Board Members

ranilionis@coloradomesa.edu

Ray Anilionis has been the president and owner of Landmark Realty Advisors, a real estate consulting and asset management firm in Centennial for the past 23 years. He has held executive positions in mortgage banking and real estate development.

Anilionis has served on the Colorado Mesa University Real Estate Foundation Board of Directors for more than 10 years, which has given him knowledge and insight into the workings of CMU.

“At this stage of my life, I've tried to give back as much as possible and I feel there is no better way than to support higher education, especially at the college level,” he said.

His real estate experience has included the acquisition, development, construction, and management of commercial and residential properties in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas. He has taught courses in real estate finance and appraisal at the college level, as well as continuing education for real estate professionals. He has arbitrated and served as an expert witness in various real estate disputes and legal proceedings.

In addition to serving as board member of the CMU Real Estate Foundation, Anilionis serves on the boards of the Wisconsin (Whitewater) Foundation and the Warhawk Real Estate Foundation. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker and formerly was a Certified General Appraiser. He was a member and former chairman of the Cherry Hills Village Planning and Zoning Commission; a past board member for three commercial banks, various municipal and special districts; and a past member of the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Home Builders Association, and the American Arbitration Association.

He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and a Master of Science degree in urban land economics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

A resident of Colorado since 1971, he divides his time between his family ranch in Grand County and his business in Centennial, where his wife, Deb, is an elementary school teacher.

bbechtel@coloradomesa.edu

Betty is the current chairman of the Board of Trustees at Colorado Mesa University.

Betty Bechtel graduated with honors from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a BS in business in 1967. While her husband, Joel, attended medical school, she worked as a statistician for the telephone company, then attended Lewis and Clark College, Northwestern School of Law, attaining her JD cum laude in 1978. From 1979-1980, she worked in the employment law section of Dykema Gossett law firm in Detroit, Mich.

Returning home to Colorado in 1980, she practiced primarily employment law with Dufford, Waldeck, Milburn & Krohn, in Grand Junction, for 25 years. In 2005, she and Michael Santo began the firm of Bechtel & Santo, LLP, emphasizing employment law for businesses. She has served as President of the Mesa County Bar Association, and received its Professionalism Award in 2010. Betty retired from active practice as of Jan. 1, 2011, but continues with the firm in an "Of Counsel" status.

Betty has chaired the boards of several non-profit organizations in the community, including the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, Mesa County Economic Development Council (now known as Grand Junction Economic Partners), the Business Incubator Center, Hilltop Rehabilitation Hospital and Hospice of the Grand Valley. Additionally, she has served as a board member of the Mesa County Pro Bono Association, Cinema at the Avalon, the Art Center, Glade Park Community School and Mesa Developmental Services Foundation.

kbrough@coloradomesa.edu

Kelly Brough is the President and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 3,000 businesses with 300,000 employees.  
Before joining the Chamber, she served as chief of staff for the City of Denver and Mayor John Hickenlooper, overseeing a general fund of $857 million. She also served as deputy chief of staff and director of the Denver office of accountability and reform for the city.

As the first female director of human resources for the City of Denver, she successfully moved the human resource department from an authoritarian culture to one based on service delivery and focused on outcomes. During her two years in this role, she led significant reforms including moving the city to a full pay-for-performance system and established the city’s first bonus plan program. 

She directed an internationally recognized leadership program at the University of Colorado at Denver—the Rocky Mountain Program and has served as a consultant to many local governments facilitating decisions, managing large public processes and comprehensive planning efforts, mediating disputes and providing strategies to build stronger public/private partnerships.

She currently serves on the board of directors of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, the Denver Zoological Foundation; the Denver Scholarship Foundation and VisitDenver; the Graduate School - Bioscience Advisory Board for University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, the Corporate Board of Delta Dental as well as the Colorado Mesa University Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the Women’s Forum and The Chamber 100 with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Brough earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1989 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology, Criminal Justice from Montana State University in 1986.

