KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
2022
Carlotta Walls LaNier
Little Rock Nine
2021
Hon. John Hickenlooper
U.S. Senator from Colorado
2020
Hon. Jared Polis
Governor of Colorado
2019
Lauren Y. Casteel
President & CEO
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado
2018
Hon. Federico Peña
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy
2017
Grace Gilette
Executive Director
Denver March Powwow
2016
Hon. Ken Salazar
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior
and Senator from Colorado
2015
Hon. John Hickenlooper
Governor of Colorado
and Former Mayor of Denver
2014
Dr. Derek Barber King, Sr.
Preacher, Teacher, Motivator, Activist
2013
Hon. Emanuel Cleaver, II
U.S. Congressman from Missouri
2012
Hon. Michael B. Hancock
Mayor of Denver
2011
Dr. John D. Maguire
Senior Fellow, Institute for Democratic Renewal
2010
Hon. Wellington E. Webb
Former Mayor of Denver
2009
Hon. Terrence Carroll
Speaker of the Colorado House
2008
Hon. Bill Ritter
Governor of Colorado
2007
Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles
Pastor, Monumental Baptist Church
2006
Rev. Dr. James D. Peters
Pastor, New Hope Baptist Church
2005
Hon. Penfield W. Tate, III
Former Colorado State Legislator
2004
Hon. John Hickenlooper
Mayor of Denver
2003
Hon. Wilma J. Webb
First Lady of Denver, Founder Colorado Holiday Commission
2002
D'Army Bailey
Circuit Court Judge, Memphis, Tennessee
2001
Jeffery L. Humber
Head of Global Diversity, Merrill Lynch, New York
2000
Ernest G. Green
Managing Director, Lehman Brothers, Washington, DC
1999
Hon. Kweisi Mfume
President, NAACP
1998
Dr. Arun Gandhi
Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi
1996
Dr. Henry J. Lyons
President, National Baptist Convention, USA
1995
Dr. Vincent G. Harding
The Iliff School of Theology
1994
Jerry Johnson
VP, Network Technology Services, US West
1993
Hon. Patsy Jo Hilliard
Mayor of East Point, Georgia
1992
Hon. Norman B. Rice
Mayor of Seattle, Washington
1991
Dr. Albert C. Yates
President, Colorado State University
1990
Hon. John Lewis
U.S. Congressman from Georgia
1988
Hon. Wellington E. Webb
Auditor, City and County of Denver
1987
Hon. Roy Romer
Governor of Colorado
1986
Richard C.D. Fleming & Kermit Darkey
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