Join Us on May 29 for Your Conversation With… John Farnam, the 2024 9NEWS Leader of the Year and Managing Director at the Morgridge Family Foundation.
Who It’s For
This program is offered to all membership levels. Not a Chamber Member and want to attend this program? Click here.
What It’s About
Your Conversation With… shines a light on a business or civic leader in our community whose journey is worth hearing. This is your opportunity to actively participate in the dialogue with Colorado’s top business leaders, ask the questions that matter most to you while networking with fellow Chamber members.
Past featured speakers have included the 9NEWS Leader of the Year, Chamber leadership team, Chamber Board members and more influential community leaders.
What to Expect
- Offered every other month typically from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with lunch provided.
Got a Question?
Please contact Rob Rose, Director of Programs and Engagement, to learn more.
About our May 29 Speaker, John Farnam:
John Farnam has served the Morgridge Family Foundation for 12 years, administering more than $165 million in grants, first as chief of staff and now as managing director. John builds relationships and catalyzes connections with partners at every level, resulting in transformational change across all social sectors in Denver and beyond. His expertise has been sought out as an Aspen Institute Fellow, a member of the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network, and an advisor to the Governor’s Leadership Committee on COVID Relief.
In 2022 he earned an executive certificate through the prestigious Chief of Staff Fellowship at the University of Oxford, and in 2023, he was one of just 60 leaders from 20 countries to complete the inaugural Chief of Staff Association Prog ram through Harvard Business School Executive Education. He now serves as the Morgridge Child Welfare Fellow for the Common Sense Institute.
In his earlier career, John served as vice president of marketing for Goodwill Industries of Denver where he played an integral role in establishing the Goodwill Endowment Fund, which raised an ambitious $10 million. During his time as executive director of the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, John was recognized with the DoSomething Award celebrating leaders whose work transforms the community. His work in education and philanthropy began when he raised $6.5 million to build Vanguard Classical School in Denver.
John and his husband Paul Heitzenrater, a certified recreation therapist at National Jewish Health in Denver, grow and donate more than 2,000 pounds of produce every year. They volunteer at Metro Caring, Hunger Relief Center, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and their church, Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church. They have received the Firefly Luminescence Award as well as the Georgia Imhoff Philanthropic Award. Most recently, John was named the 2024 9News Leader of the Year for Denver.