of those years, he served as chair. Bob founded and directed Central Rockies Leadership for 10 years and Leadership Leadville for seven years.
A former Colorado Mountain College Leadville staff and faculty member, he has been an instructor, assistant campus dean, professor, and collegewide faculty development director and retired as the Leadville campus dean.
Walter Isaacson is the former editor of TIME magazine, the former CNN chairman and CEO, and an author of major New York Times bestsellers including, most recently, “Elon Musk” (2023). Other titles include “Leonardo da Vinci” (2017), “The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution” (2014), “Steve Jobs” (2011), “Einstein: His Life and Universe” (2007), “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” (2003), and “Kissinger: A Biography” (1992), among others. CMC’s Isaacson School is named for him.
Walter is a professor of history at Tulane University and an advisory partner at Perella Weinberg, a financial services firm based in New York City.
Walter’s career started at The Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times- Picayune. He joined TIME magazine in 1978 and served as a political correspondent, national editor, and editor of digital media before becoming the magazine’s 14th editor. He became chairman and CEO of CNN in 2001, and president and CEO of the Aspen Institute in 2003, where he is a distinguished fellow.
Walter is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of the Arts, and the American Philosophical Society. He serves on the boards of United Airlines, the New Orleans City Planning Commission, the New Orleans Tri-centennial Commission, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Society of American Historians, the US Defense Department Innovation Board, the Carnegie Institution for Science, and My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.
Walter is a native of New Orleans and a graduate of Harvard College and of Pembroke College at Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Walter and his wife Cathy are longtime supporters of Colorado Mountain College, funding student scholarships and making various gifts to the Isaacson School of Communication, Arts, and Media, which bears his name.
Cristal Logan is vice president of Aspen Community Programs and Engagement at the Aspen Institute and is responsible for creating and overseeing year-round public programs for the Aspen area community.
During her 24-year tenure at the institute, Cristal has expanded the number of community events exponentially to over 60 programs for residents, visitors, and teens, including the McCloskey Speaker Series, the Hurst Lecture Series, the Murdock Mind Body Spirit Series, the Hurst Student Seminars for Middle School and High School Students, Great Books, Great Decisions, Teen Socrates, and Sharing Shakespeare, as well as a host of diverse offerings.
Cristal also oversees the newly launched Hurst Community Initiative, an engagement program that seeks to promote dialogue, increase understanding, and facilitate opportunities for meaningful collaboration in the region from Aspen to Parachute. With a focus on equity and belonging, this initiative amplifies and supports projects that foster economic vitality, housing stability, and social emotional resilience.
Prior to joining the institute in 1999, Cristal worked in administration at Aspen Valley Hospital and in finance at the Aspen Skiing Company. A fourth-generation resident of the Roaring Fork Valley, Cristal has been a committed member of the community by serving on the board of the Aspen Hall of Fame, participating as a member of Leadership Aspen Class of 2000, and as one of the inaugural members of the Aspen Community Foundation’s Spring Board. She is chair of the board of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association and in 2017, the ACRA honored Cristal with the prestigious Molly Campbell Service Award, recognizing an Aspen local who embodies a commitment to community service and leadership in the community.
Tyler Moebius is a five-time entrepreneur, and an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award winner. Tyler has over 25 years of experience in designing and launching disruptive technology solutions for the digital media industry.
Tyler is currently the CEO and chairman of SmartMedia Technologies, his newest venture, based out of Carbondale, Co.
When Tyler’s head is not in the digital ethos, his heart is grounded with his partner Oriana and their four children on their small biodynamic farm at the base of Mount Sopris where, with the help of the Waldorf School community, they are raising conscious global leaders who wonder at beauty and stand guard over truth. In addition to CMC, he advocates for these organizations: Conscious Capitalism, Blockchain, COVENTURE and Lead With Love.
Tyler graduated from Fort Lewis College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management. He is an avid telemark skier, mountain biker, and whitewater enthusiast and can be spotted on many of the mountains and rivers in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.
