Kourtny Garrett: Building with Vision

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Katie Kramer, President and CEO of the Boettcher Foundation.

[00:00:05] Welcome to Colorado Leadership Stories, where we talk to everyday courageous leaders

[00:00:11] who have made transformational impacts in their communities

[00:00:14] and are building a better state for everyone.

[00:00:17] You'll hear from leaders and organizations and communities throughout the state

[00:00:22] as we explore the idea that leadership is an activity that anyone can do.

[00:00:27] Today we have the privilege of speaking with Courtney Garrett, the CEO and President

[00:00:37] of the Downtown Denver Partnership.

[00:00:39] With over 25 years of experience in developing vibrant urban spaces,

[00:00:43] Courtney brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for revitalizing communities.

[00:00:48] Throughout her career, Courtney has earned recognition for outstanding contributions

[00:00:52] to urban development and community engagement.

[00:00:55] Much of her community involvement occurred in Texas,

[00:00:57] where she has been celebrated as one of the state's most influential business leaders.

[00:01:02] A proud Colorado native, Courtney's return to her home state as CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership

[00:01:08] marks a significant milestone in her career and we're lucky she's back.

[00:01:13] Her leadership is poised to build upon the organization's rich legacy,

[00:01:17] positioning Downtown Denver as a national leader in urban innovation and prosperity.

[00:01:22] Thank you for joining us my friend, it's a pleasure to have you here.

[00:01:25] Thank you for having me Katie, it's such an honor and I'm blushing.

[00:01:28] Oh, it is fun to have you on the podcast.

[00:01:32] As one of your board members and a friend, I can't wait for everybody to hear about what you're up to.

[00:01:39] But let's start at the beginning.

[00:01:41] We knew that you were born in Golden and you were raised in a family of creatives and musicians.

[00:01:46] You described your childhood surrounded by your father's bandmates

[00:01:49] and vibrant music scene of the 1970s.

[00:01:52] I know you moved around a lot in those early years.

[00:01:54] Can you share a little bit more about your Colorado upbringing?

[00:01:57] Yeah, so actually I was born technically in Denver, so St. Joe's proud, but my family lived in Golden.

[00:02:03] So there's you know, you've got to carry the badge.

[00:02:05] They moved pretty quickly after I was born to a little house off of Colfax,

[00:02:10] moved to Aurora for a time bit, then moved back to Denver proper.

[00:02:14] There was just a lot, you know they were in their late 20s early 30s and following the music scene,

[00:02:20] my mom worked, we'll hear that as a theme throughout I think several of the questions in this conversation.

[00:02:25] But it was really, really an incredible upbringing because truly there was community as my family.

[00:02:32] There is a couple who live up in Morrison who funny enough, I call them my second parents,

[00:02:37] they're Sam and Richard Dean.

[00:02:39] Hi guys! And Sam was on the Downtown Denver Partnership Board 100 years ago.

[00:02:44] So just all of these things coming full circle but it was just a really incredible upbringing.

[00:02:49] While mom worked I had the pleasure and the ability to hang out with dad during the day

[00:02:54] and then dad would go work at the clubs at night and you know mom would be home.

[00:02:58] So really, really rich. My father is also an incredible hiker and so I grew up doing a lot of that here too.

[00:03:05] So it makes this homecoming even that much more sweet.

[00:03:08] Well that's wonderful and we know you did spend a little detour in Dallas.

[00:03:11] What was it about Colorado that drew you back and made you want to be here more permanently?

[00:03:16] Well first of all the obvious answer to that question is quality of life.

[00:03:20] You can't beat that right?

[00:03:22] But for me it was something much, much more personal.

[00:03:25] I mean it certainly had to do with the opportunity with the partnership

[00:03:28] and I am someone who does what I do in part because of a connection to place

[00:03:34] like a soul connection to place.

[00:03:36] And I talk to people both casually and formally about just the feeling that you get when you visit a city

[00:03:42] and you kind of know or you don't the minute you step off the plane.

[00:03:46] If it's a place you want to be.

[00:03:48] And there are very few places in my life where I've truly felt like our home

[00:03:53] and for me part of that is my upbringing, part of it is having that community family here.

[00:03:59] One of my brothers had settled here for about ten years at one point in time

[00:04:02] so there's just always been a call to come back at some point.

[00:04:06] Started when I told my mom at ten years old in the U-Haul that I would be back.

[00:04:09] Just took 35 years.

[00:04:11] But yeah, just a connection to place.

[00:04:14] Wonderful, wonderful.

[00:04:16] Well and at the Betcher Foundation I know you know we have better scholars

[00:04:19] and we spend a lot of time trying to help grow future leaders

[00:04:24] and I know that you have a special mentor in your life, Nancy Warman, right?