Brough was named as one of Colorado’s 10 most influential women by The Denver Post and one of Denver’s most influential people by 5280 Magazine. In 2012, Brough received the University of Colorado Denver Campus Alumni Recognition Award. She has attended a number of leadership programs including the JFK School of Government’s program at Harvard for state and local public officials. She was also named an American Marshall Memorial Fellow in 2001.

Kasia Iwaniczko MacLeod is the Community Engagement Leader for Cigna in the Mountain States, leading the community investments, employee engagement and civic relationship strategies, in addition to driving business development initiatives across the region. Prior to joining Cigna, she was the Sr. VP of Community Engagement and Enterprise Business for Bank of America, where she developed and executed a community and employee engagement strategic alignment that successfully moved the Denver market to number one status for the company and increased local employee engagement to the 94^th percentile.

With an extensive and deep-rooted community platform, she has held Chief of Staff and various senior leadership positions in multi-industry companies and other fast-paced, high-pressured organizations in the public and private sectors focused on developing and executing vision and strategies; creating meaningful and lasting private-public partnerships; managing board and leadership team relationships and processes; recruiting, developing and leading teams.

She was the first-elected female Student Body President at Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University), a role which included encompassed lobbying to the State College of Colorado. During the same tenure she was the youngest person appointed to the United States Commission on Civil Rights: Colorado Advisory Committee.

She has dedicated her time to numerous past associations including the Hispanic Chamber of Metro Denver Board of Directors, Colorado Succeeds Advisory Board, Excelsior Youth Center, The Denver Health Foundation "Level One Society", Chair of the Denver Art Museum CultureHaus, NewGenesis Transitional Homeless Community, University of Colorado Cancer Center Fund (formerly AMC Cancer Center), Denver Scholarship Foundation "Friends of Ed" & Special Events Committees, Serve Colorado - Governor's Commission on Community Service Grant Application Review Committee and as well as leading numerous political fundraising and inauguration committees.

She currently serves on the board of directors of Judi's House and the Denver Art Museum – Marketing & Strategic Alliance Committee and on the Metro Denver Economic Development Council Board of Governors. She has been acknowledged for her leadership by being awarded the Denver Business Journal "Denver's Forty Under 40" Award and nominated for various other awards.

Kasia earned her Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Amy Lentz is a business leader and entrepreneur who owns and operates Fixture Studio, a design consulting firm based out of western Colorado. Fixture Studio executes interior and architectural designs, manages short-term rental properties across Colorado, and manufactures modern furniture. The company's work has been featured in REI retail locations across the country, at West Elm in Denver, and in publications such as Red Tricycle and local magazine Spoke + Blossom.

Lentz is an NCIDQ-Certified Interior Designer and earned a BS in Interior Design from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO in 2003. After graduation, she worked in San Diego before returning to her hometown of Grand Junction where she helped launch the interior design department for local architecture firm Chamberlin Architects. As part of her work with Chamberlin, Lentz designed several spaces on the Colorado Mesa University campus.

"CMU is truly remarkable in terms of the campus' facilities and learning spaces," said Lentz. "I am excited to lend my skills in the design industry and bring my experience in the construction industry to assist in creating an elegant campus environment that is highly conducive to learning."

She and her husband Steve enjoy raising their family in western Colorado, and her hobbies include skiing, swimming, and reading.

smotter@coloradomesa.edu

Stephanie Motter serves as the chief executive officer of Monument Health, LLC, a clinically integrated healthcare network in Grand Junction.

She previously served the kidney care organization DaVita as vice president for quality and clinical strategy, where she led national teams focused on topics such as quality measurement, pay for performance, value-based care and clinical program design and implementation.

“As a business leader and healthcare executive, I am interested in serving to help ensure the most robust academic programs and other preparatory opportunities for students,” she said.

Motter serves on the boards of Back the Badge and the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra. She has served as a mentor for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy and a youth basketball coach for Grand Junction Parks and Recreation. She is a member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American Nurses Association.

Motter earned her undergraduate degree in economics from Smith College and a master’s degree from Yale University. She worked as a nurse practitioner at Partners in Women’s Health in Denver, PMG Physician Associates, in Plymouth, Mass., and at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless in Boston.