Greg Moore is the co-Founder of KLOWTIFY, a Colorado-based strategic media consulting company. He is the former executive editor of The Expert Press, a Canadian-based content agency.
Previously, Greg was the editor-in-chief of The Denver Post from 2002 to 2016, during which time the newspaper won four consecutive Pulitzer Prizes, including coverage of the tragic Aurora theater shooting in 2012. He was on the board of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and was a member and former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board. Before joining The Denver Post, Greg had been the managing editor of the Boston Globe, where he worked for 16 years.
He is a trustee of the University of Denver, the Boettcher Foundation, and is chairman of Polaris, a Washington, DC-based anti-human trafficking organization. Greg was an inspiring commencement speaker at the May 2023 ceremony at CMC Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs.
Greg is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and political science. A father of three, he resides in Golden with his wife Nina Henderson Moore.
Carrie Morgridge co-founded the Morgridge Family Foundation with her husband John. The foundation now has an annual grant budget of more than $10 million.
In 2003, Carrie and John created the Student Support Foundation, a national organization that inspires youth philanthropy. The Morgridge Acceleration Program, created in 2020, cultivates an ecosystem of leaders and learners. MFF’s $1.4 million child welfare initiative, launched in 2022, brings together experts, nonprofits and people with lived experience to help integrate the fragmented child welfare system and secure more federal funding through better use of data.
MFF Publishing helps bring awareness to worthwhile causes through creating and sharing nonfiction books, educational tools, comprehensive online reports.
CMC Aspen’s Morgridge Academic Center was named in honor of the extraordinary generosity provided by the MFF and that of Carrie and John Morgridge, to that campus in 2001. The Morgridges again honored the college with a naming gift in 2018, this time to establish Morgridge Commons adjacent to CMC’s headquarters in Glenwood Springs.
John and Carrie Morgridge’s third major capital gift donation of $1 million will provide a new state-of-the-art teaching and learning kitchen at the CMC Aspen campus.
Carrie is the award-winning author of “Every Gift Matters—How Your Passion Can Change the World.” Her second book, “The Spirit of the Trail” was released in May 2018. She is now at work on a philanthropy “field guide” to help new philanthropists find their giving style and become as effective and transformative as possible with their resources.
Carrie speaks internationally at education advocacy forums, poverty alleviation conferences, and many philanthropy-focused convenings. She was the commencement speaker at CMC Rifle’s 2017 ceremony and has twice been invited to the TED stage to share her ideas.
Carrie and John are avid athletes. In 2016, they mountain biked through the country on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route covering 2,774 miles from Canada to Mexico in 46 days. Between the two of them, they have completed 17 Ironman competitions and in winter 2022– 2023, they skied a million vertical miles each.
She and John divide their time between Montana, Colorado, and Florida. They have two adult children and two adorable grandchildren.
Cheryl Niro is a mediator, facilitator and attorney, skilled in negotiation, mediation, conflict resolution, and strategic organizational planning.
Cheryl has long been a leader of Illinois’ legal community. She was a member of the American Bar Association Board of Governors and was a principal in the law firm of RobinsonNiro, LLC, which provided advice, expert witness services, and training on issues involving legal ethics. At the board of governors, Cheryl helped to oversee the administration and management of the organization, representing the association’s Seventh District, comprising Illinois and Ohio.
Cheryl was executive director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism from 2006 to 2009; and was a special counsel to the attorney general of Illinois from 1996 to 1999. She also founded the National Center for Conflict Resolution Education. Cheryl has been an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois College of Law where she taught negotiation skills and was the second woman to serve as president of the Illinois State Bar Association. She has chaired or been a member of state bar entities devoted to a range of issues, from meeting the legal needs and interests of children in the state to the impact of international trade agreements on the practice of law.
Among the many organizations in which Cheryl has played a leadership role are the National Center for Institutions and Alternatives, the Chicago Council of Lawyers Panel on Child Support Enforcement, the Illinois Department of Public Aid, and the John Howard Association Lawyers’ Committee for Prison Reform.