[00:04:29] And so we wanted to hear about how her mentorship influenced your career

[00:04:34] and your leadership journey.

[00:04:35] Nancy is someone who immediately, before I even knew the terminology of servant leadership

[00:04:41] that is the style in which I was groomed.

[00:04:45] Nancy is certainly someone who believed in everyone takes out the trash.

[00:04:50] We prove and we influence but through trust and through actual demonstration of our commitments.

[00:04:57] What she brings, you know, she really taught me the mechanics

[00:05:01] of downtown revitalization, of downtown management organizations

[00:05:04] and the importance of collaboration and public-private partnerships

[00:05:08] and the way in which she positioned our organization at the time to work with city partners

[00:05:14] and that one entity can't do it alone.

[00:05:16] So that overall spirit of collaboration.

[00:05:19] And then just some real basic principles that I adopt to this day

[00:05:23] and they're always funny Nancy-isms.

[00:05:25] She retired recently and there's a club of us in downtown leadership

[00:05:29] across the country who have come up with her because she ran several cities.

[00:05:33] So we started our little book of Nancy-isms and one was always hire people who are smarter than you

[00:05:38] which is absolutely something I live by.

[00:05:41] Love being surrounded by talent who teaches and inspires me every day.

[00:05:45] Another one is everybody takes out the trash.

[00:05:47] Another one is you up, you trusted me.

[00:05:51] Which really is trust, validate, trust, validate.

[00:05:55] So a lot of those core abilities but at the end of the day

[00:05:59] being part of the team, rolling up your sleeves and being a servant leader.

[00:06:04] Wonderful. She sounds wonderful.

[00:06:06] And throughout your career you've been involved in revitalizing downtown areas

[00:06:10] and I wonder how you got into this career field.

[00:06:13] Can you tell us about that path?

[00:06:16] Yeah, it's a journey and one that's filled with really special and serendipitous connections

[00:06:24] I grew up and we've talked a lot about my upbringing.

[00:06:28] When we moved to Dallas it was predominantly a suburban kid

[00:06:31] and really didn't have a lot of interaction in the city or in the downtown proper

[00:06:37] and I had a really fortunate opportunity in high school to do one of those three-week

[00:06:42] whirlwind tour European tours and I worked.

[00:06:45] We never felt like I didn't have things but we weren't financially just flourishing growing up

[00:06:52] so I worked really hard, we saved up the money, my grandparents gave me the money

[00:06:55] so I go on this three-week tour around Europe.

[00:06:57] Speaking of connection to place, we flew into Rome because there are a few of those imports

[00:07:02] that we all go to in those trips.

[00:07:04] So I flew into Rome and I was standing there and just had this sort of existential moment

[00:07:10] of oh my gosh, this is what it's like.

[00:07:13] Just that feeling of being in a city and I didn't know what it was and I didn't know what it meant

[00:07:17] I wasn't exposed to architecture or design or planning growing up

[00:07:20] so I just kind of held that and said gosh, I just want to be in a city.

[00:07:23] So you start to have these visualizations of oh I'm going to put on my heels

[00:07:27] and I'm going to go to work in a corporate environment in a downtown

[00:07:30] and that then just kept reverberating and then finally fast forward

[00:07:34] graduated from college was planning to go into a communications career

[00:07:39] and got on monster.com and found generational, right?

[00:07:44] Found my first job working for Nancy at a lifestyle development center

[00:07:48] at Southlake Town Square and I supported her in government relations,

[00:07:52] community relations and retail recruitment

[00:07:55] and really started to learn what it takes to build a place

[00:07:58] and then from then took a couple of different paths

[00:08:02] and then came back to work with Nancy in downtown Dallas and the rest is history.

[00:08:07] Well and through that I'm sure there was like a pivotal moment or project

[00:08:12] where you saw the transformative impact efforts in the community.

[00:08:16] So you were worried about something like that in Dallas when you were there?

[00:08:19] Yeah, you know I think one of my most proud accomplishments

[00:08:23] and I can talk a lot about particularly in a city like Dallas

[00:08:26] when I started in 2002 revitalization with a capital R,

[00:08:30] 80% vacancy in our retail core.

[00:08:32] I was brought in to specifically focus on retail development

[00:08:35] because of that background in Southlake.

[00:08:37] So there's a lot of the brick and mortar development that I can look to

[00:08:40] in the progress redeveloping 40 vacant buildings,

[00:08:43] increasing the retail occupancy, all of those really important statistical pieces.

[00:08:48] Honestly what I am most most proud of is a moment in which we finally

[00:08:54] opened the first downtown elementary school in the heart of downtown

[00:08:59] and that was an effort over the course of literally 10 years.

[00:09:02] I started it when I was pregnant with now my two 12-year-old twins

[00:09:07] and it took a very long time but it was a city without a school.

