Biographies

Kristin Hultquist

Chair

Kristin Hultquist was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in December 2019 and reappointed in 2024. She was elected Chair of the Board in 2023.

Kristin Hultquist is a founding partner of HCM Strategists (HCM), a public policy and advocacy consulting firm founded in 2008. She is an expert in higher education policy and strategy development at the state and federal levels across the firm’s higher education clients, which include several major US philanthropies, including Ascendium, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, Lumina Foundation and Strada, as well as major national higher education associations, regional higher education compacts, state higher education agencies and systems, the College Board and the George W. Bush Center. Kristin’s policy leadership with experts, states, foundations, and organizations includes providing expert testimony three times to the US Congress, authoring opinion editorials appearing in the New York Times and USA Today, and securing regulatory and statutory changes that have simplified federal financial aid to serve millions more students.

Kristin’s belief in the transformative power of higher education opportunity is a direct result of her own educational experience. Prior to forming HCM Strategists, Kristin served as senior advisor to the U.S. Undersecretary of Education where she helped develop the Secretary’s action plan in response to the Spellings Commission report. She previously served as the program director of the education division of the National Governor’s Association and directed the Washington, D.C., office of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. A Pell Grant recipient and the first college graduate in her family, Kristin earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. Kristin also serves on the board of the Institute for Higher Education Policy and has assisted section of the Scholarship America Dream Award since 2019. She and her husband, Brent, share four children and live in Parker, Colorado.

Jerrold L. Glick

Vice-Chair

Jerry Glick was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in 2022.

Jerry is the Managing Partner of Columbia Group LLLP, which is a Denver-based real estate development company. Development activities range from adaptive re-use projects in Lower Downtown Denver, to affordable housing, and some of Denver’s first loft apartments. Examples include the Studebaker Building, comprised of thirty-three low to moderate income apartments and commercial spaces, 1500 Market Street, an award-winning building coupled with two adjoining historic building renovations, and the Campus Village Apartments on the Auraria Higher Education campus.

His background includes a long career in healthcare service businesses, including clinical laboratories (4,000 employees), bio-technology businesses, multi-state dialysis providers and infusion services. He was President of a construction materials company and a short-line railroad.

Jerry served as Chairman of the Rose Community Foundation and a Trustee for ten years, Chairman of The Downtown Denver Partnership, Vice President of the Denver Union Station Project Authority, and Chairman of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, among others.

Philanthropic interests have always been an important part of his work, concentrating on the undocumented, refugee and immigrant communities, education, food insecurity, and the Jewish Community Center of Denver.

Jerry lives in Denver with his wife, Shannon Gifford, and their dog, Morris. Jerry’s son, Fred is his partner in his development company, and Jerry’s daughter, Cory is a businesswoman in Eagle-Vail, Colorado.

Russell Noles

Trustee & Past Chair

Russell Noles was elected chair of the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in January 2022. Russell Noles was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in early 2019 and reappointed in 2023.

He is Chair of the Finance Committee.

Russell is a retired corporate executive, serving most recently as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Nuveen, a wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Teacher’s Insurance & Annuity Association (TIAA), located in New York City. He was responsible for executive oversight of the company’s finance, information technology, operations and risk management functions. He was appointed to the role in June 2017 and retired in March 2019.

Prior to this role he was the senior managing director and chief strategy officer for TIAA for six years where he led a team that was responsible for strategic planning, corporate development and strategy consulting.

Previously, Russell was senior vice president of trust products for TIAA with responsibility for TIAA-CREF Trust Company, F.S.B., and Kaspick & Company (Planned Giving business) for three years.

Russell joined TIAA in July, 2004 in the role of senior vice president and chief internal audit executive for three years and was the acting chief financial officer for the company for one year.

Before TIAA, Russell spent three years with the St. Paul Companies, a publicly listed property and casualty insurance company in Minnesota where he was the vice president and chief internal audit executive for the company. Previously, he spent over seventeen years in the telecommunications industry in Denver with US West and Qwest Communications in a number of accounting, finance and internal audit roles.

Russell is a graduate of the Denver Public Schools and is an alumnus of MSU Denver, receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He also holds an MBA from the University of Denver and is a licensed CPA. He previously served on the MSUD Foundation and Alumni Association Boards.

Russell currently serves on the Board of Directors for Consumer Reports, where he chairs the Finance Committee and Investments Subcommittee and on the Board of Directors for Jackson Financial, Inc. a publicly listed insurance company where he chairs the Finance & Risk Committee.

Ryan Frazier

Trustee

Ryan Frazier was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in January 2024.