As a nationally-recognized leader in the profession, Cheryl frequently lectures in continuing legal education programs, and at law schools both in Illinois and outside the state.
Cheryl now makes her home in Missouri Heights in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley. Cheryl’s dear friend Ann Korologos first introduced her to Colorado Mountain College and the President’s Advisory Council. Cheryl continues Ann’s legacy of serving the college in this way.
Gino Rossetti founded Rossetti Architects, a Detroit-based global architectural firm, in 1969.
Gino and his wife Donna left the firm in the capable hands of their son Matt and moved to the Roaring Fork Valley, immediately becoming involved in their community.
Gino brought his 50-plus years as an architect to CMC Spring Valley’s capital projects, serving as an expert advisor on the design of the campus’s buildings: the J. Robert Young Alpine Ascent Center, the Outdoor Leadership Center and Field House, and the renovated Paul & Shirley Bushong Student Center.
A registered architect in Michigan and 40 other states, Gino is a registered planner in New Jersey and is certified with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. He has received several honors from the American Institute of Architects and the Michigan Society of Architects. His firm designs professional sports stadiums, arenas, entertainment venues, institutions, and commercial buildings, often integrating his buildings into a carefully designed overall master plan.
Gino subscribes to and believes in a philosophy of architecture, which embraces three axioms – hard work, good taste, and common sense. Besides his support of higher education at Colorado Mountain College, Ginno volunteers as a design coach with YouthEntity, a Carbondale-based organization, giving high school students real-world learning experiences in the field of design. Gino received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Detroit and studied design at the University of Michigan.
Besides Gino’s participation on the CMC Foundation board, the Rossettis also provide a student scholarship each year for the Isaacson School of Communication, Arts, and Media at CMC and are members of the CMC Foundation’s Davenport Legacy Society through their inclusion of CMC in their estate plans.
David Roth’s career spans the globe and includes executive leadership roles in the private, public, academic, NGO, and nonprofit sectors. David co-founded and currently serves as CEO of The Wakaya Group, an organic agricultural and wellness enterprise with operations in Vermont, Florida, Fiji, Tonga, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, and the United Kingdom.
David and actor/musician Stevie Van Zandt co-founded Little Steven's Underground Apothecary for which David also provides day-to-day leadership.
David serves as a commissioner on Vermont Governor Phil Scott's Commission on the Future of Agriculture in Vermont, and is on the board of many philanthropic organizations, including The Rock & Soul Forever Foundation founded by Stevie Van Zandt, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen.
Formerly, David served as director for FIJI Water LLC in Fiji and was chair of the California Student Aid Commission as well as chief of staff to the President of Occidental College.
David and his wife Anita co-founded and operate Cary & Main Co., an organic maple products producer in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. David makes maple creme from scratch, is a drummer, and a sommelier certified by The Court of Master Sommeliers. David and his family divide their time between Vermont and New York.
A proud father, David often visits the same ski resort communities that share a Colorado Mountain College campus. David’s daughter is a competitive snowboarder, which often brings David to Colorado ski towns to watch her compete.
Carole Segal is co-founder of Crate & Barrel and the founder and former CEO of Foodstuffs, Inc.
Carole is chairman emeritus of the Rush University Board of Governors, a trustee of Rush University Medical Center, a trustee of The University of Global Health Equity, a trustee emerita of Bates College, a life trustee of the Illinois Institute of Technology, a co-chair of the American Business Immigration Coalition and is on the board of Forest Trends.
Carole graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and is on the board of visitors of the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University. Carole and the Segal Family Foundation helped launch Colorado Mountain College’s Fund Sueños program.
Ann Smead was a systems engineer at IBM, then continued into a successful real estate, commercial management, and development career in Portland, Oregon. She subsequently joined Kaiser Aerospace & Electronics Corporation, where she managed their diverse real estate portfolio.
Ann received her Commercial Certified Commercial Investment Member and Institute of Real Estate Management designations and became an instructor for these training organizations, teaching financial management courses. She taught in Eastern Europe shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, assisting with the transition from communism to free-market capitalism and democracy.