[00:09:12] It was a downtown without a school. It was a neighborhood without a school,

[00:09:15] a growing neighborhood. We knew that we needed that.

[00:09:17] So working really closely with the private sector to find the site,

[00:09:21] to work with the district to justify why would you put a school

[00:09:24] in the middle of cold downtown Dallas?

[00:09:26] Developing the curriculum, bringing educators in, putting a proposal forward,

[00:09:30] that was one of the greatest community impact moves that we made

[00:09:33] and one that I think was pivotal because it not only served the existing residents

[00:09:39] but it was that marker of we've become a neighborhood.

[00:09:42] Wow, that's great and I actually remember you telling some of those stories.

[00:09:46] The first time I remember meeting you was when we were in Dallas.

[00:09:50] I was on a delegation with the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation,

[00:09:53] their Lex trip, leadership exchange trip and we came and were hearing

[00:09:57] some of these stories and so I and then the full circle here you are back

[00:10:01] and so I wonder what went through your mind when you heard that

[00:10:05] this opportunity was here in Denver to run this organization.

[00:10:09] They're literally laughing.

[00:10:11] Yeah, it's gosh I'll try and be brief with this story but it's really an incredible story.

[00:10:16] We had been, it was the summer of 21 and we had just as a family taken a three week

[00:10:21] everybody's quintessential COVID road trip.

[00:10:23] Right.

[00:10:24] We were finally through all the crisis management,

[00:10:26] felt like I could get away for a vacation for the first time in almost two years,

[00:10:29] go out on our family vacation

[00:10:31] and we were Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho.

[00:10:36] I mean we did the whole thing and part of it in the back of our minds

[00:10:39] my husband and I had always, he's always been really drawn to Colorado as well

[00:10:43] even though he's Dallas born and bred was a little bit of a,

[00:10:46] oh we're too young to be thinking about retirement but we're too old not

[00:10:49] to start to think about it and where we want to be so there was a little

[00:10:52] bit of that in the back of our mind.

[00:10:54] So we go through our trip.

[00:10:55] He drops the kids and me off at the Jackson Hole Airport to fly to Denver

[00:10:59] because I have an aunt who lives in Centennial, she's my favorite,

[00:11:02] standing in the Jackson Hole Airport with my two kids.

[00:11:05] Mind you at this point in time it's August of 2021

[00:11:08] and anyone in Denver who's been following this story knows that Tammy Dore announced her

[00:11:12] resignation at that point in time.

[00:11:15] So my phone started ringing.

[00:11:17] A few different friends in the market saying okay,

[00:11:20] because there was always a joke of,

[00:11:22] because there are very few of us who do what we do.

[00:11:24] If Tammy ever decides to leave maybe you should think about this.

[00:11:26] So for three weeks my husband and I said, oh my gosh no we're in midlife.

[00:11:30] No way we're going to uproot our kids, leave this career

[00:11:34] and all of that political and social and just personal equity built in Dallas.

[00:11:39] Like why would you do that?

[00:11:41] And then we just kept coming back to it and coming back to it

[00:11:45] and lo and behold within a matter of three months from that moment

[00:11:50] we were gone.

[00:11:51] Wow.

[00:11:52] Yeah, crazy turn.

[00:11:53] Well and what a time to come back here.

[00:11:56] I mean I'm thinking about our office of courses in downtown Denver

[00:12:00] and it's in the pandemic and you step into this role in a crisis time

[00:12:06] in any downtown as everyone's navigating a world

[00:12:11] so many unique challenges trying to reintegrate workforce,

[00:12:16] have them come back, revitalizing everything post-pandemic.

[00:12:20] What was that like?

[00:12:21] How did you navigate it?

[00:12:23] Well I mean overall I just have a personality that sees opportunity and challenge

[00:12:30] and you've heard me say that from the stage a million different times.

[00:12:34] I think that when you really hit these crisis moments

[00:12:37] it presents such a beautiful blank canvas in the aftermath

[00:12:42] to be able to recreate things, learn from what's been successful

[00:12:46] what's not been successful and have that opportunity to rebuild.

[00:12:50] That's sort of an overarching just philosophy in the way that Courtney ticks.

[00:12:54] More technically I tell people all the time

[00:12:56] I think part of it is just I'm really fortunate that I'm coming from the industry

[00:13:00] of downtown place management because at the end of the day

[00:13:03] the building blocks of cities are very similar.

[00:13:07] The context, the culture, all of that ebbs and flows depending on what each community needs

[00:13:14] but the fundamentals of clean, safe, active, vibrant streets,

[00:13:20] economic development, thriving businesses, jobs, people living and building these neighborhoods

[00:13:27] that's true I wrote a really nerdy dissertation at one point in time

[00:13:31] called The Common Language of Cities

[00:13:33] and it was coming off of a German Marshall Fellowship project

[00:13:37] and my intent in visiting multiple cities throughout southern, northern and central Europe

[00:13:42] was to look for those common threads and truly it does boil down to these common themes

[00:13:49] of what communities want.

