BizWest presents Boulder Valley 40 Under Forty, 2022
Boulder Valley 40 Under Forty recognizes 40 emerging business leaders under 40 years of age who are making a mark on their communities through professional success and volunteer activities.
Carly Abrahamson
Whether it’s growing the entrepreneurial landscape or simply working to positively influence the community, Carly Abrahamson believes in making an impact.
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As a partner and general counsel for the Colorado Impact Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in Colorado companies with a commitment to positive community impact, she puts in action her belief that that impact investing can be a force for good in the community by democratizing entrepreneurship, addressing key community challenges and building companies with exemplary business practices.
The fund manages approximately $80 million worth of private capital.
A Connecticut native, Abrahamson has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, a master’s in education from Bank Street College and a law degree from the University of Colorado.
Before coming to the Colorado Impact Fund, she was an associate attorney in the business and finance group at the Boulder office of Ballard Spahr LLP, a national law firm with more than 650 attorneys in 15 offices. She represented both publicly traded and privately held companies in a wide range of matters including mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and general corporate governance..
She also was an editorial attorney for Themis Bar Review and served as a legal intern for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Prior to moving to Colorado in 2007, she taught elementary school with Teach for America in New York City’s Bronx borough.
Abrahamson, who lives in Boulder with her husband and two daughters, also volunteers with the Nature Conservancy Colorado and Women of Dartmouth.
Chris Achatz
Koenig, Oelsner, Taylor, Schoenfeld & Gaddis PC
As a partner at Koenig, Oelsner, Taylor, Schoenfeld & Gaddis PC in Boulder, Chris Achatz represents companies in structuring and negotiating complex technology and data-related transactions, including data privacy and security matters. He provides legal solutions to all types of businesses, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies and has worked on a wide variety of commercial agreements.
His data privacy and security practice involves advising clients on industry-specific regulations and standards that govern the responsible collection, use and processing of their customers’ personal information. As former in-house counsel for a data and analytics company, Achatz understands the importance of providing fast, practical, value-added counsel that aligns with clients’ business objectives.
Before joining his current firm in May 2018, Achatz practiced for three years in the data group of Boulder-based Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. He also served as legal counsel for HIS Inc. in Englewood, interned in the state Attorney General’s Office and Colorado Court of Appeals, was a law clerk in the 1st Judicial District Court in Golden, and was a contract attorney in a law office in Denver. He also worked as a supply-chain manager and software engineer.
He received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Colorado and his law degree from CU’s law school.
As a Certified Information Privacy Professional, he’s a frequent speaker at local and national industry, bar association and university events on all types of technology and data-related topics.
Outside of work, Achatz enjoys trail running, cooking and exploring Colorado with his family.
Susan Alban
“I’m working to make work better,” said Susan Alban, “more fun, more meaningful, more successful, more equitable.”
As the operating partner and “chief people officer” at Renegade Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm with offices in Boulder and San Francisco, she’s an investor with a passion for building world-class teams in tech. She supports the portfolios of pre-initial public offering software startups across all areas of human-resources operational support and human-capital strategy. With experience at McKinsey & Co., eBay, Uber and Zume, Alban has deep expertise in operations and products, especially around launches, as well as a particular passion for learning about new future-of-work and marketplace businesses.
She’s working on all things related to scaling companies and teams during the “B round,” which she describes as the “supercritical stage of a company’s growth.”
Alban holds a degree in economics from Duke University and a master’s in business administration from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
She volunteers as an adviser for the Turing School of Software and Design. In the past, she served as board director for Urban Peak, a Denver-based organization that helps young people avoid homelessness. She founded the Colorado chapter of Achilles International, where she trained and ran road races with disabled individuals.
Outside of work, Alban hikes and skis in and around Boulder, where she lives with her husband, Josh, and two daughters. She treasures her trips to San Francisco, New York and other places where she gets to spend time with relationships, old and new.
Elizabeth Amann Whitney
“Downward dog” may be one of the most familiar yoga poses, but for Elizabeth Amann Whitney, yoga has carried her ever upward.
She began working at Yoga Pod in Boulder as a member of the cleaning staff but ascended through front-desk staffing to assistant manager, yoga teacher and trainer. She’s been general manager for nearly six years.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Yoga Pod to close in March 2020, Amann Whitney migrated the business online, designing a unique live-stream yoga service that allowed it to keep its entire staff employed and its community of students connected. Now, live-streamed yoga has become a permanent part of Yoga Pod’s business, with more than 90 such classes a week. She also developed and launched a 200-hour teacher training program.
Once in-person classes could resume, she worked to make sure the studio saw no coronavirus outbreaks. This year, she’s celebrating the opening of Yoga Pod’s second location, this one in Longmont.
Born and raised in Rochester, New York, she moved to Colorado in 2010. She received a degree in physiology from the University of Colorado Boulder, coached snowboarding and worked in restaurants including Mountain Sun and the West End Tavern.
Amann Whitney lives in South Boulder with her husband, Jeff, and rescue dogs Abby and Paul. She jokes that she tries to fulfill as many Boulder stereotypes as possible in her free time: snowboarding, camping, hiking, drinking craft beer, going to Red Rocks and other live shows, hosting cookouts, composting, driving a Subaru — and, of course, yoga.
Andrew Bonder
A self-described “psychology fanatic,” therapist Drew Bonder helped build more than a dozen programs for the state of Colorado to create supportive systems around court-involved mental health and addictions communities.
“If people don’t have a solid understanding of the steps needed to be successful and the right supportive systems around us,” he said, “it’s extremely difficult to reach our goals without sacrificing our mental health, relationships or well-being.”
Over the past decade, Bonder has applied that learning to more than 150 businesses, creating healthier, more sustainable cultures and paths to success — and often helping them scale by at least three times.
He’s now head of sales and partnerships at Turning the Corner, a Boulder-based human-resources consulting firm whose mission is to end suffering in the workplace through recruiting, training, and coaching.
Bonder earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Denver and a master’s in industrial-organizational psychology from Kansas State University.
His community involvement has included serving as board vice president for the nonprofit Karis Community, as well as memberships in organizations including the Boulder Chamber and NoCo Manufacturing Partnership. He founded HR Thought Leaders and co-founded an Express Yourself Roundtable Series.
