2024 Policy Summit – Colorado Leaders for Academic Success

2024 CLAS Policy Summit

As a school board member you are uniquely positioned to shape educational outcomes through policy decisions. We invite you to join our policy summit as we provide you the tools and strategies to craft effective policies. Come gain valuable insights from experts and collaborate with colleagues from around Colorado.

Join us August 24th, 8am-3pm for this great event!

The Policy Summit will be hosted in Colorado Springs. If you are traveling from out of town and would like to utilize our hotel block you can make your reservation below. To receive the discounted group rate, be sure to reserve your room by August 9th.

Speakers

Dicky Shanor

Dicky Shanor is Chief of Staff at the Wyoming Department of Education. He has served in this role for over eight years for two State Superintendents of Public Instruction. He has also served as Chief of Staff at the Virginia Department of Education. Dicky’s other areas of service include being President of the Cheyenne City Council, Chairman of the Wyoming Combat Sports Commission, a Broad Center at the Yale School of Management Public Education Leadership Fellow, and an American Enterprise Institute Education Leadership Academy Fellow. Dicky is also an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law.

He has his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from Yale University where he played on the football team.

Ross Izard

Ross Izard is the founder of Xiphos Strategies, LLC. He is a seasoned policy analyst, writer, and government affairs professional with experience working at all levels of the public policy world across multiple states and the federal government, with a particular emphasis on issues related to education.

He has authored or co-authored dozens of pieces on a variety of topics, including white papers, editorials, policy briefs, stories, and blogs. His work has been published by national, state, and local media outlets, and he has assisted in the production of several amicus briefs for two state supreme courts and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Ross holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Colorado and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs.

Antonette DeLauro Smith

Antonette works with clients to maximize their success in communications, public policy, and community engagement.

Previously, she served as Deputy State Director for Americans for Prosperity-Colorado and before that as director of marketing for the Centennial Institute, the public policy think tank at Colorado Christian University. She was also the executive director of the Colorado OutReach Exchange, a community engagement and leadership development program for the Colorado National Guard.

A Colorado native, Antonette is a trusted advisor for her expertise in media, marketing, and public affairs. She started her career in DC working with U.S. Senator Bill Armstrong (R-CO). She returned to Colorado to serve as Director of Public Affairs for Colorado State Parks then moved to the corporate world, serving in executive roles in Fortune 500 companies First Data, Western Union and CH2M HILL. She was SVP at Sage Hospitality and later with Galloway Group.

Antonette is graduate of Leadership Denver and the Leadership Program of the Rockies, a Fellow with the Club for Growth, and a member of American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network. She has served on several key nonprofit boards including Cancer League of Colorado, Hospice of Saint John, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Friends of Colorado State Parks. She earned her BA in political science from The Colorado College, and an MBA from the University of Denver – Daniels College of Business.

Steve Durham

Steve J. Durham, representing the 5th Congressional District, was appointed in December 2014, to fill a mid-term vacancy. Steve was then elected in November 2016 to serve a six-year term, commencing January 11, 2017. He was re-elected in November 2022 to serve a second six-year term ending in January 2029. A former state legislator, Durham has lived most of his life in Colorado Springs. He graduated from Cheyenne Mountain High School in 1965 and the University of Northern Colorado in 1969.

Steve was elected to the Colorado General Assembly in 1974. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 1976 and 1978 and elected to the Senate in 1980. Steve resigned in 1981 to accept an appointment from President Reagan to serve as the Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for Region VIII. Steve Durham was re-elected to the Colorado State Senate in 1984 and retired in 1988.

In 1975, his colleagues elected Steve Durham as “Outstanding Freshman Member of the House of Representatives,” and in 1988 his colleagues voted him as the “Most Influential Member of the Colorado State Senate.”

Durham is married to his wife of 45 years, Rose A. Durham, and has one daughter, Lisa, a mother of two and an attorney in private practice in Tucson, Arizona. Durham has lived in Colorado Springs since 1957 and has been a member of numerous civic organizations. He currently represents the Colorado State Board of Education as a member of the School Trust Lands committee.

Brad Miller

Brad was a teacher and coach in California prior to his involvement as an entrepreneur who built and managed several businesses including a public policy journal, a landscape management company, and a youth sports organization prior to entering law school. He has served as counsel for several dozen schools and districts in Colorado, along with multiple ministries and nonprofits. His four children attended a combination of charter school, online school, district school, homeschool, and private school. He and his wife, Ruth, enjoy skiing and hiking.

Don't miss this opportunity for networking and policy development