[00:13:51] So that in terms of it being daunting, absolutely.

[00:13:54] Did I think that I was coming back to the Denver of my childhood

[00:13:57] or even the Denver that we would visit twice a year

[00:14:00] and the Denver of 2010 or 2012 now?

[00:14:03] But again those fundamentals and breaking it down and saying

[00:14:07] okay here's what I know that we need.

[00:14:10] Now I'm going to listen to the community and you all tell me

[00:14:13] what direction we need to go with each one of those major pillars.

[00:14:17] Right.

[00:14:18] Well and you said that there is that commonality between cities

[00:14:21] but I wonder if there's, is there anything special about Denver?

[00:14:25] Is there anything where we have special assets you think

[00:14:28] or even unique challenges I would be interested in on your reflection

[00:14:31] just being in the biz as you've been.

[00:14:33] Yeah.

[00:14:34] Oh of course.

[00:14:35] I mean every, every city has their uniqueness and Denver certainly

[00:14:39] you know I talk about why would I leave so much of a career in Dallas

[00:14:44] and move at this point in life and it was because of seeing the opportunity

[00:14:48] and a lot of the competitive advantages of Denver.

[00:14:50] So you take things like just the quality of life

[00:14:54] and the quality of place and the beauty and the natural surroundings

[00:14:57] and the outdoor city that is absolutely something that is unique to Denver

[00:15:03] and I spend a lot of time with my colleagues and even some of the cities

[00:15:06] that do share some of those let's call it geographic or physical qualities

[00:15:10] don't quite take it into their spirit like I believe we do here in Denver.

[00:15:14] There's also this tremendous spirit of collaboration and love for downtown here

[00:15:19] the fact that the entire city, region, state

[00:15:23] even if you start getting into the Rocky Mountain West

[00:15:27] adopts downtown Denver as their downtown.

[00:15:30] That's very unique.

[00:15:31] And so there's a lot of energy to be had there.

[00:15:34] The fact that so many small businesses and makers want to be a part of Denver

[00:15:40] and a part of downtown I think that's also really unique too.

[00:15:44] So it's certainly, I don't get me wrong in saying that oh every city is exactly the same

[00:15:49] that's not it at all.

[00:15:50] It's just the fundamentals of what are those building blocks

[00:15:54] and then how it develops in each city is like what makes it really interesting

[00:15:58] and fun and unique.

[00:15:59] That's cool and it sounds like there's a good community of learning there

[00:16:02] where people share information and try to support each other no matter what their context are.

[00:16:07] That's great.

[00:16:08] Well, and I want to talk about Denver now and as you know of course I'm on your board

[00:16:13] and Betcher is a funder of the downtown Denver partnership.

[00:16:17] We have the better endowment there and been a long time supporter

[00:16:21] of your great work and your leadership in the community

[00:16:25] and we just at the board meeting last week Courtney you were talking about some of the challenges

[00:16:31] that there is between perception of how things are post pandemic and the reality

[00:16:36] and I mean as someone who just bleeds for our city and our state

[00:16:40] I just think that people really need to know that sometimes what they're seeing or hearing

[00:16:45] in the media is not the reality.

[00:16:48] So please speak to that and what your mission is about making sure people will know the truth.

[00:16:53] Yeah.

[00:16:54] Now and I sincerely appreciate the opportunity because anyone who's gotten to know me

[00:16:59] knows that I'm not going to try and look through rose-colored glasses

[00:17:02] and really spent the first year I started in at the downtown Denver partnership in January of 2022

[00:17:08] and we spent the first year identifying our challenges so that we could come up with solutions

[00:17:13] and advocate with city partners and other agency partners and rally the private sector

[00:17:18] and rally our other nonprofits so the strides that have been made

[00:17:22] even in the last year are so incredibly significant crime statistics

[00:17:28] all moving in a downward direction.

[00:17:31] Our retail storefronts we've opened 27 new businesses in the last year

[00:17:36] we have over a dozen more that are going to open by the end of the summer

[00:17:40] so that's not to say that like every downtown we don't continue to see our challenges

[00:17:45] commercial office vacancy is still our primary vulnerability at this moment in time

[00:17:50] but we are seeing so many of our industry sectors by colleague in Seattle calls

[00:17:55] at the moment of multiple truths where your experience downtown

[00:17:59] our visitor rates are pre-pandemic levels restaurant reservations 8% above pre-pandemic levels

[00:18:04] Andrew and I, Andrew Eltis one of my colleagues just walked from our office

[00:18:08] at 16th and Arapaho to the city and county of Denver building this afternoon