Ann graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Business Administration in economics and statistics.
Ann served on the Vail Valley Foundation board beginning in 2004, and was its chair from 2017 to 2022, and was involved with its YouthPower 365 programming since the early 1990s.
Along with her work at the Vail Valley Foundation, Ann serves on the engineering advisory board for the College of Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. She previously served as a board member of Vail Mountain School and Vail Health, formerly the Vail Valley Medical Center. Ann has also established scholarship programs, actively supporting students ranging from pre- school through doctoral studies. She also continues her work in financial management, leading several privately held limited liability partnerships and companies.
Ann Smead was an original member of the Board of Overseers – the prior name of this council – and is pleased to contribute once again.
Marian Smith is a lifelong resident of Glenwood Springs and paved the way for women in leadership in an era when women rarely led companies or communities. By example, Marian encouraged other women to follow in her footsteps.
In the more than 125-year history of Garfield County and Glenwood Springs, Marian was the first female Glenwood Springs City Council member and the only female mayor to date. She was also the first of only two female Garfield County commissioners. Additionally, Marian served as the first woman on the boards and in leadership positions for organizations in fields such as soil conservation, mine reclamation, and other areas not normally governed by women at that time. Each of Marian’s endeavors involved leading by example and encouraging women of all ages to be involved in public service and politics at all levels.
Marian’s career was focused on professional community service. Within that field, she was a recognized statewide leader who received many honors, appointments, and recognitions. A few examples of her service include participation on the boards of the Mount Sopris Soil Conservation Service, Big Country Resource Conservation and Development Area, Colorado Geological Survey, Minerals, Energy and Geology Political Advisory, Territorial Geological Survey, Daughters of Colorado, Colorado Justice Assistance Grant, Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority, Club 20, Colorado Air Quality Commission, and Colorado Natural Hazards Mitigation Council.
Colorado Mountain College has two locations in Marian’s hometown – CMC Glenwood Springs and CMC Spring Valley.
Patty Theobald was elected to the CMC Board of Trustees for District 4, Summit County, and was term limited in 2023 after serving eight years.
Previously, among her many community leadership roles, Patty was chair of the CMC Foundation Board. She was on the board of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, and she served on the advisory committee for the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Since 1999, Patty has been the finance officer for Theobald Family LLP, for the preservation and renovation of 16 historic buildings in Breckenridge and the protection of several other historic properties. Additionally, from 1990 to 1999, Patty was the director of the US office of American Mom education consulting.
Patty is an elected trustee of the Upper Blue Sanitation District. She serves on the board of directors of the St. Anthony Summit Medical Center Health Foundation and she is the board president of the Saddle Rock Society Foundation.
Patty has studied early childhood education at the University of Northern Colorado, accounting and education at Colorado State University, and Japan studies, language, culture, business, and religion at Teikyo Loretto Heights University.
Patty’s husband Robin comes from a fifth generation Breckenridge family, the Theobalds’ hometown.
Jon Warnick retired as vice president of quality and customer satisfaction at Nortel Networks. Prior to Nortel, Jon worked for IBM and took early retirement as the Asia director of quality.
While Jon was working at IBM, he and his family lived in Tokyo for four years, during which time he traveled extensively throughout Asia. After retiring from IBM, Jon joined Nortel. When Nortel opened their world trade operations in London, he and his family moved to London for four years while Jon traveled in Asia, Europe, Canada, and the US. In 1998, Jon took early retirement from Nortel and he and his family returned home to Colorado.
Jon was a member of the CMC Foundation board from 2008 to 2014 and served as board chair from 2012 to 2015. He and his wife Connie are long-time scholarship donors and members of the CMC Foundation’s Davenport Legacy Society.
Jon holds degrees in engineering and business from the University of Colorado. In addition, he holds MBA and law degrees from the University of Denver.
