Laura was elected Mayor of Golden in 2019. She previously represented Ward 4 as a City Councilor first elected to the seat in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. "I am proud to have worked on many critical issues for the City of Golden tackling problems as they arose and planning improvements for our community for the future." Laura believes in a strong community which is why she works on more than just city government business. Laura is a leader in our local, neighborhood schools to make sure that students and teachers have a community of support that they can count on. She works with the business community in Jefferson County to make sure we are a desirable place for businesses with a strong infrastructure, workforce, and housing for all levels of employees. Background and Education: Laura grew up in South Florida in the Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale area. She moved to Providence, RI where she studied Public Policy and Organizational Behavior and Management at Brown University, and lived in Chicago and Denver before moving to Golden in 2007. Laura received her MBA with an IT specialization from the University of Denver and has spent her career in systems analysis where she has worked for corporations large and small as well as in start-up businesses with her husband, Mike. Laura and Mike have two daughters who are growing up with the high-quality schools, parks, library, and programs that are so important to making Golden such a wonderful place for families.

Marilee Utter President, Citiventure Associates LLC Denver, CO Marilee Utter is President and founder of Citiventure Associates, LLC, a real estate advisory firm focused on development strategy, and offering particular expertise in Public-Private Partnerships (P3s), Transit-Oriented Developments (TOD), and transformational real estate. Previously, she was Executive Vice President of the Urban Land Institute, a Washington DC-based global non-profit of 45,000+ members known for real estate best practices and cutting-edge thinking. Her responsibilities included oversight of staff, operations, and local impact for offices in 75 cities around the world. Prior to that, Marilee’s experience includes Managing Partner for P3 West LLC, Regional Vice President with Trillium Corporation managing the land development revitalization of Denver’s Central Platte Valley rail yards, Mayoral–appointee Director of the Office of Asset Management for the City and County of Denver, first manager of Department of Transit-Oriented Development for the (Denver) Regional Transit District, Vice President with (now) Wells Fargo Bank, and secondary math teacher. With this unique background, Marilee has become a nationally known speaker, writer, and advisor on innovative approaches to community redevelopment and urban issues. Marilee holds an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School, a certificate in State and Local Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, and a designation from the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) where she is global Chair-elect. She is adjunct faculty at University of Colorado Denver, national Trustee for the Urban Land Institute and past Chair and current Chair of Mission Advancement for the Colorado District Council. She is past chair for the Metropolitan State University of Denver Foundation Board, and is a member of the International Women’s Forum.

Mary Beth began her commercial real estate career in Houston, Texas in 1980, working for The Woodlands Corporation at the inception of The Woodlands Development, a 23,000 acre master-planned community, in North Houston. She then joined Cadillac Fairview Development Corporation on their 33-block development in Downtown Houston, Houston Center. Mary Beth founded The Laramie Company in 1992, a Denver based commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm. The Laramie Company is known for bringing a unique skillset of strategic consulting and deal-making to their clients and projects. Most recent projects include the completion of retail consulting and leasing for McGregor Square in Downtown Denver resulting in 100% lease-up during COVID including relocating the Tattered Cover Bookstore along attracting with other top local and national retailers and restaurateurs. As the lead real estate consultant and broker for the Downtown Westminster project, Mary Beth assisted the City of Westminster in the land assemblage and purchase of the 108 acre former Westminster Mall site. Working with City staff, she is now responsible for curating a mix of developments, developers, and key retail tenants on a block-by-block basis, with over 1.7 million square feet of new developments either open or under construction. Projects include affordable housing, market rate multi-family residential, for sale townhome and condominiums, a boutique hotel, office, and key retail tenants; Alamo Drafthouse, Tattered Cover Bookstore, Marczyk Fine Foods. Mary Beth has consulted with numerous cities and developers on new and existing retail and mixed-use projects. City clients have included: Lone Tree, Westminster, Aurora, Parker, and Glendale. Development clients include Brookfield Properties, General Growth Partners, Forest City, Boston Properties Group, Western Development Group, and Portman Properties. Her resort retail experience includes Vail, Snowmass Village and Silverthorne. Additionally, Jenkins spearheaded the movement of outdoor regional retail and lifestyle projects in the Denver Metro area that include, The Orchard Town Center, The Shops at North Creek, Southlands, The Shops at Northfield, and the Westminster Promenade. Mary Beth has provided tenant representation to retailers, including AMC Theaters, Alamo Drafthouse, and the Tattered Cover Bookstore.

Tasha L. Jones is the President and Founder of LV Jones Consulting, LLC – a diversity marketing consulting firm proudly engaged in public-private partnerships, real estate developments and local communities in creating synergy between shareholder priorities and community stakeholder interests. She is the former Chief Marketing Officer for Mile High United Way, and Senior Director of Marketing + Community Relations for Brookfield Properties Development: Mixed-Use Division. She is also the former Director of Marketing for Forest City Realty Trust – cultivating productive relationships with thought leaders and influencing decision-making through assuming ownership over critical areas within the marketing strategies for community redevelopments ranging from multi-family to affordable housing, and market rate to luxury homes. Highly adept at building a strategic marketing operations structure to refresh a client’s brand to reflect diversity, equity, and inclusion; and nurturing long-standing community partnerships.

Building teams of experts across HDR’s architecture and engineering disciplines, Kaia develops solutions facing land-based projects in the 21st Century. With a background in engineering, site design and strategic planning, she brings a passion for problem solving, healthy place-making and smart city development. Kaia’s goal is to help make a better world by working with communities and developers to meet rapidly evolving challenges through the integration of design, economic and resiliency solutions. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kaia’s experience ranges from award-winning placemaking and park design for the Stapleton community, one of the largest in-fill developments in the United States, to working with transportation agencies in the Denver metropolitan area to help them prepare for new mobility technology while retaining the livable community qualities Colorado is known for. Kaia frequently bridges disciplines, integrating multiple design perspectives into strategic thinking and site solutions for clients in both the public and private sectors.