Bonder loves escaping to the mountains with his wife, Kirsten, children Sophie and Wade, and dog Steuben. They spend as much time in the great outdoors as possible. As a “child of winter,” he enjoys snowboarding, and said his fall weekends are spent watching the Denver Broncos and — because he’s a transplant from Austin — the Texas Longhorns.
Vicki Carey-Davis
Vicki Carey-Davis co-founded Twiggs & Co. nearly three years ago because she believes passionately that everyone has gifts and wants to be seen and supported in those gifts.
A seasoned relationship manager who builds authentic and transformational connections across the United States, she’s on a personal mission to create a more purpose-driven and engaged community, one relationship at a time.
On her resume, she said she practices “radical collaboration, flipping the competitive mindset on its head to solve complicated social problems with community partners across the world. I travel farther when I travel with others.”
Twiggs & Co. is a women-led, Denver-based corporate social responsibility firm that, according to Carey-Davis, helps businesses take care of their people, their communities and the planet to triple their bottom line.
This fall, she’ll attend the University of Colorado Boulder’s Master of Organizational Leadership program. She has master’s degrees in public administration and nonprofit management from the University of Central Florida.
She worked two years as development and sponsorship director for the Denver-based nonprofit Pop Culture Classroom and Denver Comic Con, where she developed and executed a five-year strategic plan to amplify community engagement, expand corporate sponsorships, and grow special event profits. Her volunteer work includes time with The Alliance Center Regenerative Recovery Coalition, Good Business Colorado, Metro Caring, Colorado Young Leaders and Green Team Academy.
Describing herself as a “proud millennial transplant,” Carey-Davis enjoys board games, discovering restaurants, laughing, dinner parties, volunteering, experiencing theater, hanging with her family, and being in the great Colorado outdoors.
Caleb Carr
Caleb Carr began his career as a volunteer search-and-rescue technician in Multnomah County, Oregon. When a mentor and fellow volunteer suffered cardiac arrest while on a night-training mission, it became the genesis for Vita Inclinata Technologies, a Broomfield-based aerospace and industrial company where Carr now serves as chief executive and board chairman.
Carr’s work at Vita Inclinata has won recognition including Forbes 30 under 30 for the manufacturing and industry category and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Desert Mountain Region. He raised more than $10 million in capital and grew the company’s valuation 20-fold in 18 months.
His awards also include being named Innovator of the Year for 2019 by the Puget Sound Business Journal in Seattle. His company also received the IQ Innovation of the Year award from BizWest in 2021.
His resume includes serving as president and board chairman of the nonprofit Ideation Foundation and as a business strategist for Uber. He holds a patent for suspended load stability systems and methods.
A career highlight for Carr was getting to ring the Nasdaq opening bell.
Carr graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with bachelor’s degrees in neuroscience and public policy. He also enrolled in the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, and graduated with a Juris Doctor focused on corporate law and civil litigation. Carr is completing final course work for his master’s in business administration from Penn State University.
He continues to serve as a volunteer firefighter, search-and-rescue tech and as an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado.
Ashley Cawthorn
When the Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti law firm experienced a growth spurt, it needed a director of marketing — and Ashley Cawthorn was there. She remembers the day well.
“You can ask the many attorneys in the room the response I had to the question, ‘Why are you interested in working in legal marketing?’ They will tell you that she laughed aloud before responding, ‘I never saw myself working in legal marketing!’” Cawthorn said she “somehow pulled it together, and a few weeks later I started my new gig, and it was easy like Sunday morning.
“I aligned so well with the ethos and culture of the firm and the way it was already marketing,” she said, “and it was because of its true care for the community that I was able to lean into my desire to make an impact and be involved in the Boulder and Denver communities and my home community in Lyons.”
She came to the law firm after more than two years as director of events and marketing for BizWest. She took that job, she said, “after a few seasons in the high country playing and working for Vail Resorts and, later, the Vail Symposium.”
Cawthorn chairs the Lyons Emergency and Assistant fund, is co-chair of the Community Affairs Council in Boulder, and is vice president of the St. Vrain Anglers Trout Unlimited team. She also has worked with Bolder Young Professionals and the Boulder Together Strategy Council.
Emily Crouse Joo
Emily Crouse Joo can build sustainable individual and corporate financial pipelines by cultivating authentic relationships. Not only that, but she can do it in three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese.
For four years, she has been community-engagement and business-development manager for Broomfield FISH food bank and family resource center, where she manages a team of 20 employees and volunteers, prospecting, qualifying and converting leads, overseeing public relations programs and event planning, projects and initiatives. She engages with the community through a variety of platforms, including social media, e-mail, networking events, personal interactions, public speaking opportunities and print publications.
She has created and executed more than 150 corporate sales presentations, secured 500 new individual donors and 100 new local-business sponsors, and collaborated with local nonprofits to offer fundraising events such as the Harvest of Hope annual luncheon and Broomfield Idol Karaoke Night.
She also has served as events coordinator for Infinitus Pie, an admissions counselor and brand ambassador for Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, and assistant director of a grassroots campaign in Denver to benefit Save the Children and Amnesty International.
Crouse Joo earned bachelor’s degrees in Spanish liberal arts and communication studies from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
She serves on the board of the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce as well as the city and county of Broomfield Board of Equalization. She also is a member of the United Church of Broomfield Selection and Hiring Committee and is a board member of Partners of the Americas.
Phil Dumontet
For smoothie bowls, hot breakfast and lunch bowls, organic cold-pressed juice and grab-and-go snacks, Phil Dumontet believes stopping by one of Whole Sol Blend Bar’s five would be a really healthy choice.
With his wife and business partner, Alexa Squillaro, Dumontet built Whole Sol Blend Bar into the fastest-growing small company in the Denver metropolitan area, according to the Denver Business Journal’s Fast 50. The Colorado-born chain opened five locations in less than three years, with two more in development along the Front Range. Voted Best New Restaurant, Best Brunch and Best Vegan/Vegetarian in 5280 Magazine’s Readers’ Choice polling, Whole Sol’s offerings are 100% organic, gluten-free and dairy-free, and Dumontet said it’s the only USDA organic juice and smoothie bar in both Boulder and Denver.
Dumontet moved from New York to Boulder in 2017. The graduate of Boston College is former chief executive of Dashed, one of the largest privately owned restaurant delivery platforms before it was acquired by GrubHub in 2017.
