Our Board
Board of Directors & Student Leadership Board
College and career success doesn’t have to fall on your shoulders alone.
Our unique approach relies on partnerships with trusted, nonprofit universities. They provide our students affordable access to their degree programs, and we provide all the things that students need to be successful: a deeply supported onboarding process, personalized coaching and supports in our Denver campus, and a community of caring staff and peers that will be with them every step of the way.
This approach means students can pursue their degree and build their career at the same time, even while working or supporting family.
Board of Directors
Jandel Allen Davis
Board Chair
Jandel Allen-Davis
Board Chair
Jandel Allen-Davis is the president and CEO of Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado, which was recently named one of the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the country by the U.S. News & World Report. Previously, Dr. Allen-Davis was the vice president of government and external relations for Kaiser Permanente Colorado. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School, completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and is board certified. Dr. Allen-Davis is an active participant in the community and currently serves on the boards of Dartmouth Geisel Medical School; Denver Botanic Gardens; the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce; National Jewish Health; Colorado Hospital Association; and, is a member of the Colorado State Economic Development Commission; and, is engaged with several community organizations.
Elizabeth Concordia
Board Member
Elizabeth Concordia
Board Member
Elizabeth Concordia serves as president and chief executive officer of UCHealth, a nationally recognized, nonprofit health care system with 12 hospitals, hundreds of clinic locations, and a workforce of 25,000 people. Under her leadership as CEO, UCHealth has grown to care for 1.9 million patients each year while focusing on strategic partnerships, developing new models of care, improving patient access and experience, and supporting research and education. Before joining UCHealth, Concordia served as executive vice president for UPMC and president of its Hospital and Community Services Division. Concordia earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German from Duke University and a Master of Administrative Science Management from Johns Hopkins University. She is a member of the Women’s Forum of Colorado and the Colorado Forum.
Susana Cordova
Board Member
Susana Cordova
Board Member
Susana Cordova is the deputy superintendent of Dallas Independent School District. Prior to that, she was the superintendent of Denver Public Schools, where she spent more than 30 years serving as a teacher or school leader at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Cordova is a DPS graduate who began her teaching career as a bilingual teacher at Horace Mann Middle School and rose through the ranks to become superintendent in 2019. Cordova received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Denver, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction/education administration from the University of Colorado and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate in education by the University of Denver.
Meg Lafave
Board Member
Meg Lafave
Board Member
Meg Lafave is the Vice President Government Affairs at Envision Healthcare. Prior to that, Meg worked at DaVita in a variety of capacities, including as a Manager of Patient Education, Director of Revenue Strategy and most recently as Chief of Staff to Kent, working with Kent on projects in the community focused on healthcare, education, good government and conservation. Prior to DaVita, Meg started her career in education, first as a teacher in Denver Public Schools with Teach For America and then as Director of Human Capital at DSST Public Schools.
Kent Thiry
Founder and Board Member
Kent Thiry
Founder and Board Member
Kent Thiry served as chairman and CEO of DaVita from 1999 until June of 2019. DaVita has been the subject of leadership and culture case studies by Harvard and Stanford, and taught in many other schools and programs. In 2016 he founded Let Colorado Vote, which passed four ballot initiatives in the last three years. In 2018, Kent founded a CEO Group, called Colorado Thrives, focused on advancing the quality of life for all Coloradans. Kent is also on the Advisory Board of NatureVest, a unit of the Nature Conservancy. Kent earned his B.A. in political science, with distinction, from Stanford University in 1978. He earned his M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School in 1983. In 2013, Kent received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship and in 2016 he received the International Bridge Builders Award from the University of Denver.
Rosemary Rodriguez
Board Member
Rosemary Rodriguez
Board Member
Rosemary brings a lifelong commitment to public service. She is founder and Executive Director of Together We Count, a nonprofit that advocates for fair representation in the national census, and was recently honored with a 2020 Governor’s Citizenship Medal for Public & Community Service. She previously led the staff of Colorado Senator Michael Bennet as State Director from 2009 to 2017, and served as an elected school board member for Denver Public Schools from 2013 to 2017. Rosemary has a long history of board, task force, and committee service with community and civic organizations. She currently serves as a board member (and secretary) for Children’s Campaign of Colorado, the Latino Audience Alliance of the Denver Art Museum, and will join the board for the League of Charter Schools in the fall of 2021. Rosemary is a Colorado native and attended Metropolitan State College (now Metropolitan State University), where she studied political science.
Bill Kurtz
Board Member
Bill Kurtz
Board Member
Bill Kurtz was the Founding Head of School of the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST), before becoming CEO in 2009. DSST currently serves around 7,000 students across 8 middle and 8 high schools in Denver and Aurora, Colorado. DSST has consistently operated the highest performing middle and high schools in Denver and Colorado since its inception in 2004. DSST won the 2018 Broad Prize for urban education as the top performing charter management organization in the country.
Bill was inducted into the National Charter School Hall of Fame in 2016, and was recognized as the 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year by the New Schools Venture Fund. Bill is an Aspen Institute-Pahara Fellow and is a graduate of the Broad Superintendent program.
Prior to joining DSST, Bill served as Principal of Link Community School in Newark, NJ, and Assistant Principal at The Holy Cross School in South Bronx, NY. Bill holds a B.A. in Politics from Princeton University, and an M.A. in Educational Leadership and Administration from Columbia University.
Donna Lynne
Board Member
Donna Lynne
Board Member
Ms. Lynne, DrPH, is the CEO of Denver Health. Previously, she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and the CEO of Columbia Doctors, an 1800-member faculty practice organization. Until early 2019, she was Colorado’s 49th Lieutenant Governor and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to assuming her roles in Colorado state government, Dr. Lynne served as the executive vice president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and as group president responsible for its Colorado, Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii regions. During that time, she oversaw an $8 billion budget, 1.4 million members, and 16,000 employees. She participated in numerous boards and commissions during her time at Kaiser Permanente, including the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Public Schools Foundation Board, and many others.
Student Leadership Board
Leslie Alejandre
Board Member
Tristan Abraham
Board Member
Lesley Del Rio
Board Member
Hanna Fernandez Cellis
Board Member
Sea Flakes
Board Member
Paul Fugate
Board Member
Ronie Salone
Board Member
Marie Sprague
Board Member
