The Future of Colorado's Workforce

Bill Kurtz is CEO of DSST Public Schools, a charter school management organization that is opening ten secondary schools on five campuses in Denver. He founded the original DSST campus, a leader in STEM education nationwide, with a 100 percent college acceptance rate for graduates over the last 10 years. Bill was recognized as the 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year by the New Schools Venture Fund at their national summit in Washington D.C. He serves on the Advisory Council of the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education MAT program. Before his career in education, he worked as an investment banker at JP Chase in New York City. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Princeton University with a B.A. and earned an M.A. from Columbia University’s Teachers College in educational administration and leadership.

Rico Munn serves as the 16th superintendent of Aurora Public Schools. Prior to joining APS, Munn served in a variety of leadership roles in Colorado’s legal and business communities. In 2012, he was appointed to the Board of Governors for the Colorado State University System by Governor John Hickenlooper and currently serves in this position. In 2002, he was elected to the Colorado State Board of Education where he served until 2007. In addition, he was a member of Governor Bill Ritter’s Cabinet where he served as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education from 2009-2011.Munn is a graduate of Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska, where he received his B.A. in secondary education and was named Student Teacher of the Year in 1993. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. Munn has been married to his wife Kay since 1998, and he is the proud father of two middle school students.

Hanna joined the Daniels fund in December 2020 and manages more than $1.5 billion in assets, making her organization one of the Rocky Mountain Region’s largest foundations. Previously, she served as secretary of education for the State of New Mexico under Governor Susana Martinez, realizing the most significant gains for students in New Mexico’s recent history. In this role, she oversaw a budget of $2.7 billion and more than 300 employees. Skandera also served as undersecretary for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, deputy commissioner for Governor Jeb Bush, and deputy chief of staff and senior policy advisor for U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

Renise leads the execution of industry-led collaboration and strategy for the Colorado Workforce Development Council Office. In her role, she enjoys working with a committed team of consultants to engage and support forward-thinking businesses to innovate best practices that meet business objectives while contributing to the well being of their communities. Renise serves as the staff point of contact for the Sectors Steering Committee, Industry Intermediaries Consortium, and the BEL Commission. With over a decade of experience in managing social change initiatives, Renise believes strongly that addressing large-scale social challenges requires a willingness to break down silos and collaborate across traditional boundaries. Prior to joining the CWDC in 2015, Renise led the backbone efforts of a collective impact initiative working to advance affordable housing, workforce development, and economic mobility for underserved populations in the nation’s capital. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College and a master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. As a proud third-generation Coloradan, Renise cares deeply about the future of Colorado and creating and sustaining opportunity for Colorado residents.