A 12-time marathon runner who routinely finishes in the top 20 in his age group, Dumontet also is the creator of the nonprofit organization behind Boulderthon, Boulder’s first and only signature marathon with a downtown finish, drawing nearly 3,000 runners from 48 states in its inaugural year. He serves on the Downtown Boulder Partnership Board.
He lives in Longmont with his wife, Alexa, and is a proud new father to Dante Philip Dumontet. In his free time, he loves to run, bike, hike, and ski.
Katie Erdley
Katie Erdley in October was named senior director of manufacturing at Lightdeck Diagnostics, a rapidly growing company that develops and manufactures point-of-care rapid diagnostics for the human in vitro, veterinary and environmental industries and was named Colorado Bioscience Association’s 2021 Company of the Year. She is an experienced operations leader with a proven track record of implementing and improving processes in fast-paced entrepreneurial business environments. She has served multiple roles as the company transitions from a small research-and-developed group into a commercial organization with more than 100 employees.
Erdley built a Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs department that augments the entire operation and has been the primary interface with the Food and Drug Administration. She now is transitioning into a role in which she’ll lead efforts around LightDeck’s $35 million manufacturing scale-up contract from the U.S. government.
Before joining LightDeck, Erdley held leadership roles at Actuated Medical and business operations consulting roles at ZS Associates and Accenture. She also has experience in investment, continuing as limited partner at Col du Tourmalet LLC and 1855 Capital.
She is part of a team that holds a patent for an active system for in-situ clearing of secretion and occlusion in tubes, and in 2009 won a Wilbur L. and Judy L. Meier Award in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.
Erdley earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Penn State University.
Outside of work, she and her husband, Alan, are parents to Enzo, 6, and Leo, 4. She enjoys hiking, skiing, and trying new restaurants.
Guillermo Estrada-Rivera
As supervisor of Boulder County’s Cultural Brokers Resiliency Program, Guillermo Estrada-Rivera said, “I have been able to help diverse communities of college students, the homeless population, mental health patients and, more recently, the immigrant community and the bilingual-bicultural brokers who serve them.”
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, he graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a double major in history and geography. He moved to Colorado in 2012 and earned a master’s degree in divinity from Naropa University in Boulder.
“I studied the relationship of emotional and spiritual care with urban development through the lens of Buddhist principles,” Estrada-Rivera said. “I have mainly worked in community engagement, language access and caregiving.”
He began serving as a bridge and community connector in the role of a cultural broker in 2017. “Through this role, I have supported different community networks in Boulder County through multiple projects and collaborations with a multicultural approach,” he said. “More recently, in 2020, with the support of the Boulder County Community Foundation, the Philanthropiece Foundation and many other grassroots organizations, I built a coalition known as the Suma Latina Emergency Response Group, a community-led emergency response effort that included culturally responsive translations. I created a community resource catalog for COVID-19 resources directed to undocumented Latinx community members disproportionately affected by the early stages of the pandemic crisis.”
Through this community engagement process, he has assisted in implementing culturally informed recommendations for recruitment, retention and equitable compensation in local government, nonprofits and the private sector.
Jonathan Galindo
Jonathan Galindo has dedicated his adult life to promoting entrepreneurship in the Latino community as a way to reach the American dream.
“It is my strong belief that entrepreneurship and the American dream go hand in hand,” he said, “and that starting a business is one of the most American things one can do.”
Appointed vice chair of the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Boulder County early this year after two years on its executive board, Galindo has been focused on creating programs in Spanish to help people start their businesses. The chamber’s website features community resources as well as Spanish-language advisories about COVID-19 and wildfires in the area.
“I recently started working as a program manager for an organization called EforAll,” he said, “which stands for Entrepreneurship for All. I’m currently in charge of the Spanish Accelerator program, which has the goal of educating Latino entrepreneurs who are about to start a business.”
Born in Mexico City, Galindo immigrated to the United States when he was five and grew up in the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove. He’s been living in Colorado for the past three years, currently in Longmont.
According to Berenice Garcia-Tellez, another BizWest 40 Under Forty honoree, “since Jon moved from Chicago, he has been a great asset for the Latino Chamber of Commerce. He has done door-to-door outreach to Latino businesses and helped them apply for grants during the pandemic. Jon now works with EforAll, creating training opportunities for entrepreneurs of color.”
Beau Gamble
Real estate is a family affair for Beau Gamble. He joined Dean Callan & Co. in 2014 as a third-generation broker, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and mother.
As a broker associate, he specializes in landlord and tenant representation as well as investment sales. A lifelong Boulderite and member of the Commercial Brokers of Colorado, he’s excited to leverage his local market knowledge and contacts. Callan’s brokers have extensive experience in tenant and landlord services, as well as leasing and sales of office, industrial and retail space, land brokerage, land development, new construction and development of industrial parks and office buildings.
A graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, where he played basketball for head coach Tad Boyle and sat on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, Gamble sits on the Buffs4Life legacy board and loves giving back to his forever Buffs community. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from CU, and previously attended the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University in California and New Hampton School in New Hampshire.
Gamble also volunteers with There With Care, a 17-year-old Boulder-based organization that provides services for families and children facing critical illness.
In his free time, he enjoys playing golf, skiing, working out and hanging out with his best buddy Charlie, a 6-year-old chocolate lab.
Gamble can point to a formidable number of recent sales and leasing assignments. His attention to detail and professionalism ensures that his company will be in good hands.
Ashley Garcia
As a business-development specialist at Blue Federal Credit Union in Broomfield, Ashley Garcia helps create pathways to realize customers’ possibilities.
“I truly live that by building genuine human connections, and serve as a conduit within our communities,” she said. “I am also very passionate about giving back to those who need it most and am honored to serve and volunteer with many nonprofit organizations.”
By effectively expanding Blue’s influence in the Denver-Boulder-Fort Collins-Granby markets, Garcia has contributed to $22 million in regional growth for the credit union by creating more than 1,600 new accounts.
She joined Blue in 2019 after two years as a member advocate at Credit Union of Colorado. Her jobs before that were more about fashion than finance; she was a manager at Victoria’s Secret and Pacific Sunwear locations.
Garcia is very active in the Broomfield business community. She’s an ambassador for the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce, which recognized her as its 2021 Young Professional of the Year. She’s a member of the Broomfield North Metro Kiwanis Club, True North Young Adult Services and co1000.org, and a participant in the Emerging Leaders program. She’s also active in the Erie Chamber of Commerce and was recognized as a Standing Strong Partner during the 2021 Boulder Chamber Celebration of Leadership.
