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Building on a Dream With Leadership Denver
KieAnn Brownell, President, Metro Denver Sports Commission
Leadership Denver Class of 2001
Thanks to the incredibly diverse nature of her Leadership Denver (LD) class, KieAnn Brownell was able to grow an entrepreneurial opportunity from her LD year.
“My dream upon entering LD was to bring the Winter Olympic Games to Denver,” Brownell said. “Because of Leadership Denver I met Rob Cohen, who shares a similar dream, and before my class graduated I was started down the path to making my dream happen.”
Today, Rob Cohen is the executive chair of the Metro Denver Sports Commission, for which Brownell serves as president. Brownell describes herself as a “serial entrepreneur” who was the first woman elected president of the Colorado Chapter of the Young Entrepreneur’s Organization.
In keeping with the mission of the Metro Denver Sports Commission, “To create a legacy of economic and social vitality through sport,” Brownell values leadership that focuses on communal rather than personal gain. Consequently, she is very proud of Denver leadership for our history of bipartisanship.
As she recalled her LD experience, Brownell named Joe Blake (the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce) as exemplifying that bipartisanship. In describing Blake, whom she first met during Leadership Denver, Brownell said that it is no big secret that he is Republican and an advocate for business, but he also seems to be “the first one to reach across the party aisle, year in and year out.” Brownell cited the resolution of fall’s ‘Poison Pill’ ballot amendments (which many feared could cripple the state’s business economy) as an example of Joe Blake’s leadership leading to communal benefit.
“Denver has become a model of bipartisan cooperation and we need that to continue,” Brownell said. “As we all watch our country being torn apart by partisan politics and leaders who put party above country, we need to learn from their failures. In Denver we have had tremendous success by putting our community first. The challenges of the future will no doubt require the same spirit of collaboration and sense of commitment to community.”
Brownell takes that same broad-based view of the skills leaders need to successfully make “all boats rise.” She sees the ability to negotiate as the most critical skill, but by “negotiating” she does not mean “getting the biggest bang for your buck, but being able to negotiate a win-win.” Keeping with that metaphor, Brownell said, “It is impossible to raise the water level in just one part of the lake to make just your boat rise. At a time when the water levels are communally low, let’s all hope for some rain.”
Interviewer: Andra Wilkinson, University of Colorado-Boulder Graduate, Presidents Leadership Class, 2009
August 21st, 2010 at 8:43 am
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