[00:18:13] outer space which is our cool little pocket park across the street from the pavilions

[00:18:18] that's one of those tactical urbanism we've got food kiosks and it's this wonderful space

[00:18:23] and it was thriving looked fantastic so one of the really important things

[00:18:29] as we can scream it from the roof tops all day long when people see it

[00:18:34] that's when the change in perception happens right so we'll open the first block of 16th in June

[00:18:40] so we need people to come see what that first block looks like we call it our little sneak peek of the entirety of the project

[00:18:45] and just start to see it start to come back to those businesses that you love

[00:18:49] and I promise you'll find a new one that you didn't even know about

[00:18:52] that's great and please do give a sneak peek about what's happening

[00:18:56] I mean I've been as walking down down 16th as I have and see some trees going in

[00:19:02] and it's really really exciting so tell us what we can expect after living through this construction

[00:19:08] which feels sort of painful right now as our betters sort of on the upper end of downtown

[00:19:13] we're in the pain part right now with the construction but people are working so hard

[00:19:17] and I think it will be worth it at the end so overall what are we trying to accomplish

[00:19:21] tell us what it's going to be like

[00:19:23] yeah it's incredible to be able to go out and say we have a hundred and fifty million dollar

[00:19:28] public investment in the heart of our city happening right now

[00:19:32] if you step back from the construction and the grind and the growing pains

[00:19:36] that overarching thought is so so important so hundred and fifty million dollar investment

[00:19:43] what you will see and the goal of the project is one

[00:19:46] eighty percent of it is actually infrastructure and transit

[00:19:49] so we're addressing a lot of what you don't see underneath the sidewalk

[00:19:53] which is one of the reasons why the timeline is so long

[00:19:56] building greater depth in our tree well so we can put in more trees

[00:20:00] and trees that can grow and that can live longer

[00:20:03] new pavement that will actually take a little bit more wear and tear from our public transportation

[00:20:08] we're also moving the buses to the center lane

[00:20:11] which is kind of a nerdy transportation thing but what it really means to the public

[00:20:16] is that we're expanding patio space we're gonna have more space for pedestrianized

[00:20:20] strolls and public art and playgrounds and playscapes

[00:20:24] and each node is going to have a little bit of a different feel and a different draw

[00:20:29] so a lot of those we call it surprise and delight

[00:20:32] a lot of those moments as you stroll you'll be able to go

[00:20:35] oh I didn't realize that was there even if you live ten blocks away

[00:20:40] every time you come the goal is that you discover something new

[00:20:43] whether it's in the permanency of what we're creating

[00:20:46] and what we're investing in or a lot of the activation and programming

[00:20:49] so the timeline first block opens in June

[00:20:52] and then we'll progressively open blocks through the end of twenty twenty five

[00:20:55] awesome awesome and you tease this but say a little bit more about

[00:20:59] examples of initiatives or projects that sort of the surprise and delight idea

[00:21:04] to get people to come down to

[00:21:06] one of the things that I love the most about cities when I travel

[00:21:10] is you just want to keep walking and exploring

[00:21:13] because that discovery of what's around the next corner

[00:21:16] so from a programming standpoint that's a theory behind a lot of what we do

[00:21:20] and what other organizations do so our outer space that I mentioned

[00:21:24] is one great example it's a pop-up park

[00:21:26] it's a parking lot that we threw some Astro Turf over

[00:21:29] and then have four food vendors there and it's just a wonderful space

[00:21:33] that we don't market it most people if you say outer space

[00:21:36] unless you're on our board

[00:21:38] yes that you're right next door exactly you see it all the time

[00:21:41] you probably don't know that it is but if you're strolling sixteen

[00:21:44] then you want to grab a bite or you just want to sit at a picnic table

[00:21:47] it just pops up

[00:21:49] our annual meeting we did a really fun block party

[00:21:52] associated with our annual meeting last year so we did all the business

[00:21:55] inside the Paramount Theater and had a little fun with that

[00:21:58] and then had a lovely block party along Glenarm so those types of things

[00:22:02] will continue to increase as we open blocks of sixteen

[00:22:05] and so it's exciting stay tuned

[00:22:08] and the weather is getting gorgeous and to be outside

[00:22:11] you know one thing we haven't talked about yet but I think it's really important

[00:22:14] and I feel so proud of just seeing DUNT

[00:22:17] DDP in action which is

[00:22:19] what you partner with people

[00:22:21] and I think one of the other things that I'm just so struck by is

[00:22:25] the efforts with the city and everyone to try to

[00:22:29] make sure that we take care of the encampments and take care of people that need

[00:22:33] are in crisis and they need support and services

[00:22:36] and getting them to a place that isn't

[00:22:39] in downtown and so

[00:22:42] I want to say a little bit about what's happening there because when I drive in on

[00:22:46] Park Avenue they're not there anymore and

[00:22:49] I think people are finding some shelter and I know the mayor has been working

[00:22:53] in his team very, very hard on that so just talk a little bit about that process

[00:22:57] and kind of where we are.