As a Colorado native who attended Metropolitan State University in Denver, Garcia loves spending time outdoors snowboarding, hiking, and kayaking with her children Brayden and Kyler and her “partner and best friend” Daniel.
Berenice Garcia Tellez
Latino Chamber of Commerce of Boulder County
Well-traveled Berenice Garcia Tellez brings a world of experience and perspective to the various posts she’s held around the Front Range.
A native of Mexico, she received a master’s degree in environmental engineering in Saudi Arabia and has lived in several countries including Turkey, Italy and Norway, where she worked researching climate change.
Garcia Tellez chairs the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Boulder County, where she has supported Latino businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and works constantly to advocate for Latino businesses and residents.
She’s also equity administrator for the city and county of Denver’s Energize Denver program. She previously managed the Sustainable Business Program for the city of Longmont and worked with various community stakeholders to achieve goals in environmental stewardship, social equity and economic development that led to the creation of the first equitable, sustainable business program in the country.
She also remotely advises Ecologico Albustan, an eco-startup in Mexico, which ultimately seeks to provide an alternative farm-to-table café and recreational area dedicated to sustainable and self-sufficient practices. She previously was a programs specialist who managed a medical mobility program for Boulder-based Cultivate and an outreach specialist for Americas for Conservation + the Arts.
Some of Garcia Tellez’s favorite figures are Elon Musk and Batman. Although the two have very different origin stories, they both rose to make a great impact in their respective communities. While Batman may be fictional, Garcia Tellez said both he and Musk inspire her to one day do something that influences the world.
Grayson Hofferber
It takes a millennial to understand a millennial, and that’s where Grayson Hofferber comes in.
As founder and president of Millennial Wealth Management, a fee-only registered investment adviser serving clients of the millennial generation in the Boulder and Denver areas, he’s been in the financial services industry for 11 years.
As a millennial himself, Grayson understands that achieving financial independence is the new “retirement.” Clients choose to work with his company because they want a financial adviser who understands them personally and financially and will be able to serve their needs for a long time. The average age of a financial adviser is 51, and according to Ciruli Associates, 38% of all advisers plan to retire in 10 years.
MWM is unique in that financial planning is delivered through a monthly subscription fee instead of large upfront planning fees. It has no minimum requirements for income or net worth, although most of its clients are high-income young professionals or entrepreneurs.
Hofferber’s other business is, naturally, Millennial Bookkeeping.
He lives in Broomfield with his wife and three children and is very active in the community. He chairs the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce and ran for city council in 2021. He’s the founding member of HYPE: Helping Young Professionals Evolve, a networking and personal development group for young professionals in the Broomfield area.
Hofferber, who attended West Texas A&M University, enjoys local craft beer, hiking in the mountains and just hanging out with the family at one of the local parks.
Finity Jernigan
Finity Jernigan had a dream of balancing a robust legal career with her passion for the great outdoors. She made the dream a reality by moving to Colorado after graduating with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and clerking for Judge David Godbey in U.S. District Court for the northern district of Texas.
Once in Colorado, Jernigan began practicing law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP’s Denver office and served as an assistant attorney general for the state before initially joining Holland & Hart LLP’s Boulder office in 2016.
As a partner in the firm’s corporate group, Jernigan co-chairs the Food, Beverage, and Consumer Products industry group. She has represented funds and brands in more than 100 financing and merger or acquisition transactions, and always strives to be a practical, business-minded adviser.
On her LinkedIn page, she wrote, “I help emerging growth clients to reach their goals and have particular experience working with entrepreneurs, private-equity and venture-capital funds in the food, beverage and consumer-products space. I advise clients at all stages of growth on a variety of venture capital and corporate matters, helping them raise capital, execute acquisitions and divestitures and comply with regulatory requirements.”
Jernigan is a member of Naturally Boulder, recently served as a board member of Colorado Food Words, and regularly advises for the Women on Boards Project, a game-changing movement that strives to increase the number of women and other diverse candidates at the boardroom table.
To date, Jernigan has summited 32 of Colorado’s Fourteeners.
Jennifer La Borde
You should hear what Jennifer La Borde’s been doing — and if you can’t, she can help.
A board-certified hearing instrument specialist, La Borde graduated with honors from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied speech, language and hearing sciences. She has been working in the hearing-care industry since 2002 and has been with Family Hearing for the past 17 years.
As a student at CU, she was a member of an American Sign Language club, an audiology society and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association.
Her fascination with hearing loss began when she took her first ASL class at age 16. Through her experience in class and getting to know the local hearing-impaired community, she became passionate about human connections and communication. She decided to study speech, language, and hearing science in college, which required her to practice hearing evaluations. She tested her parents, who both showed signs of hearing loss that could be improved with the use of hearing aids.
La Borde is proud to be co-owner of the longest-serving, most awarded hearing-care practice in Boulder County, with a team that takes pride in exceptional customer service. Founded in 1963, Family Hearing has locations in Boulder, Broomfield and Lafayette.
Besides helping people hear, she loves to dance. She has practiced ballet for more than 30 years and regularly dances Argentine tango with her husband. ASL is still a big part of her life as well, and she regularly uses it with her patients. She lives in Boulder with her husband and son.
Lauren Lambert
To find out what Lauren Lambert’s been up to, just Google it.
A public policy professional with a passion for all things state and local government, Lambert is head of government relations and public policy for Google in the southwestern United States.
Before joining Google, Lambert served on the senior staff for former Gov. John Hickenlooper, advising on legislative, policy and fiscal affairs.
She started her career living and working in Washington, D.C. She first interned and was eventually promoted to senior research associate at Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonpartisan research organization.
“Lauren Lambert is a good neighbor,” said Daniel Aizenman, director of design and development for Boulder-based Conscience Bay Co. She listens to the community, learns who needs support, and leverages Google’s resources to empower individuals and organizations to connect, create and thrive. She’s been a Boulderite for only a few years, but her passion for and impact on the community is enormous — and she’s just getting started. Her ability to build meaningful relationships that transcend industry in order to enact change that makes our community better is unique — regardless of her age or gender. She is a trailblazer, innovator and role model.”
Lambert completed her undergraduate degrees at Boston University and obtained her master’s degree in public policy with a focus on health policy from Johns Hopkins University.