She and her family live in the Grand Valley. She enjoys the mountains, skiing and RV camping.

dquimby@coloradomesa.edu

Doug Quimby is a native of Grand Junction currently residing in Colorado Springs, Colo., He is a seasoned real estate executive and proven leader with deep ties to community service and economic development organizations.

After winning the prestigious Denver Post Golden Helmet Award in 1970, Quimby went on to play varsity football and rugby at Harvard College where he earned an AB in history magna cum laude. After earning his JD from Stanford Law School, Quimby returned to Colorado to practice law specializing in real estate transactions, development and management.

He is currently President, Chief Executive Officer and principal owner of La Plata Communities, Inc. He and his wife, Courtney, have two adult children.

jdareed@coloradomesa.edu

David Reed graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and from South Texas College of Law at Houston, attaining his Juris Doctor magna cum laude.

For more than 25 years, the law firm of J. David Reed, P.C. has provided general and specialized legal counsel to clients throughout western Colorado with offices in Montrose, Telluride and Ridgway.

Reed has participated in community development, charities, local volunteer organizations and projects throughout the region. He has formerly served as Montrose, Colorado, City Council Member and as Mayor, President of the Montrose Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Montrose County School Board.  He currently serves as President of the Board of the San Juan Healthcare Foundation and as Treasurer of the Board of the Montrose Community Foundation.

jringel@coloradomesa.edu

Joan D. Ringel has been involved in public policy since 1979. She served as Assistant to the Executive Director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education from 2002 to 2004, where her responsibilities included research, writing, media relations, management and strategy. She was a partner in Ringel, Boyle & Weist Policy Strategists, Inc., a consulting, research, lobbying and public relations firm for 13 years. Mrs. Ringel has an MPA in public policy from the University of Colorado, Denver and an AB in English literature from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is currently working on a short story collection.

Ringel currently serves on the Colorado Judicial Performance Commission and volunteers at Project Angel Heart. She has frequently been a literacy tutor, most recently a mentor and tutor for a high school student. She previously served on the Regional Air Quality Commission, the Winter Park Recreation Association, the Colorado Judicial Institute Board of Directors, the CANPO-ASI Board of Directors and the Denver Sunrise-Sunset Committee. Her publications include "Not So Cut and Dried," The Human Touch; "Academic Libraries and Regional Economic Development," Libraries and the Search for Academic Excellence; "Sophie's Victory," Women's Words, and "Regulatory Reform in Colorado," Colorado Lawyer.

Ringel has lived in Denver for 36 years. She is married with two adult sons, who also live in Denver. She enjoys reading, gourmet cooking, traveling and has recently resumed playing the flute.

G. Suzanne Owens teaches Principles of Financial Accounting, Ethics for Accounting Professionals, Professional Preparation and Audits. Her focus at Colorado Mesa University is to provide excellent instruction in the classroom which is consistent with the focus of CMU as a teaching institution.

As an associate professor in a professional program, she draws upon a decade of experience as an auditor in public accounting at one of the Big Six (now Big Four) accounting firms, Deloitte & Touche, LLP, and private industry accounting at a Fortune 100 company, Sprint Corporation (now Sprint Nextel) as well as her formal education and continuing professional education to bring the best instruction to her students. She is a licensed certified public accountant, which is the goal of most of the students in the public accounting program. Her experience and licensure help her to realistically prepare students to enter the profession.

Read her full profile. 

Amara Hobbs is a junior majoring in Social Work at Colorado Mesa University. She is from Strasburg, Colorado and chose to attend CMU for its small class sizes, professional development, and the academic merit opportunities.

Amara has experience on campus as the former Student Event Coordinator for the University Center where she made many connections with community members. She is currently an Administrative Assistant in Career Services and a Peer Academic Coach within the Office of Student Success. Amara served as the Social & Behavioral Science Senator in the Associated Student Government, and is an active member of the CMU Student Center for the Public Trust where she develops her knowledge of ethics within institutions and at the work place.

She enjoys being active in her community through volunteer work; and is always looking for ways to improve the well-being of others. She ran for Student Trustee for the opportunity to see the growth and potential this university has from the inside and to advocate for the students. She strives to bring kindness and institutional knowledge to those around her and is excited and thankful for this experience.