Tamra J. Ward
President and CEO
Colorado Concern
140 East 19th Avenue, Suite 400
Denver, Colorado 80203
Tamra Ward is the President and CEO of Colorado Concern, a business advocacy association of more than 100 chief executives from across the state. Before joining Colorado Concern in 2011, Tamra Ward was the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. In that role she was responsible for the development and execution of a local, state and federal government relations and political strategy that met the needs of the organization’s 3,000 member businesses, as well as executing an organization-wide internal and external communications plan that benefitted the Chamber and all its affiliates. Ward also is known for her work as the business community lead on statewide ballot measures. Since 2005 she has led efforts to raise $18.8 million for three successful campaigns to support or defeat measures viewed as helpful or harmful to Colorado’s economic climate. Ward also provided oversight and management of the Colorado Competitive Council (C3), a separately funded statewide business advocacy affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce created in 2006.
A 1990 graduate of Baylor University with a degree in Journalism and Slavic Studies, Tamra’s career began on Capitol Hill, where she served as Assistant Press Secretary for Senator Alan Simpson, Press Secretary for Representative Craig Thomas, and Deputy Chief of Staff following Thomas’ election to the Senate in 1994. Prior to moving to Denver, the Wyoming native served as the Vice President of Marketing and Development for Columbia Hospital for Women, a private, not-for-profit hospital in Washington, D.C. Building on a personal interest in serving Colorado, Tamra has been involved with the Daniels Career Coaching Program, the Junior League of Denver, and served on the Board of Directors of Hope Communities, Inc., an affordable housing provide in Northeast Denver. She is a graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Denver Program, and was named by the Denver Business Journal as one of Denver’s “40 Under 40″—an annual list of Denver’s up and coming business leaders. Tamra also represented the First Congressional District (Denver) on the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education and served on the City of Denver’s Commission to End Homelessness. Ward is Chair of the Foundation Board of Porter Adventist Hospital, is a member of the History Colorado Board of Directors, and was named a 2006 Women of Distinction by the Mile High Chapter of the Girl Scouts.