She lives in Boulder and serves on the Downtown Boulder Board and as a co-chair of Boulder Together. Lambert and her husband are expecting boy/girl twins this spring.
Jason Markel
Jason Markel has been immersed in the homebuilding industry and culture since he was a child.
He’s now vice president and project manager at Markel Homes Construction Co., but he started at age 8 by sweeping floors at building sites, and by 12 he was assisting with framing. In high school, he worked summers and weekends as an assistant superintendent and estimator for the family company and later graduated from one of the top schools in the country for construction management, California State University at Chico.
In 2005, he joined the Markel team as a building superintendent. Seven years later, he was promoted to his current position.
Markel has worked on the development of several Markel communities, including Dakota Ridge Village, Kalmia38, and the Northfield neighborhoods in Boulder, Lyons Valley Park in Lyons, and Silver Creek in Lafayette. He’s managing the build-out of Silver Creek and shepherding the lengthy approval process for 40North in Lafayette.
As project manager, Markel takes his projects from acquisitions through build-out. He works on securing the entitlements for new communities, interacts with the planning commission and city council, engages with product development, manages the warranty department and supervises sales. Jason also handles information technology and estimating for Markel Homes and oversees the operations side of the company.
Markel’s adventurous spirit is happiest riding a mountain bike, piloting a plane or skiing bumps. He and his wife have two young children and make their home in a Markel Homes community in Boulder.
Kelsi Tesone Mathews
Since every person is unique, Kelsi Tesone Mathews works to provide an exit that’s just as unique.
“My official title is mortuary science practitioner, which means I am a funeral director and embalmer,” said Mathews. Her company, In Memoriam, is a full-service funeral provider that hosts a broad spectrum of end-of-life services from honoring and preparing the physical bodies of the departed to assisting with home funerals, pre-death planning, traditional burials, cremations, memorials, shroudings and other unique offerings.
Mathews graduated from Broomfield High School in 2006 and immediately went into the accredited Mortuary Science Program at Arapahoe Community College. She graduated in 2008 on a presidential scholarship with an associate’s degree in mortuary science. She passed The International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards and started as a funeral director and embalmer for a small family funeral firm. She next went to work for an organ-procurement agency, and eventually settled back into her passion as a funeral director.
In October 2017, Mathews started In Memoriam. She continues to self-police and advocate for funeral professionals across the state by running The Denver Metro Funeral Directors Association and sitting on the advisory committee for the Mortuary College.
“While death is not everyone’s favorite topic, I am here to tell you it’s an important one,” she said. “I love what I do, the families I help, and the community I support.
Mathews is mom to a girl, 7, and boy, 3. She says she loves the beach, good music and good food.
Lindsey Nehls
Lindsey Nehls’ job is uplifting. Literally.
She’s co-founder of Elevate Leadership, an executive coaching and leadership development company. After 11 years as an executive in clean-tech in the San Francisco Bay area, where she was senior vice president for sales, she realized her true passion was in developing great managers. She believes that who you work for is everything and built Elevate Leadership to help managers be the kind of manager they would want to work for.
Nehls brings the perspective and understanding of what it is like to sit in the seat. Over her prior career, she successfully managed turnarounds, increasing sales by 1,000%, led $200 million business units, and delivered $1 billion in enterprise sales.
Nehls, who studied at Harvard Business School and Middlebury College, she worked for more than a decade at Chevron Energy Solutions and was there when it became OpTerra. She started as business development manager and rose to senior vice president for business development. Before coming to Elevate in Boulder, she founded Evolve Leadership Group in San Francisco. The coaching, consulting and training company helps individuals and companies navigate and successfully transition through big changes.
Nehls’ husband, Chris Nehls, grew up in Boulder and together they have three children: Bailey, 3; Corbin, 3; and Lilly, 5. When she isn’t with her kids, she is skiing or mountain biking with her husband. They met while skiing and had a ski wedding, so they have every hope and dream that their kids will love to ski too.
Chelsea Nelson
Chelsea Nelson’s path to becoming a mortgage fulfillment manager for Elevations Credit Union in Broomfield began by studying business administration at Johnson and Wales University in Denver and then working as a receptionist at a title company that also employed her mother and brother.
“In a short time, I moved into training in title processing and then eventually settled in a title closer position,” she said. “I enjoyed this role and eventually ended up working for a couple of different smaller title companies where I was able to enhance my closing skills. From here I transitioned to a large title company but still felt as though it was not suited to my talents, and so I started looking elsewhere.”
Through an agency that places temporary workers, she landed a job assisting in mortgage setups, but she wanted to move up to a permanent position doing closings. She finally got her chance in November 2014.
“I adapted to the position quickly and became a lead and a resource for my closing colleagues,” she said. In July 2017, Nelson was promoted and spent the next four years building and enhancing those teams. She reached her current position in November 2020.
“I feel so very fortunate to work for an organization that pushes me to succeed, cultivates my talents, and I can honestly say that Elevations Credit Union is truly the best place I have ever worked,” she said.
Outside of work, Nelson frequently volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and Community Food Share.
Angela Maria Ortiz Roa
Angela Maria Ortiz Roa, climate justice program manager at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a native of Colombia who arrived in Colorado in 2001. Rooted in an eco-cultural upbringing and a commitment to serve the communities she belongs to, Angela’s migration experience led her to seek education on concepts of eco-social justice, cross-cultural communication and intersectionality to actively become a change agent in her community.
Living as a cultural and linguistic minority guided her to obtain an associates degree in Interpreter Preparation at Front Range Community College in 2014. That same year she received her Permaculture Certificate and began working as a bilingual urban agriculture educator, which renewed her connection to the land and nature.
In 2016, Ortiz became program coordinator for the Foundation for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability (FLOWS).
She is intentional about making use of her multicultural and multilingual skills as a grassroots community organizer, climate justice advocate, cultural broker and language service provider.
She worked as a community empowerment liaison for Boulder County’s Department of Housing and Human Services from 2019 to 2021, and earned a bachelor’s degree in 2020 from Metropolitan State University in Denver.
She serves on the boards of Boulder Food Rescue and Harvest of All Nations.
Ortiz said she is determined to continue to educate herself so she “can better support the creation of bridges between people, cultures, natural resources and the Earth and to be a dynamic part of the liberation and transformation of humanity.”