Ryan Frazier is an entrepreneur and business leader. Ryan first recognized his own entrepreneurial spirit around age 12 when he was a paperboy for his hometown newspaper. Today, he leads an international consulting firm, Frazier Global, executing on transformational business strategies, sustainable finance, policy, and results-based programs for corporate, government, and university clients. He is also the business expert and host of the weekly NBC 9News Business Brief, seeking to make economic, business, and finance news relevant and useful for everyday people. Frazier has a deep passion for bettering human lives. He believes entrepreneurship, servant leadership, and personal work ethic are essential. A U.S. Navy veteran previously assigned to the National Security Agency and former Aurora City Councilman, Ryan was raised by a single mother of three boys in a working poor neighborhood in Wilmington, NC. He earned his B.A. from Columbia College, M.S. from Regis University, and completed senior executives education at Harvard University. He holds the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation’s acclaimed Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential, FINRA’s Series 7 and the NASAA’s Series 63. In addition to other business interests he also serves on the AdventHealth Parker Board of Trustees, Bow River Capital’s ESG Advisory Board, and is the Chairman of Colorado’s Combative Sports Commission. He and his family currently reside in Aurora, Colorado.

Emily Renwick Garnett

Trustee

Emily Renwick Garnett was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in February 2020 and reappointed in January 2024.

She is the Chair of the Governance Committee.

Emily Renwick Garnett is an attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where she focuses on protecting investors and the U.S. capital markets. Prior to the SEC, Emily was in private practice where her clients included public and private educational institutions. Emily worked with these clients to set appropriate policies and procedures to ensure these organizations put in place model consumer protection and regulatory compliance standards.

Emily is passionate about educational policy and civic leadership. She has served non-profit organizations in various capacities including co-chairing the board of the Center on Colfax (formally the GLBT Center). Emily believes that the roots of our community our grounded in high quality and accessible educational opportunities. In her free time, Emily enjoys spending time with her little ones and husband, Alec, running, listening to podcasts (often all at the same time), and pawning off baked goods to her friends, family, and work colleagues.

Rachel Kaygi

Trustee

Rachel Kaygi was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in January 2024.

Rachel Kaygi is the managing director of IRN and GSSA, a network of political consulting firms that specialize in research, data, general consulting, and donor advisement. She directs the overall operations, including campaign development, election research, and the evaluation of investments.

Over the past two decades, she’s been involved in various ballot measures, candidate campaigns, and public policy discussions at the city and statewide level. She served in a leadership role for the passage of Colorado’s Independent Redistricting Commissions, sat on the executive committee of Governor Polis’ inauguration, and was appointed to the Governor’s taskforce for developing guidelines for K-12 re-entry during the pandemic.

Rachel has served on various organizational boards and currently sits on the board of Healthier Colorado, a non-partisan, non-profit with a goal of improving the health and well-being of Coloradans, most recently taking on the issues surrounding social media and its impact on youth mental health.

As a result of navigating Denver Public Schools for her own family, she is passionate about creating opportunities for all students and understands the importance of connecting K-12 to higher education and workforce development.

Rachel grew up in the Colorado foothills and currently lives in Denver with her husband, two children, and their Golden Retriever Stella.

Olivia Mendoza

Trustee

Olivia Mendoza was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in 2022 and reappointed in January 2024.

Olivia Mendoza is currently the Director of Litigation and Policy for the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) that works to end gerrymandering across the country. Olivia earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law with a Public Good Distinction.

Prior to her law career, Olivia was the Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Latino Leadership Institute (LLI). She also led the Minority Business Office in the Office of Economic Development and International Trade through a strategic realignment. As the Executive Director of the Colorado Latino Leadership Advocacy & Research Organization (CLLARO), she led the advocacy efforts during the 2010 redistricting and reapportionment process. She has been recognized for her leadership and selected as a German Marshall Memorial Fellow; Livingston Fellow, and a National Hispana Leadership Institute Fellow. Most importantly, she is the mother of two wonderful children and resides with her husband and family in the Denver area.

Marissa Molina

Trustee

Marissa Molina was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in 2019.

She is the Chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

Marissa serves as Director of Career Connected Learning for HCM Strategists, where she champions education equity and affordable access to higher education. Born in Mexico and raised on Colorado’s Western Slope, Marissa’s journey reflects a steadfast dedication to expanding opportunities for underrepresented communities. She recently completed her Master’s in Public Policy at Princeton University and has been a Trustee at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2019, marking her as the first DACA recipient to serve on a state board.

Marissa’s advocacy began in the classroom as a public school teacher in Denver with Teach for America, an experience that ignited her lifelong commitment to her students and their communities. Her efforts were recognized in 2015 when she was honored as a White House Champion of Change. She later led strategic legislative efforts as Regional Government Affairs Director at FWD.us, where she played a pivotal role in advancing immigration policy and protecting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Laura Pinnie

Trustee

Laura Pinnie was appointed to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in January 2024.

