Katherine Archuleta, Keynote Speaker

Former Director, US Office of Personnel Management
MA, Elementary Education '76

Katherine Archuleta began her career as a schoolteacher in Denver Public Schools and worked in local government for Denver Mayors Federico Peña and John Hickenlooper. She worked for the Departments of Transportation and Energy in the Clinton administration and was Chief of Staff to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis during the first two years of the Obama Administration. Katherine joined the Obama 2012 campaign as its National Political Director. Archuleta was appointed by President Barack Obama to be the first Latina to lead the US Office of Personnel Management. Overseeing the Human Resources management of the entire federal government, Ms. Archuleta was responsible for the recruitment, hiring, development and support of federal workers throughout the country. She designed and developed the Federal government’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan in collaboration with the White House and all Departments – working closely with her own staff and government leaders to design steps to increase the recruitment and hiring of women, racial and ethnic minorities and millennials for federal service. She is a founding mother of Mi Casa Resource Center, The Latina Initiative and The Women’s Foundation of Colorado and I’m Latina and I Vote/Latina Initiative 2020. As a non-profit founder, she is very familiar with the importance of providing voice at every level of an organization, doing so with both an eye on the mission and a respect for every participant, so that outcomes reflect consensus for paths forward.

Katherine currently sits on the boards of the University of Denver Board of Trustees, the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, Conservation Colorado, and the Latino Leadership Institute. She was recently selected as a 2020 inductee into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.