Jon is active in the Roaring Fork Valley and serves on the Valley View Hospital Foundation board, was past president of the Roaring Fork Water and Sanitation District, was an ambassador for the Aspen Skiing Company, and was president of the Aspen Glen Homeowners Association. He also stays involved with the University of Colorado and University of Denver.
Jon is an avid skier, road biker, and golfer. He regularly takes classes at CMC and enjoys interfacing with other students, faculty, and staff.
Erik Weihenmayer is one of the most celebrated and accomplished athletes in the world. In 2001, Erik became the first blind person to climb Mount Everest.
Erik is the author of the bestselling memoir “Touch the Top of the World” that was made into a feature film. He then wrote “The Adversity Advantage,” an inspirational book that shows readers how to turn everyday struggles into everyday greatness.
In September 2014, Erik and blinded Navy veteran Lonnie Bedwell kayaked the entire 277 miles of the Grand Canyon, which is a stretch of the Colorado River that is considered one of the most formidable whitewater venues in the world. He detailed the journey in his book, “No Barriers: A Blind Man’s Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon,” which was selected as the CMC’s Common Reader. Erik’s book illuminates how we move forward in our lives towards growth and purpose – despite the barriers that get in our way.
In 2017, Erik was the commencement speaker at the Leadville campus’s ceremony. He subsequently received an honorary degree in outdoor leadership from the college.
As an internationally recognized speaker who continually seeks out new adventures, Erik is focusing his efforts on empowering people traditionally swept to the sidelines of life. He founded an organization called No Barriers, which helps people with challenges tap into the human spirit, break through barriers and contribute to the world.
Debbie Welle-Powell is a healthcare thought leader, educator, national speaker, and content expert in delivery system care models, population health and digital care.
Debbie is the former chief population health officer at Essentia Health, an integrated delivery health system with 14 hospitals and 1,500 providers spanning the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Debbie designed and operationalized Essentia’s $2.5 billion dollar transition from a primarily fee-for-service model of care to one that focused on value, the patient, and risk contracting with payers. The results led to 45% of the system’s fee-for-service revenue tied to financial and clinical performance, which produced record earnings on shared savings.
Debbie is known for building high performing teams. At Essentia, she and her team of 150 associates were responsible for aligning the health system’s clinical and economic transformations to support Essentia’s vision of becoming the leading health system for patients in the Midwest. This included developing care management programs and clinically redesigning care to ensure that high-value care is delivered across the health system’s service area.
Debbie currently serves on many national and local boards including the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations, National Committee on Quality Assurance, International Women’s Forum of Colorado, Summit Community Care Clinic in Frisco. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado’s Executive MBA program.
Her work has earned her many honors including being recognized as one of 58 top leaders in Population Health by Becker’s in 2022, the Women of Distinction award from the Girl Scouts of Colorado, Colorado’s Most Powerful and Influential Women award, Outstanding Businesswoman Award from the Denver Business Journal, Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award for Philanthropy from Mile High United Way, the Health Care Champion award from Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, and the Inspiring Leadership award from CampExperience.
As a Breckenridge resident, Debbie is active at the CMC Breckenridge campus, attending Common Reader author talks, participating in dinners with the Recreational Culinary Institute, and other activities.
Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, since 2013, has served as president and CEO of Colorado Mountain College, a uniquely financed, dual mission, public, Hispanic Serving Institution enrolling over 15,000 students annually at 11 campuses in the central Rocky Mountains.
Previous to CMC, Carrie held leadership roles at the Kauffman Foundation, Metropolitan State University and the Daniels Fund. While at Daniels, she was a loaned executive advising Denver’s mayor on a citywide college scholarship program and assisting the Metro Denver Sports
Commission on an initiative to attract top-tier sporting events, including the Olympic Games. She co-chaired the 2012 Women’s Final Four in Denver.
Carrie is the immediate past chair of the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission and a member of the Vail Valley Foundation and American Council on Education boards of directors. She serves on the El Pomar Foundation’s Northwest Regional Council and is past president of the National Scholarship Providers Association.