[00:22:59] Yeah well it starts with I think a fundamental shift

[00:23:03] across the country in the way that we address public health and public safety

[00:23:07] and a lot of that has occurred within the last couple of years with

[00:23:10] rapid rehousing initiatives with different ways that even

[00:23:13] organizations like ours who used to have pure security teams

[00:23:17] are now training our teams in a more holistic way.

[00:23:20] We at the partnership actually have added two

[00:23:23] homeless outreach case managers to our security team who are already

[00:23:27] trained in an outreach first mentality so that

[00:23:31] we are continuing to offer more long-term

[00:23:34] solutions as we're out in the field and really making those connections

[00:23:38] so that's a little bit about what we're doing and then partnering with

[00:23:41] the mayor's house 1000 initiative starting right after

[00:23:45] inauguration it was a very intentional effort and it falls within this category

[00:23:50] of rapid rehousing this very intentional effort to coalesce

[00:23:54] outreach partners, housing, construction, I mean a multitude

[00:23:59] of entities to address encampments with real

[00:24:04] outreach solutions so going in and it's not just the old model

[00:24:09] of we need to move along you can't stay here

[00:24:13] that kind of situation but really offering services, offering housing

[00:24:17] by in an individualized manner because what we the collective we have learned

[00:24:22] through really the last decade of this process is that

[00:24:27] each and every case is different root causes each and every human is different

[00:24:31] this is a human issue so to be able to provide really robust

[00:24:35] outreach in the field and match those needs with housing

[00:24:39] and appropriate services the big audacious goal of housing

[00:24:44] 1000 which turned into over 1200 by the end of last year

[00:24:48] has been truly truly effective and remarkable

[00:24:53] and an impact that you see I mean the people who are coming

[00:24:57] downtown and see that these individuals are receiving the help

[00:25:01] that they need for something that's much more long term and sustainable

[00:25:05] I mean gosh that's a win for the community as a whole

[00:25:09] right well it's great great work and

[00:25:13] the other thing I wanted you to highlight just being on the inside and I was just

[00:25:17] sharing this with our staff at our staff meeting yesterday but

[00:25:21] I was telling them about the new clean and safe app and so tell us about that

[00:25:25] and then the ambassador program I just think this is wonderful that you're doing this

[00:25:29] yeah thank you yes so we have a couple of different

[00:25:33] resources the clean and safe app is an app that if you're

[00:25:37] within the greater downtown area so we draw

[00:25:41] kind of a roughly two mile radius around the core of downtown

[00:25:45] so a lot of neighborhoods like five points in rhino

[00:25:49] and all of those neighborhoods can also utilize these services

[00:25:53] and it's a reporting app it was started through our business improvement district

[00:25:57] which is our dedicated funding mechanism for a certain

[00:26:01] geography within the core of downtown but we've been able to expand that with partnership

[00:26:05] with the mayor's office so if anyone sees an individual

[00:26:09] in crisis if you see a maintenance issue if it's within our bid

[00:26:13] boundaries if you see something that is making you uncomfortable from a crime

[00:26:17] prevention standpoint you can report it through this app it goes directly through

[00:26:21] the dispatch and then we have a layered system of both our own teams as well as city

[00:26:25] teams that serve as the responders so it has really

[00:26:29] elevated the magnitude in which we can address these issues with the partnership now

[00:26:33] with the city and county of denver the ambassador program

[00:26:37] otherwise known as the yellow vests I have to give a lot of credit again

[00:26:41] to the mayor's office this was a thought that they had coming forward to say

[00:26:45] we really want those resources and out in the street to be visible

[00:26:49] to know that if you see someone in the denver yellow vest that they have

[00:26:53] answers and connections may not be directly related

[00:26:57] to law enforcement but certainly can act upon anything

[00:27:01] that is of concern provide directions

[00:27:05] and provide really meaningful connections to those who are in crisis in the streets

[00:27:09] so it's been incredibly again incredibly effective

[00:27:13] as we've seen that that wide outreach going throughout the community I think it's

[00:27:17] great it just seems like it's like a combination of neighborhood watch like

[00:27:21] we're just taking care of our own city that we care about so much and then helpers

[00:27:25] yeah some homework readers are just helping they just want to help so I love

[00:27:29] that program it's I think it's wonderful so winding down I've got just a couple

[00:27:33] more questions for you and wanted you to talk about

[00:27:37] the downtown denver partnership the mission specifically maybe we should have started with this

[00:27:41] Courtney but there's multiple entities there you do a lot of things and I don't think

[00:27:45] people really understand that it's more than just like making clean and safe