Laura Pinnie is a Director at global investment firm ZOMA Capital, where she leads investments related education and workforce development. She believes in the transformative power of education and is passionate about fostering creativity and partnerships across K-12, post-secondary, and industry to serve all learners more effectively. Laura has over a decade of investment experience spanning various asset classes, including debt, venture capital, and private equity, and has covered multiple sectors, including sustainability, housing, financial services, healthcare and community development. Prior to joining ZOMA, Laura worked at JPMorgan where she focused on debt and equity impact investments with exposure to a range of emerging market geographies and industries. Laura began her career as a Credit Analyst covering higher education, nonprofits and healthcare systems at JPMorgan.

Laura currently serves on the Advisory Board of several venture capital and private equity funds, as well as the Investment Committee for the DEMI Fund and the Programmatic Investment Committee of The Women’s Foundation of Colorado. She volunteers as a court-appointed advocate supporting abused and neglected children navigating the court system. Laura holds a B.S. from Wake Forest University in Business with a concentration in International Development.

Ann Obermann

Faculty Trustee

Ann Obermann was elected faculty trustee to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in September 2023.

Ann Obermann PhD LCSW is an associate professor and online education coordinator in the Department of Social Work at MSU Denver. Ann started working at MSU Denver in 2015 as an affiliate faculty, moved into a Category II Lecturer position, then into a tenure track faculty position, and received tenure in 2021.

Prior to MSU Denver, Ann worked as a social worker in the Denver Metro community partnering with unhoused youth, youth at risk of commitment, foster youth and their families, youth and their families residing in residential care, and families addressing mental health and relational struggles as a case worker, family therapist, and clinical manager. In 2013, Ann returned to school to pursue her PhD at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work.

Since working at MSU Denver, Ann has received numerous teaching awards at the Department, College, and University level from both her peers and students. Ann prioritizes student voice in all her work including teaching assistants, students as course co-designers, and active research assistants from start to finish of many different projects. As the online education coordinator, since 2017, Ann has continued the department’s commitment to equal access and excellence in online education by creating robust training and support for all faculty, advocating for and hiring an online design analyst to support high quality course design and online facilitation, and consistently prioritizing online student needs and belonging at MSU Denver. Ann co-authored, 101 Careers in Social Work with her department colleagues; has presented nationally addressing many different topics related to online learning, critical digital pedagogy, and student partnerships in design; and collaborated with her peers on publications and reports. Ann’s past research and publications addressed the health and wellbeing of the child welfare workforce.

Currently, Ann is serving on the MSU Denver Faculty Senate as HEALTH Caucus Chair; Center for Teaching, Learning, and Design Advisory Council; 1Book/1Project/2Transform; CHHS Diversity Committee; and the Social Work Department RTP/PTR Chair.

Amber Mozet

Alumni Representative

Amber Mozet was elected president of the MSU Denver Alumni Association Board and the alumni representative to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees in 2024.

Amber is a proud 2006 MSU Denver graduate.  After earning her BA in Psychology and German, she worked at MSU Denver for over thirteen years and loved the way that her work directly benefitted future alums.  She brings that same dedication to her current role as HR Manager at Tepeyac Community Health Center, where she hopes to bring more MSU Denver students and alums into healthcare.  She is thankful to have been recognized as the 2022 Alumni Volunteer of the Year, to be a founding member of the Black Alumni Network, and to bring a fresh perspective to the Alumni Board.  Amber loves connecting with MSU Denver alumnae wherever she can!

Michael Warner

Student Trustee

Mike was elected student trustee in 2023 and re-elected in 2024.

Mike’s bio is forthcoming.

David Fine

General Counsel & Secretary to the Board of Trustees

He staffs the Governance Committee.

Before becoming General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees at MSU Denver, David Fine was a partner at the international law firm of Holland & Knight specializing in several areas of law, including higher-education law. He also served as the Denver City Attorney under Mayor John Hickenlooper from 2007-11.

David has been listed in Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers and 5280 Top Lawyers on multiple occasions. He serves on the board of the Florence Crittendon Services. David also served on the MSU Denver Foundation board.

David is a fourth-generation Coloradan and a proud graduate of Denver Public Schools. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Wisconsin and his Juris Doctor from the Northwestern University School of Law.

Melinda Olivarez

Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees

Mel is the Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees, paralegal for MSU Denver’s Legal Department, and Executive Assistant to the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel.

Prior to joining MSU Denver, Mel served as General Counsel, David Fine’s Executive Assistant in the private sector at Holland & Knight LLP and Dentons US LLP and in the public sector when David served as the Denver City Attorney under Mayor Hickenlooper from 2007 to 2011.

Mel earned a bachelor of science degree in management from MSU Denver’s School of Business (’10). She is proud to have served on the Board of Directors of the Citizens’ Police Academy Alumni Association of Northglenn (CPAAAN), as a Greenprint Denver Urban Fellow with the City and County of Denver, and as a Unified Partner with the Colorado Special Olympics.