Carrie’s prior board service includes Great Outdoors Colorado, American Rivers, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Economic Advisory Council, Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association, Vail Valley Partnership, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and its Leadership Foundation, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, Metro Denver Sports Commission, American Red Cross Mile High Chapter, and Visit Denver.
Previous gubernatorial appointments were to the Colorado Women’s Centennial Vote Commission, Colorado’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. She has been recognized as the 9News Leader of the Year and one of the “Fifty for the Future” of Colorado.
Carrie’s background includes teaching assignments at UCLA, the University of Denver and Colorado State University. She has held research and legislative staff roles as well as positions with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and the University of Arizona, her undergraduate alma mater. She earned her master’s and Ph.D. degrees from UCLA and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Business.
An avid outdoorswoman, Hauser has climbed to the Mount Everest basecamp and has summited Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Rainier, and Colorado’s 58 highest peaks (14ers). She held the proud title of “swamper” while working many summers for Hatch River Expeditions in Grand Canyon National Park near her beloved hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona. She and her husband enjoy skiing, hiking, boating, biking, and exploring the Rocky Mountain West and remote places around the world.
POSTHUMOUS – A lasting legacy James C. Calaway (1931-2018)
The late Jim Calaway was a philanthropist and businessman who resided in Carbondale with his
wife Connie. In 2012, he was the chairman emeritus and founder of the CMC Board of Overseers, now known as the President’s Advisory Council.
Jim served as the chair of the Aspen Institute’s Society of Fellows before he became a trustee in 1997. In 2000, he was selected as a lifetime trustee and later served as chairman of the lifetime trustees of the Aspen Institute.
Jim was in the oil and gas exploration business for more than 40 years and retired as chairman of Edge Petroleum in the late 1980s. He then partnered with his sons building wind farms in several states to generate renewable energy, and producing lithium in Argentina.
After his retirement, Jim set his sights on philanthropy and fundraising for civic groups and nonprofit organizations both locally in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley and nationwide. He served as a regent of the University of Corpus Christi, a trustee of Antioch College and a board member of the CMC Foundation. At CMC Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs, the James C. and Connie L. Calaway Academic Building, which houses a theater and a number of classrooms, is a testament to the Calaways and their dedication to and support of CMC (Connie chaired the CMC Foundation board from 1999 to 2002).
Jim served as treasurer for the American Civil Liberties Union on the national level and was a lifetime member of the NAACP. He co-founded the Colorado Animal Rescue shelter that has taken in, cared for, and adopted out more than 12,000 homeless dogs and cats. Jim received two presidential appointments during the Carter administration, to the National Petroleum Council and as commissioner of Presidential Scholars.
John Fielder was a nationally recognized American photographer, nature writer, the publisher of over 40 books, and a conservationist.
A Washington, DC native, John moved to Colorado upon graduation from Duke University, where he studied accounting. After working eight years for department stores, he turned his photography hobby into a profession.
Fielder won the Colorado Book Award three times, in 1996, 1997, and 2000. His photos were published in more than 50 books.
In January 2023, Fielder released the entirety of his over 5,000 photographs into the public domain, with History Colorado as caretaker.
John was one of the first members of CMC’s Board of Overseers, the original name of this council. He was awarded an honorary degree in sustainability studies from Colorado Mountain College and gave the commencement address at the ceremony for CMC Breckenridge and Dillon in 2017.
Ann Korologos was a government leader, nonprofit executive, and business professional, serving as US secretary of labor and undersecretary of the US Department of the Interior under President Ronald Reagan.
Ann served on the boards of directors of many blue-chip US corporations, including Michael Kors, Harman International, Host Hotels & Resorts, and Kellogg Company. Ann was chairman emeritus of the board of the Aspen Institute and the RAND Corporation and was former chairman of the board of the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village.
As owner of Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, Ann was a longtime resident of the Roaring Fork Valley and a passionate art collector.
Ann adored Colorado Mountain College and its mission. She was a generous donor, advisor, and mentor to many at CMC and is deeply missed.
Bruce Allbright