[00:27:49] blah blah blah yeah well people I think know us for one

[00:27:53] aspect of our business or another which is absolutely fine by me

[00:27:57] we are a little bit of an all things to all people a lot of people equate us to

[00:28:01] kind of a we run a little mini city right and all the aspects that were

[00:28:05] downtown and we run every aspect of it so the nutshell is anything and everything

[00:28:09] that has to do with downtown we touch in some way shape or form but more specifically

[00:28:13] as it relates to our mission our mission is the economic and social and

[00:28:17] cultural vibrancy of downtown Denver and everything that

[00:28:21] goes into that drives our entire team we operate

[00:28:25] in three key areas one is the center

[00:28:29] of economic development and planning so that's all of our work related to

[00:28:33] entrepreneurism business recruitment business retention

[00:28:37] Denver start-up week for example falls within that category and what we're

[00:28:41] doing there then we also from a planning perspective within that

[00:28:45] focus area where the stewards of the downtown area plan

[00:28:49] which we are in the process of getting started again so our

[00:28:53] original plan stems from 2007 we're about to go through

[00:28:57] an update of that because obviously a few things have changed since 2007

[00:29:01] so our planning focus really looks at everything from long-term

[00:29:05] long-range planning to urban design around parks

[00:29:09] and public space right-of-way management and mobility and transportation

[00:29:13] so that's our Center for Economic Development Planning then we have our center for place

[00:29:17] and that to me is where all of our fundamental work

[00:29:21] is done it's those building blocks of clean beautiful safe

[00:29:25] active streets activation events everything from

[00:29:29] we've talked a lot about outer space to the 9 news parade of lights

[00:29:33] all of those types of things fall within that category as well as just ensuring that the environment

[00:29:37] is maintained so that block by block day by day your experience is consistent

[00:29:41] and beautiful and fun finally we have our downtown champions

[00:29:45] and that is all of our work that relates to public policy we are

[00:29:49] working very very diligent diligently always

[00:29:53] at the local level often at the state level and sometimes

[00:29:57] at the federal level also with our champions we have

[00:30:01] a wonderfully robust civic leadership and engagement team

[00:30:05] all of our members and all the people who help fuel our work are a part of

[00:30:09] those champions so that's why it's very hard to put in a nutshell

[00:30:13] and why people know us for one aspect of our work or another

[00:30:17] my mother to this day still thinks that I work for the mayor in any city

[00:30:21] and any job that I've ever had but it's really the other way

[00:30:25] that I describe it a lot of times is if you step outside and you look around at the trees

[00:30:29] at the sidewalk at the business at the people living in the building or the people working

[00:30:33] the partnership has had some touch in that

[00:30:37] in every aspect of what you see that's powerful and things are tying that all together for us

[00:30:41] when you look back and your just your leadership here so far

[00:30:45] just final question here before the lightning round of course

[00:30:49] what's been the biggest surprise or maybe something that was your most rewarding

[00:30:53] experience that you're proud of yeah a bit of a surprise

[00:30:57] I was hoping this would be true but definitely surprised that it exceeded my

[00:31:01] expectations and has been incredibly rewarding quite frankly as this community

[00:31:05] you know I even look right here in your eyes

[00:31:09] and see that there are so many people who welcomed us personally

[00:31:13] and professionally with open arms the fact that being here

[00:31:17] just two years in most communities there's no way

[00:31:21] I would feel the type of welcome the type of

[00:31:25] truly adoption into the

[00:31:29] community is a part of the community and in a position like this

[00:31:33] in a moment like this it is so important and the way that

[00:31:37] I work is so much built on collaboration and trust and the fact that it's

[00:31:41] been reciprocal so quickly has been by

[00:31:45] far the greatest surprise reward and I can talk about some of the

[00:31:49] accomplishments of the partnership and some of the things that we've done in the last two years but on the whole

[00:31:53] what I know will make us successful is a community that does

[00:31:57] trust that oh and so true and I think that's a hallmark of

[00:32:01] culture in Denver and in Colorado broadly is the

[00:32:05] barn raising that we're all in this together type of thing and so

[00:32:09] finish up and tell us if someone's interested in getting involved with

[00:32:13] you I know there's a lot of avenues to do that but maybe just share

[00:32:17] a little bit about someone who's ready they're going to raise their hand and they're like I'm in I want to do

[00:32:21] something for my community what would you tell them well

[00:32:25] the creation of our center for downtown champions I mean that and again

[00:32:29] in a moment in time in cities like this we need our champions

[00:32:33] more than ever we know that the 37 staff

[00:32:37] at the downtown Denver partnership can't solve for all of the problems so we need everybody

[00:32:41] to come to the table so we have a variety of committees and task forces

[00:32:45] we have a membership and civic leadership an engagement model

[00:32:49] we run a downtown Denver leadership program we have

[00:32:53] forums so we have a multitude of opportunities whether you're looking to be

[00:32:57] an informed partner we have these things called

[00:33:01] members assemblies where you just come and you learn and you listen then we can

[00:33:05] tear your engagement and your involvement depending on your interest

[00:33:09] level and we need all of those folks and we have a team dedicated

[00:33:13] to making sure they call themselves the match.com

[00:33:17] downtown revitalization is finding the right role

[00:33:21] for people who want to get involved because we know so many Denverites do. I love it

[00:33:25] so good takeaways get downtown get involved.

