Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board
Bobbie Daniel launched a salon at 23, serving clients for over a decade.  She authored Solutions from A Nobody, is a graduate from Palisade High School, AmeriCorps NCCC Class VI and the Leadership Program of the Rockies, and was honored with the Steven Wesley Wright Legacy Award.  Currently, Bobbie has the honor of working  with our County Commissioners, serving on the Mesa County Citizen Review Board.  She founded Moms Empower Moms and Western Slope Liberty Toastmasters – local groups, committed to civic education and engagement  in Mesa County, Colorado.  Mrs. Daniel is a member of a 6th generation pioneer family in Meeker, Colorado.  She and her husband, Nicholas, are raising their family of four in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Chair-Elect
Rose Femia Pugliese had served as the District 3 County Commissioner in Mesa County, Colorado from 2013-2021.  Rose graduated with honors from Villanova University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in Japanese. She attended St. John’s University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Colorado, New York and Florida. Rose was honored to be named as Colorado Counties, Inc. “2016 Colorado Commissioner of the Year” and one of the Denver Business Journal’s “2019 Top Women in Energy.” Recently, Rose was listed as a “Champion for the White House Initiative on Regulatory Innovation.” Rose recently relocated to Colorado Springs with her two young children.

Treasurer
Kenneth Monfort is the owner and director of Monfort Companies, engaging in commercial real estate development in Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado. He graduated from the University of Denver and is co-founder of the Denver Angels investment group and Equity Capital Group. He serves on the board of the University of Denver Advancement Committee, the Colorado Restaurant Association, the Butterfly Pavilion and the Colorado Republican Independent Expenditure Committee. He volunteers for Denver Rescue Mission and other organizations serving children.

Libby Szabo is the Principal at Libby Szabo Strategies.  She served as County Commissioner in Jefferson County for six years and was chosen as one of five Commissioners in the country to participate in the White House Infrastructure Summit in Washington, D.C.  Ms. Szabo formerly served three terms as a Colorado State Representative, including as the House Minority leader and the first Latina elected to a leadership position.  She is a Colorado native and lives in Jefferson County with her husband, Denes.  They have four children and had a family-owned business for over 50 years.

Jeff Hunt is the Vice President of Public Policy for Colorado Christian University, Director of the Centennial Institute and Chairman of the Western Conservative Summit.  Mr. Hunt earned a BA from Westmont College and master’s degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary and George Washington University.   Mr. Hunt has been published in USA Today, Fox News, Washington Times, The Hill and the Denver Post and has appeared as a guest on local and national television news.  He and his wife Nicole have four children.

Matthew Breman is the Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Fruita and is Senior Vice President of Marketing for ProStar. Matthew specializes in delivering new products and ideas to the market with a very experiential and customer-centric delivery. He earned his BA from the University of South Florida and his MBA from Rollins College. Matthew civic involvement has included a Chairman of the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, President of United Way of Mesa County, and Grand Junction Economic Partnership.  His wife Catherine and their son moved to western Colorado in 2005.

Jaime Gardner has been the owner of High Plains Communications, LLC since 2008, a small consulting firm based in Eastern Colorado, specializing in a wide variety of services, including communications and public relations consulting, business administration, internal communications, public outreach, social media coordination, event planning, web content and copy writing, and editing. A fourth generation Colorado native, Jaime Gardner grew up in the Denver metro area, graduating from Thornton High School and the International Baccalaureate Program in 1997.  Jaime holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Denver, with concentrations in International Criminal Justice and Law and International Security; and minors in Economics and Russian Language – which she uses almost never today.  Jaime served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Resource Alliance, a membership-based regulatory monitoring service, from 2008 to 2016, serving counties, trade associations, individuals and companies interested in natural resource policy.

Jaime and her husband live in Yuma, Colorado, with their three children, and she details life as a busy mom on her web site, Juggling Normal.

Mandy Connell is currently living the dream as the Noon to 3pm host on KOA radio.

She is a native Floridian who got to Colorado just as fast as she could after radio gigs in Orlando, Gainesville, and Fort Myers/Naples, Florida with a three year stop in Louisville, Kentucky.  She is currently #46 on the Talkers Magazine Heavy Hundred Talk Show Hosts and lives with her husband, daughter and Saint Bernard while keeping tabs on her two grown sons and two grandchildren.

 
Mandy has been an avid follower of politics until the 2016 election broke her.  Now she follows it begrudgingly.
Kelly Maher has a rich background as a political analyst in Colorado. Kelly believes that the work we are doing to inform women across the state on critical policy issues could have the “greatest lasting impact societally,” for the future of Colorado.

Cinamon Watson is Chief Operating Officer for the Common Sense Institute.. Her rich background and nearly two decades of experience bring unique and invaluable skills to the Colorado Women’s Alliance. She specializes in strategic communications, media relations, political and policy insight, and campaign management.

Although she calls Colorado home, Cinamon is a native of the South – as evidenced by her taste in music, food, and the occasional “y’all.” The combination of western grit and southern diplomacy is evident to all who know her.

Cinamon was recently named among Colorado Politics’ Top Capitol Influencers.

Nancy Sharpe graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in psychology and minor in mathematics.  Her business career included designing and developing management information systems, managing customer relations and compensation divisions for a large U.S. company and management consulting.  In addition, she served on the city council and as mayor for the City of Greenwood Village, Colorado for fourteen years.  Following that, she was elected and served twelve years as an Arapahoe County, Colorado Commissioner.  She represented Arapahoe County on numerous boards and committees, being elected chair of many of those.  Her focus was on economic growth and development in the south Denver area; working at the national, state and local levels on legislation to prevent child abuse and neglect; ensuring quality and appropriate services for developmentally disabled children and adults; solving water and sewer infrastructure issues: protecting water quality in Cherry Creek Reservoir; and ensuring safety and business development at Centennial Airport.