Governor Polis Applauds Colorado Concern Naming Lisa Kaufmann Next CEO and President, Thanks Kaufmann For Her Transformational Service To The State of Colorado

DENVER — Today, Colorado Concern announced Lisa Kaufmann will serve as their next CEO and President. Her last day at the state will be November 3rd. Kaufmann served as Governor Polis's Chief of Staff during his first term and Chief Strategic Officer to the Governor in his second term. Kaufmann also served as then-Congressman Polis' Chief of Staff prior to joining the state. In her role as Chief Strategic Initiative Officer, she has led the Governor's efforts to expand passenger rail service, redevelop Burnham Yard and co-led the relocation of Sundance Film Festival to Boulder, Colorado.

"Lisa is a one-of-a-kind leader. She successfully ran the state during my first term, delivering major wins for Colorado families, including full-day kindergarten, Universal Pre School for all Colorado four-year-olds, Keep Colorado Wild Pass to expand Coloradans access to the outdoors, and landmark reforms to oil and gas. Her leadership saw us through the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and tragedies, helping the state emerge stronger. Lisa has been a trusted advisor for almost my entire career in public service, and I am thrilled she will now use her talents to strengthen Colorado's economy and improve Colorado's economic competitiveness. Colorado is indebted to Lisa for her service, dedication, and commitment to our state," said Governor Polis.

As Chief of Staff during Governor Polis's first term from January 2019 through January 2023, Kaufmann led the state through the COVID-19 pandemic, chairing the Governor's disaster policy group that ran the day-to-day response for over three years. That leadership paid huge dividends; Colorado is widely respected among the states for its data-driven balanced response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Colorado had one of the lowest death rates, protected hospital capacity and safely opened up earlier than most other states, allowing Colorado's economy to rebound. Colorado led key innovations on universal testing, high rates of vaccination, and supporting businesses.

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Kaufmann is widely credited as the architect who oversaw the many major accomplishments of the Governor's first term. During her tenure as Chief of Staff, Colorado passed and implemented Full-day Kindergarten and Universal Preschool. These efforts jumpstarted Colorado's leadership in education, and helped lead to Colorado recently being named the top state in the nation for education. Full-Day Kindergarten saves families $500 per month and Universal Preschool saves families $6,300 per year, while giving kids a strong start and setting learners up for success in the classroom and beyond.

Kaufmann, a passionate conservationist, led the effort for historic new investments in public lands, creating a universal park pass Keep Colorado Wild, which generated $41 million in new funding for conservation and state parks in 2025, and shepherded the effort to create Fischer's Peak State Park, the state's 42 State park. Kaufmann championed efforts to pass SB19-181, which prioritized Coloradans' health and safety and protected Colorado's environment in oil and gas development and created more certainty for the industry. Then again in 2024 she helped broker an agreement between the oil and gas industry and environmentalists to improve air quality while funding economy-wide solutions for land conservation, better air quality through expansion of transit and rail.

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Kaufmann stepped down as Chief of Staff in 2023 to focus on transformational infrastructure projects including establishing two new passenger rail services and redevelopment of Burnham Yard, which led to the Walton-Penner Group selecting Burnham Yard as its preferred site for new Broncos stadium and an entertainment district. Kaufmann served as the state's lead negotiator with BNSF reaching an agreement to finally deliver passenger rail service from Denver to Fort Collins, fulfilling the promise made to FasTrack voters more than 20 years before. This agreement will deliver 3 round trips each day, for half of the originally projected cost, all without raising new taxes. She also helped reach an agreement with Union Pacific on a new 25 year lease of the Moffat Tunnel, setting the stage for Mountain Rail from Denver to Steamboat Springs, Craig and Hayden.

Kaufmann is Polis's longest serving advisor, having started her career as his body person in 2007. She went on to serve as his congressional chief of staff, chair of his gubernatorial campaign and transition committee, and served as co-chair of his inauguration. She was Governor Polis's first hire when she was announced as Chief of Staff in November of 2018. In addition to her years in government, Kaufmann is also a small business owner. Alongside her husband Ryan, Kaufmann runs and operates a restaurant and wine bar in Lyons, Colorado, dedicated to community building through regular live music, art classes, community events and a monthly wine social club. Their two kids can often be found running a lemonade stand out front of their restaurant, which is thankfully legal after Governor Polis signed SB19-103 in 2019.

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