Rodriguez - Gates Family Foundation
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Rosemary Rodriguez, Gates Family Foundation Trustee

Rosemary Rodriguez

Trustee

Rosemary joined the Foundation in 2021 and brings a lifelong commitment to public service. She is founder and Executive Director of Together We Count, a nonprofit that advocates for fair representation in the national census, and was recently honored with a 2020 Governor’s Citizenship Medal for Public & Community Service.

Rosemary previously led the staff of Colorado Senator Michael Bennet as State Director from 2009 to 2017, and served as an elected school board member for Denver Public Schools from 2013 to 2017. She was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a commissioner on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and chaired the commission in 2008. Prior to that, Rosemary represented central west Denver on the Denver City Council from 2003 to 2007, and was council president from 2005 to 2006. She also chaired the 2001 Colorado Reapportionment Commission, a constitutional body that was responsible for redrawing legislative districts after the 2000 Census. She was Director of Boards and Commissions for the Denver Mayor’s Office from 2002 to 2003, served as Clerk and Recorder for the City and County of Denver from 1997 to 2002, and was Deputy Director for the Denver Mayor’s Office of Art, Culture and Film from 1995 to 1996.

Rosemary has a long history of board, task force, and committee service with community and civic organizations. She currently serves as a board member (and secretary) for Children’s Campaign of Colorado, the Latino Audience Alliance of the Denver Art Museum, and will join the board for the League of Charter Schools in the fall of 2021. She co-founded the Colorado Hispanic League, a statewide lobbying organization to address Latino issues, where she served as president in 1992.  She also is a founder and currently organizes Cafecito, a coffee group and list-serve of over 800 Latina professional women, which has been gathering since 1991.

Rosemary is a Colorado native and attended Metropolitan State College (now Metropolitan State University), where she studied political science.

Read an interview with Rosemary: “Sometimes it takes somebody telling you that you can influence things — and then as an individual, you have to believe it.“