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Leadership changed her life’s path
Carey Macdonald Wirtzfeld, Senior Director, Qwest Foundation
Leadership Denver Class of 1999
Carey Macdonald Wirtzfeld says Leadership Denver took her to the “next level.”
The former public relations and legislative affairs director for a major telecommunications company has since changed directions, now managing Qwest’s efforts in giving, volunteerism and community outreach.
She says it was the impact of participation in Leadership Denver that changed her life’s path.
When LD ’99 started, Carey Macdonald Wirtzfeld was the manager for public relations and legislative affairs at Qwest. Given her job, it’s no surprise that LD’s Politics Day held special memories of old court chambers and exposure to interesting policy leaders. After moving from Washington D.C. and the Brookings Institution in 1996, Leadership Denver seemed the perfect way for Carey to understand her new community and to learn how to get engaged, she says.
Wirtzfeld, mother of two-year-old James and one-year-old Peter and her husband (LD Class of ’98), already are setting the example for their young children in what it means to be engaged in their community. Since LD ’99, Wirtzfeld has moved on at Qwest to become the Director, Qwest Corporate Social Responsibility.
Wirtzfeld has helped Qwest to deliver more than 1 million volunteer hours through its employees and retirees, focused heavily on pre-K to 12 education issues. After her efforts in LD ’99, she has gone on to serve on the boards of Metro Volunteers, the Telecommunications History Group and the Mile High United Way.
The people and the relationships made an amazing impression on her – “they were wonderful people from a broad spectrum of the community who were inspirational as a group and individually.” Many of these friendships have stood the test of time and continue to inspire Wirtzfeld as she sees those friends succeed in their career and in their support of metro Denver.
LD ’99 gave Wirtzfeld a greater sense of where to engage in the community and how to be successful in that engagement. The effort was a significant time commitment, but she worked through her heavy travel schedule to make it work.
As she looks at Denver and all of its successes, what stands out are the leaders who see the big picture and who understand the importance of making personal connections. “It’s not always about needing new programs, it’s often about leveraging the resources we already have and bringing those results to the next level. The Leadership Foundation’s efforts with the college leadership program are a great example of stewardship of already existing efforts.”
In her 12 years in Denver, Wirtzfeld says she is proud of the stewardship the city has seen from long-time philanthropists and committed leaders and she is excited about the stewardship beginning to develop under a new generation of leaders who have stepped up to meet new challenges.
Leadership Denver was a great experience for Wirtzfeld – “it is one of the only opportunities you get to sit and think about your community with really smart classmates who challenge your thinking.”
Interviewer: C. Travis Webb, BKD, LLP, Leadership Denver Class of 2009