Charlie Pastor
It’s not often you hear a pastor say something’s “damn good.” But Charlie Pastor does.
At age 22 and fresh out of the University of Colorado Boulder, Pastor founded Damn Good Planning, a fee-only financial planning firm with the motto, “Give a Damn About Your Financial Plan.” Besides, he said, “the name stands out a little better than something like Green Mountain Financial Planners.”
His intention was to help young professionals build strong money habits and reach financial success. He frequently heard some of them say, “I wish I would’ve started when I was 20!” Although he sees too many young professionals as an undereducated and underserved group within the financial-services industry, he believes they have incredible potential to achieve financial security.
Pastor posts articles on financial planning on his website, is a contributing writer for Motley Fool, and has been featured on financial literacy panels for universities across Colorado. He gives free seminars to local alumni associations and student groups, has worked with the Colorado State University Society of Women Engineers, and holds a seat on CU’s Leeds School of Business’s Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD) Board.
In January, he went to work as a financial planner for Golden-based Intellicents Investment Solutions, where he collaborated on LifeSteps, an app available to member retirement plans. However, he has kept Damn Good Planning alive as an educational resource.
A Thornton native and Horizon High School graduate, Pastor enjoys hiking, biking, snowboarding and motorcycling, adding, “When I’m outside, I’m happiest.”
Damn right!
Anthony Pratt
If you’ve walked or biked along the reconstructed section of the Boulder Creek Path from Eben G. Fine Park to the Sixth Street Underpass, you’ve been the beneficiary of the planning and design work of Anthony Pratt.
Growing up in a small town, he became accustomed to relying on his feet and bicycle as main modes of transportation. Now based in Broomfield, he’s passionate about improving multimodal infrastructure across Colorado because he understands the direct correlation between accessible cities and improved safety and quality of life.
A project planner and landscape architect for Kimley Horn & Associates, Pratt has more than 14 years of experience planning and designing innovative multimodal solutions for communities across the United States. He has played a critical role working for sustainable community initiatives in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado.
In Louisville, Pratt serves as Kimley Horn’s project manager for that city’s “Future 42 Corridor.” He and his company’s team also helped provide planning and engineering for concept-level designs and cost estimates for up to five underpass locations throughout Louisville.
For trails in the town of Superior, Pratt’s role included working through all of the designs to find cost efficiencies, lower maintenance routing, and provide details to the town’s staff to present to adjacent landowners. That communication aspect led to a successful project.
Pratt earned a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Kentucky, serves on the WTS Boulder Committee and is a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.
Joshua Snyder
Joshua Snyder worked his way through college at McDonald’s as a floor supervisor and shift manager. Today, he’s vice president for software engineering at OptTek Systems,
Snyder is responsible for managing that process for all of OptTek’s multiple business lines. He has wide-ranging experience directing software-development teams through program and product management, as well as designing and implementing software and algorithms for both desktop and web-based applications. He also supports recruitment and on-boarding efforts as well as managing personnel.
He joined OptTek in 2006 as a software engineer, and rose to his current position in 2018.
Snyder holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and information systems from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a master’s in computer science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with focuses in foundations of constraint processing and artificial intelligence. He also has co-authored multiple articles on constraint-based approaches to gaming.
Snyder’s family includes his wife, Kristen, and daughters Chloe, 8, and Sophie, 6, as well as a Shiba Inu named Maddox who sometimes accompanies him to work. He loves spending time with his family in the Colorado outdoors and has been an avid runner since childhood. He chairs the board of trustees at Broomfield United Methodist Church. He and Kristen have financially supported Hope House Colorado, Broomfield FISH, TRU Community Care, Global Hope and A Precious Child. He has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, Boulder Open Space and Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.
Snyder enjoys bicycling, watching football and reading the works of William Shakespeare, Stephen King and C.S. Lewis.
Katherine Stinson
Katherine Stinson is a senior adviser for FNBO Wealth Management in Boulder, entrusted with helping clients navigate through a sensitive time — whether it’s dealing with a loss, honoring a legacy or growing and preserving family wealth. She joined the Boulder branch of First National Bank of Omaha in 2019, just after moving to Colorado from Rhode Island.
Stinson earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and a law degree from Vermont Law School.
She’s recently joined a Rotary club and is involved with the University of Colorado Boulder’s mentor program, working with and learning from two mentees. “For me, this feels like the best way to give back,” she said. “I am so fortunate to have wonderful mentors myself who supported me and provided great insight and advice; I hope to do the same for my mentees.”
“In law school I focused on juvenile law and although my career path has been different (trusts and estates and private wealth management) I enjoy finding time to give back to the youth in our community in any way I can. I also recently joined Boulder Rotary and look forward to giving back and learning through that organization as well,” she said.
Stinson moved to Colorado about three years ago and is newly married to Aurora firefighter Chris Fergus. They go hiking and camping with their 100-pound chocolate lab, Chip, and Stinson also enjoys skiing as well as entertaining and cooking for friends and family.
Justin Sutherland
A leader in area banking and an advocate for affordable housing, Tennessee native Justin Sutherland, who moved to Colorado Springs in 2000 and then Boulder in 2006, feels at home in Boulder County, and wants others to as well.
As vice president at First Bank, Sutherland is responsible for originating and underwriting consumer, mortgage and commercial loan requests while managing lobby operations and personnel at the bank’s Louisville location. He joined FirstBank in 2016 as assistant vice president and was promoted to his current position last December.
Sutherland also is active in addressing Boulder’s affordable-housing needs through his work with the city, Habitat for Humanity, Landed and Elevations Community Land Trust.
FirstBank staffers report that he “will be the first to offer assistance for those in need. His positive attitude is contagious, and FirstBank is fortunate to have him on our team.”
Before coming to FirstBank, Sutherland was general manager for housing and dining services at the University of Colorado Boulder from December 2013 to August 2016. In that role, he oversaw dining centers with a combined staff of 365 employees serving more than 6,500 meals daily. His focus there was on employee training, leadership development, employee retention and improved customer service.
Sutherland earned a bachelor’s degree in operations management and supervision from CU Boulder in 2011 and a master’s in business administration from CU Denver in 2014, focused on organizational leadership.
Outside of work at the bank, he enjoys snowboarding, hiking and hanging out with family and friends.
Kristen Turnbull
The role of community engagement lead for Kaiser Permanente Colorado allows Kristen Turnbull to draw on her passion for total health to educate others on how Kaiser uses integrated-care delivery and philanthropy to impact social drivers of health. The results she seeks are better care outcomes and greater care equity.
