Kelly’s Experience

Chief Strategy Officer, Metropolitan State University of Denver (2020-21)

• Helped create free tuition for indigenous students.
• Maximized student financial aid.
• Developed master planning process, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Created accountability in planning with goal setting and tracking.

President and CEO, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce (2009-21)

• First woman to run 150-year-old business organization.
• Advocated for policies that improve the lives of Coloradans.
  • Helped pass Prosperity Denver, creating college scholarships for all Denver Public Schools students.
  • Led the successful effort to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primary elections in Colorado.
  • Improved the state’s financial stability by addressing the state’s retirement fund, PERA.
  • Advocated for increased funding for transportation.
• Fought for equity and inclusivity:
  • Created Prosper Colorado, an arm of the Chamber, to address inequities in our economy based on race, ethnicity, and gender, focusing on income, housing, and entrepreneurship.
  • Opposed bills intended to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community posed as religious freedom.
  • Submitted an amicus brief in support of the LGBTQ+ community and opposed discriminatory business practices (Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, et al.).
  • Established paid family leave plan for employees.
  • Diversified board and staff.

Chief of Staff, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (2006-09)
Previous role: Deputy Chief of Staff (2005-06) 

• Balanced budgets through the Great Recession (2009 and 2010).
• Supported the development of a CFO and auditing oversight for Denver’s Auditor.
• Increased elections accountability by overseeing elections move from commission to Clerk & Recorder role.
• Delivered Denver’s 311, a phone and chat system that provides residents with an effortless, accessible way to navigate city services.
• Managed the city through the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
• Supported successful re-election of Hickenlooper in 2007.

Director, Career Service Authority (2003-05)

• First woman to be hired as director, overseeing more than 8,500 employees in Denver’s career service (human resource) system.

Director, Center for Public-Private Sector Cooperation (1997-2003)

• Ran leadership program at University of Colorado Denver focused on improving public operations. 
• Provided dispute resolution and facilitation services to clients.

Founder and Principal, Brough and Associates (1997-2003)

• Led facilitation and mediation company.

Legislative Analyst, Denver City Council (1990-97)

• Worked for all 13 members of Council on their central staff in both the Peña and Webb administrations.

Personnel Analyst, City and County of Denver (1989-90)

• Developed the city’s first pay-for-performance evaluation system.
• Received commercial driver’s license and plowed snow on-call at Stapleton International Airport for three years – the first woman to do so.

Counselor and Assistant Admissions Director, Excelsior Youth Center (1986-89)

• Worked with young women who had been adjudicated.Br