[00:33:29] Spend your time spend your money and spend your energy in downtown we'll make good of it

[00:33:33] that's awesome awesome okay well you've survived we have a lightning round questions

[00:33:37] for you to wrap us up today but tell us what your favorite

[00:33:41] Colorado hobby is. So hard to do lightning round in these

[00:33:45] Katie um hiking and Nordic skiing

[00:33:49] today. Alright great among other things I know you like to do

[00:33:53] but what's your favorite Colorado landmark.

[00:33:57] Oh gosh um you know this is kind of hokey because it's not really

[00:34:01] technically a landmark but we live just on what I call

[00:34:05] the lowest part of lo hi and we were so lucky to find the place

[00:34:09] to live that we did at the moment in time because it truly feels like we're a part of the

[00:34:13] downtown fabric and my bedroom window looks into the downtown

[00:34:17] of the highline so I love the 15th street bridge I know it's not a historic

[00:34:21] landmark I know it's not but it is to me so representative

[00:34:25] of what we do as a downtown organization because we're about the downtown

[00:34:29] and the connection to our neighborhood and the ease at which you can come in and out so

[00:34:33] um like I said kind of hokey I'll also give a plug first Civic Center

[00:34:37] of course because I'm over there on the Conservancy Board and I think that's a beautiful destination

[00:34:41] Oh absolutely well that was like so on brand free to say that

[00:34:45] and did that and different you know other people saying oh it's

[00:34:49] red rocks or it's this or that I love that thank you thank you new

[00:34:53] appreciation for that okay what action hero do you most identify with

[00:34:57] so really funny I did look over my questions last

[00:35:01] night like a good girl and I asked my daughter Ella my 12 year old

[00:35:05] said I don't even know how to answer this and she she gets mom

[00:35:09] the Wonder Woman yes

[00:35:13] oh that's the sweetest thing anybody's ever said which I think is really cute

[00:35:17] my Netflix avatar I will tell you though is Maureen Robinson from

[00:35:21] Lost in Space the mom in Lost in Space because I feel like so often

[00:35:25] these superhero women superheroes are either one or the

[00:35:29] other like your supermom or your super action hero

[00:35:33] and they don't allow you to be both

[00:35:37] fierce at both and I like to think that we can be fierce at both and Maureen

[00:35:41] Robinson is like a fierce mom and an engineer and a Lutely

[00:35:45] astronaut like come on super Wonder Woman mom absolutely

[00:35:49] I love it I love it I want to be that too what are you currently binging

[00:35:53] is there a show or a book or a podcast or something you're just consuming that you enjoy right now

[00:35:57] you know I am digging back in this is sort of boring but

[00:36:01] I am digging back in my alter ego is in health and wellness I was a

[00:36:05] yoga instructor for a bit of time and

[00:36:09] years of transition have been hard to maintain that kind of focus so

[00:36:13] I'm kind of binging back into a lot of

[00:36:17] some of the yoga sutras and some of the spiritual

[00:36:21] I call it spiritual health readings and then

[00:36:25] physical health readings Gabrielle Lyons books about strength

[00:36:29] I'm also kind of in this middle age like I'm going to age as a really strong

[00:36:33] woman so I'm kind of yeah I'm not going to be frail

[00:36:37] because I'm reading all these things about how to stay strong so sometimes I have to just

[00:36:41] divorce myself for a minute from like the deep deep

[00:36:45] thought work because we do so much of it and so I manifest that in

[00:36:49] good stuff alright well thank you so

[00:36:53] much for taking some time to share your love and passion for

[00:36:57] your work in downtown and we're so grateful for

[00:37:01] your leadership there so thank you thank you Katie it's an honor thank you for joining

[00:37:05] Colorado leadership stories where we hope to inspire the next generation

[00:37:09] of Colorado community builders doers and difference makers

[00:37:13] Colorado leadership stories is presented

[00:37:17] by the better foundation the better foundation supports Colorado

[00:37:21] by empowering leaders in communities with tools to tackle

[00:37:25] challenges and pursue opportunities building a better state for everyone

[00:37:29] within 85 plus year legacy of giving back

[00:37:33] we're committed to amplifying our impact for future generations

[00:37:37] that's the spirit of Betcher