Putting her belief that change can be influenced through everyday acts of service, Turnbull serves as executive director and volunteer athlete for CHEER Colorado, a co-chair for the Boulder Women’s Leadership Group, and a Gold Award mentor for Girl Scouts of Colorado.
Turnbull earned a bachelor’s degree in social relations from James Madison College, a residential college within Michigan State University. She served on the college’s Student Senate and was a founding member of Michigan State’s All Girl Competitive Cheer Team.
After graduation, she worked as a constituent-affairs liaison at the Michigan House of Representatives, advancing to legislative aide and then chief of staff.
In 2009, Turnbull moved to the San Diego area and began working part-time with Amazing Athletes, a small franchise company that teaches sport-based health and physical fitness classes to preschoolers. Over her more than eight years there, she served as director of operations and program trainer.
An enthusiast of arts, culture and adventure, Turnbull loves any opportunity to indulge in live theater, live music or mountain exploration. She has climbed three Colorado Fourteeners with her brother and backpacked Havasupai as well as 4 Loop Pass in the Maroon Bells. She enjoys short walks with her French bulldog, Luna.
Astrid Villalobos
Roles at work and school keep Astrid Villalobos Chavez busy.
At the city of Longmont, she’s a sustainability program assistant, assisting owners of small businesses in making social, economic and environmental improvements in order to promote sustainability. She helps clients complete applications for Longmont Boost Grants and Energize Colorado, and develops a program for Sustainable, Opportunities, Lifestyle and Leadership (SOLL).
At Front Range Community College, meanwhile, she’s a member of the Student Government Association while taking a full slate of classes including accounting, public speaking and introduction to business..
She also co-chairs the Chamber Student Network, volunteers for the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Boulder County, is a volunteer teacher at a Church of Christ in Denver, and recently joined the Colorado Election Youth Advisory Council. She also worked for three years with El Comite in Longmont.
She was awarded Community Service Awards from the Longmont Chamber of Commerce and FRCC, and a Rising Star Award from the Colorado Community College System.
Villalobos said her desire to give back to her community stems from her upbringing in a first-generation household. The Longmont High School graduate intends to transfer to the University of Colorado Denver to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science, but her ultimate goal is to become an attorney so she can assist her community and support Latinx and Hispanic businesses in growing and prospering.
In her spare time, what there is of it, Villalobos enjoys spending time with her friends and family, reading classic literature and listening to music.
Corine Waldau
Corine Waldau brings a broad range of experience to her duties as senior director of economic vitality at the Boulder Economic Council, part of the Boulder Chamber, the region’s flagship business advocacy and support organization.
She joined the council with a background in association management and stakeholder-driven organizations, with more than 13 years of work with nonprofit organizations’ member services, event planning, marketing, research, communications and economic development. Her strengths also include budgeting, program evaluation, public speaking and fundraising.
Chamber officials have hailed Waldau’s dedication to the work of helping businesses and residents weather the COVID-19 pandemic and the Marshall fire, and they recently were able to give back to her and her family in a special way. In the early morning hours of March 29, a fire severely damaged the Waldau home. In response, the chamber launched the Corine Waldau and Family Relief Fund, with a goal of raising $10,000. That goal was reached in just three days.
For four years before joining the chamber, Waldau was alliance manager for the Public Health Alliance of Colorado. She also has been an internet marketing specialist for Aimco Apartment Homes, a member associate for the American Water Works Association and a membership services director for the Metropolitan Denver Dental Society, and worked with the Aurora Economic Development Council.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver.
Rabin Walters
Rabin Walters is passionate about improving the health, well-being and quality of life for underserved, special-needs and at-risk populations.
As development officer at Friends of Broomfield, which creates opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Walters provides administrative support to the organization’s fund-development and communications efforts so, he said, “we can continue to best serve our 180-plus friends through our day, residential, social and travel, and supported employment programs. Friends is the happiest place on earth, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of it.”
A native of the Superior-Louisville area and a Monarch High School graduate, Walters went on to the University of Kansas, where he studied social work and volunteered for four years with a group called Natural Ties. He’d attend the group’s monthly social events along with his “tie,” an adult with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Entranced with that population, he graduated and worked two years with Friends as a direct-support professional.
After holding a similar position in San Diego at TERI Inc. (the acronym stands for Training, Education, Research and Innovation), Walters and now wife Laura moved back to Colorado, where he returned to Friends in a fundraising role.
Walters also has been a grant writer for Boulder-based H&W Consulting, a special-events logistics coordinator for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and a social-work intern. He’s a fundraising team member for Camp Wapiyapi, a summer camp for kids facing pediatric cancer, where he first volunteered 10 years ago as a camp counselor and companion.
Andrea Warren
Broomfield Chamber of Commerce
Andrea Warren, event and program manager for the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce, is passionate about supporting her community and its businesses and creating a positive environment where both can flourish.
“I believe in working with business and community leaders to build strong, long-lasting partnerships,” she said. “These partnerships strengthen our community and contribute to making Boulder Valley one of the best family communities in the country.”
An executive with PMI Worldwide in Broomfield said, “Andrea always goes above and beyond to support her partners and to ensure they get the best results possible.”
On her LinkedIn profile, Warren wrote that “I pride myself on my ability to create lifelong customers by giving them the best value and experience possible.” Her background includes experience in inventory management, personnel management and employee training, skills which, she wrote, “allow me to thrive in a fast-paced environment where experience, quick reactions and a thoughtful approach are necessary.”
Before joining the Chamber April 2021, Warren was event and marketing manager for more than three years at Broomfield Open Space.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University, she held events-management positions at Serious Staffing and Portage Bay Café and Catering in Seattle, The Loft at Simon Pearce in Quechee, Vermont, and Venue 252 in Eugene, Oregon, before coming to Colorado.
In addition to working with the Chamber, Warren is active in the greater Boulder Valley, where she and her family chose to raise their two young boys.
JD White
An accomplished swimmer in high school and college, JD White makes sure investors aren’t in over their heads.
As founder and president of White Hawk Wealth Management, White said, “I put a lot of time into my personal growth and education, as I believe it benefits our clients.”
