CSU’s Walker among BizWest’s 2026 Women of Distinction

FORT COLLINS — Beth Walker, who served 11 years as dean of the College of Business at Colorado State University, will be one of 13 women from Northern Colorado to be recognized with this year’s Women of Distinction awards, a BizWest program to acknowledge the contributions of female leaders in the region.

Before coming to CSU, Walker served as associate dean for master’s programs at Arizona State University’s business school. Her research has been widely published in marketing journals. She is a member of the Better Business Bureau Northern Colorado board of directors and has consulted on strategy issues for State Farm Insurance, IBM Global Services, Yellow Roadway Corp., Lucent Technologies, Honeywell, and AT&T.

Walker and this year’s dozen other honorees were selected by previous recipients of the award to represent multiple categories of business and nonprofit activity. Walker was selected along with Betty Aragon-Mitotes, president of Mujeres de Colores and co-founder of the Museo de las Tres Colonias, to receive the “Leading Ladies” award.

The awards will be given out at an event to be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Drake Centre, 802 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins.

Also to be honored, along with their categories of award, include:

• Banking and Finance: Christina Kraft, market president, Bank of Colorado.
• Business and Business Services: Lori Gama, founder and president, DaGama Digital Marketing Agency.
• Education: Leah Bornstein, CEO and president, Aims Community College. 
• Emerging Leader: Tori May, deputy director, Loveland Habitat for Humanity.
• Exceptional Volunteer: Paula Galloway, program lead for visual-impairment snow sports, scholarship director, instructor supervisor and board member, Ignite Adaptive Sports. 
• Government, Energy and Utilities: Michelle Vance, executive director, Windsor Downtown Development Authority.  
• Health Care: Cyndi Dodds, CEO, SummitStone Health Partners. 
• Manufacturing: Amanda Rider, area leader, J.M. Smucker Co.
• Nonprofit: Donna Visocky, director of public relations and fundraising, Community Services Center of Wellington.   
• Outstanding Mentor: Ginger Graham, owner, Ginger and Baker.
• Real Estate: Alicia Ready, training and development director, Elder Construction, BuildHER Collaborative and NoCo Construction Sector Partnership. 

Seats can be reserved in advance by clicking here.

Share on Facebook on LinkedIn