HPTE BOARD SELECTS NEW CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR, WELCOMES TWO NEW BOARD DIRECTORS
DENVER - The High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE) announced the appointment of two new Board Directors, as well as the new Chair and Vice Chair of the Board. Two new Board Directors, Cecil Gutierrez and Karen Stuart, were appointed by Gov. Jared Polis. The HPTE Board voted to appoint Vice Chair Shannon Gifford as the new Chair of the Board, and HPTE Board Director Margaret Bowes as the new Vice Chair.
“We are excited to welcome these new appointments,” said HPTE Director Nick Farber. “The energy, expertise and talent that they bring to the table will help us achieve new milestones and grow as an organization.”
Shannon Gifford is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and an independent consultant. She advises on business and development plans, financial structures, and lender and investor relations, and prepares complex financial models in the real estate industry. She is also part of Good Judgment, Inc. global network of Superforecasters®, providing foresight on geopolitical, financial and public health issues to government financial institutions and nonprofits. Shannon serves on the Colorado Transportation Commission, which she chaired from 2018 to 2019. She is a member of the Colorado State Board of the Nature Conservancy and chairs its Policy Committee. She previously served on the Denver Planning Board, as well as the boards of Colorado Humanities and the Denver Film Society, and was President of Denver’s Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association, a member of Denver’s Downtown Area Plan Steering Committee, and a co-chair of the Union Station Advisory Committee.
Margaret Bowes is the Director of the I-70 Mountain Corridor Coalition, a nonprofit membership organization that advocates for enhanced accessibility and mobility in the I-70 corridor through joint public and private transportation management efforts. Approximately 28 municipalities, counties and businesses along and adjacent to I-70 make up this organization’s membership.
In addition to her work with the I-70 Coalition, Bowes also currently serves as the Executive Director of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns. Bowes served 10 years as the Deputy Director of the Colorado Rural Development Council. This grassroots community development organization was made up of federal agency, state agency, tribal government, local government, nonprofit and private sector members that collaborated to help rural Colorado communities find solutions to their locally defined issues.
Karen Stuart is a former three-term Mayor of the City and County of Broomfield, where she played a key role in the creation of the consolidated city and county in 2001. Stuart had leadership roles with the Denver Regional Council of Governments, the US 36 Mayors and Commissioners Coalition, the Metro Mayors Caucus and the National League of Cities Transportation Advisory Committee. As Chair of the Northwest Parkway Public Authority, Stuart was an active member of the International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) and a key negotiator for the NWP’s Concession Lease Agreement in 2007. In 2015, Stuart received the Denver Regional Council of Governments’ Distinguished Service Award.
Stuart is currently the Executive Director of Smart Commute Metro North, a non-partisan, nonprofit, transportation management organization serving the north metro region working to promote mobility options that reduce congestion and improve air quality. She was also appointed to the Transportation Commission in 2017.
Cecil Gutierrez, is a former four-term Mayor of the City of Loveland. He was elected to the Loveland City Council to represent Northwest Loveland in 2007. In 2009, Cecil was elected Mayor, retiring in 2017. During his time on City Council and as Mayor, Cecil brought a focus on Economic Development and Downtown Revitalization. He worked with nonprofit alliance agencies and the faith community in efforts to bring attention to citizens in need. Cecil was recognized for this work in 2019 by the Colorado Martin Luther King Commission, which honored him with their Humanitarian Award. Gov. Ritter appointed him to the Governor’s Commission on Community Service in 2010.
During his time as Mayor, he served as the Chair of the Northern Colorado Regional Airport Commission, Chair of the Highway 287 Coalition, Vice Chair of the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority and Secretary of the Platte River Power Authority. He also served on various other committees during his time on the Loveland City Council. Cecil continues his community involvement serving on various boards and commissions.
About the High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE): The HPTE operates as a government-owned, independent business within CDOT. It searches out innovative ways to finance projects to help Colorado fulfill its commitment to increase travel choices through options that include Express Lanes, transit, biking, walking and carpooling. For more information, visit www.coloradohpte.com.
About CDOT
CDOT has approximately 3,000 employees located at its Denver headquarters and in regional offices throughout Colorado, and manages more than 23,000 lane miles of highway and 3,429 bridges. CDOT also manages grant partnerships with a range of other agencies, including metropolitan planning organizations, local governments and airports. It also administers Bustang, the state-owned and operated interregional express service. Gov. Polis has charged CDOT to further build on the state’s intermodal mobility options.
WHOLE SYSTEM. WHOLE SAFETY.
In early 2019, CDOT announced its Whole System — Whole Safety initiative to heighten safety awareness. This initiative takes a systematic, statewide approach to safety combining the benefits of CDOT’s programs that address driving behaviors, our built environment and the organization's operations. The goal is to improve the safety of Colorado’s transportation network by reducing the rate and severity of crashes and improving the safety of all transportation modes. The program has one simple mission—to get everyone home safely.