His executive coach, Karen Davis, said White “leads with a service-first mindset and has grown his assets under management by 35% this past year. He has brought in and mentored a second wealth manager and is also in the process of hiring a manager of client relations. Of all my clients this past year, JD is the one who has had a huge bias for action.”
Born in Boulder, White was raised by a single mother in Longmont from age 1 to adulthood. With little money saved for college, he set his sights on earning a swimming scholarship. He won five state swimming titles at Longmont High School, was a nine-time All-American and was named 5A Swimmer of the Year his senior year. Pursued by more than 30 Division I colleges, he chose a full-ride scholarship to swim at Southern Methodist University, where he was named a team co-captain his senior year.
White earned his bachelor’s degree in real estate finance from SMU’s Cox School of Business.
He now lives in Broomfield with his wife, Mary, son Reagan, 8, and dog, Rory. They keep busy with Reagan’s sports and spending as much time outside as they can.
Jeff Whitney
Another of this year’s 40 Under Forty honorees, Ashley Cawthorn, marketing director at the Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti law firm, would like to make one thing perfectly clear about Jeff Whitney:
“First of all, Jeff makes some of the best barbecue I’ve ever had in my life,” she said. “That alone should afford this man a gold medal.”
Whitney recently stepped down as executive chef at Boulder’s West End Tavern, landed a job in the prepared-foods team at Whole Foods and hopes to navigate the corporate ladder there. But, as Cawthorn pointed out, “through his leadership over the last several years, the restaurant has grown exponentially — and I would have never thought that would attribute to a chef until I really understood his role more.”
Born and raised in south Florida, Whitney relocated to Boulder in midwinter 2014, eventually finding his home in food service and hospitality. After attending a private culinary school, he worked at more than a dozen food-service establishments over 15 years including two in Boulder: The Kitchen and the West End Tavern.
During the pandemic, West End went from one of the busiest spots in all of Boulder to a takeout-only establishment, allowing Whitney to focus on stability, simplicity, and helping keep the restaurant rolling.
Whitney loves spending time with his wife, their two dogs and a group of East Coast-transplanted friends. He enjoys snowboarding, running, biking, camping, drinking craft beer in the sunshine, gardening, hosting dinner parties, attending baseball games and going to see live music.
Daniel Yerger
Daniel Yerger is founder and president of My Wealth Planners, a fee-only financial planning firm in Longmont.
He founded the company in 2015 after working at IBM as an information-technology subject-matter expert and serving in the U.S. Army as a psychological operations specialist. His firm serves more than 100 families and small businesses in Longmont and Boulder County.
Yerger’s academic studies in financial planning have been published in the Journal of Financial Planning, and he authored “Getting In the Door: Starting a Financial Planning Career.”
He actively serves on boards and committees for the Financial Planning Association and National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. Yerger is a chartered financial consultant, accredited investment fiduciary and certified divorce financial analyst.
Chris McGilvray, who has owned multiple businesses, taught business at Front Range Community College and chaired the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, said Yerger “has built a successful and profitable financial advising business in Longmont while giving a tremendous amount of his time and talents to the Longmont community through serving in many leadership roles such as chair of the Longmont Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee, board member of Front Range Community College Business Advisory Board and volunteering as an ambassador.”
Yerger is a Ph.D. student at Kansas State University, studying personal financial planning. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the University of Colorado Denver and a master’s in business administration from Colorado State University.
He lives in Longmont with his fiancé, Kaitlyn.
Laura Zavala
A branch manager at Movement Mortgage since 2017, Laura Zavala has 20 years of banking experience and is dedicated to changing lives through the power of homeownership.
A bilingual and bicultural professional with experience in leadership, sales and business development, she is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and advocates for financial education for the Hispanic community.
Before coming to Movement Mortgage, she spent six years at Elevations Credit Union as a senior business development officer and mortgage loan officer.
Her voluminous list of community-service includes roles as a Via Mobility board member, a volunteer director for the nonprofit Latino Task Force for Boulder County and a docent at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center.
Zavala is described as a “natural teacher” and role model by teachers in the St. Vrain Valley School District, where she volunteers in classrooms to educate children in financial literacy. Additionally, the Mountain West Credit Union Association picked her as a 40 Under Forty honoree and selected her to volunteer at the Democratic National Convention.
She’s involved with a committee for World Young Credit Union Professionals to increase education and knowledge of credit unions, and received a Global Women’s Leadership Network award in 2016, a scholarship for the CUNA Mutual Governmental Affairs Conference, and numerous awards from Elevations Credit Union. In 2019 she won a multicultural business award from Boulder County Community Action Programs.
Zavala, who attended Front Range Community College in Longmont, has a son, Gabriel, who is in seventh grade.
Matthew Zavala
City of Boulder
Firefighters are known for climbing ladders, and that’s what Matthew Zavala has done during 14 years with the Boulder Fire Department — starting as a firefighter and climbing to fire engineer, fire-code inspector, lieutenant and now captain.
A lifelong resident of Longmont, Zavala also has a burning desire to serve his community. He’s vice president of the OUR Center board of directors, a coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and a member of the United Church of Christ church council in Longmont.
His past leadership positions include service on the boards of the Hispanic Education Foundation and Community Food Share.
Longmont Community Foundation chief executive Eric Michael Hozempa hailed Zavala’s work as chair of that organization’s board of trustees. “Matt has gone above and beyond helping the Foundation and HEF with his tireless leadership and enthusiasm for helping those in our community,” Hozempa said. “He’s an unselfish and ethical leader who looks for solutions rather than just complaining about the problems. I have learned a lot from Matt and am proud to call him a friend.”
Zavala received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Regis University in Denver, and attended the National Fire Academy’s managing officer program, specializing in public administration. He continues at the academy, part of the Maryland-based National Emergency Training Center, as a contract instructor, teaching such courses as Applications of Leadership in the Culture of Safety, Fire Service Safety Culture, Safety Program Operations, and Command and Control of Incident Operations.
Zavala and his wife, Shelby, have two children, Chloe and Dawson.
Boulder Valley 40 Under Forty recognizes 40 emerging business leaders under 40 years of age who are making a mark on their communities through professional success and volunteer activities.
Carly Abrahamson
Whether it’s growing the entrepreneurial landscape or simply working to positively influence the community, Carly Abrahamson believes in making an impact.
As a partner and general counsel for the Colorado Impact Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in Colorado companies with a commitment to positive community impact, she puts in action her belief that that impact investing can be a force…
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