Luis A. Colon
Member of Cabinet and Manager, Department of General Services
City and County of Denver
Luis was born and raised in Puerto Rico, the fifth in a family of seven children. His academic and career development have given him the opportunity to work with many leading academics and executives in several continents, resulting in two graduate degrees and over 14 years of experience in project management and management consulting, focusing in the areas of e-business, business strategy, operations and performance measurement.
Luis began his career in 1989 with Eli Lilly and Company as a chemical engineer, supporting day-to-day operations of chemical manufacturing plants and directing large renovations of manufacturing facilities. After completing his Master’s degree in Engineering form the University of Cambridge (England), his MBA from the University of Michigan Business School, Luis joined A.T. Kearney, a leading management consulting firm. In the ensuing four years with A.T. Kearney, Luis established a reputation for intellectual curiosity, delivering results, and exceeding expectations for clients in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, focusing on corporate strategy and strategic alignment, and supply chain management. After serving as a corporate strategy and e-business consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Luis helped clients develop effective e-business strategies as part of XOR Inc., a privately held company specializing in end-to-end e-business solutions. Luis then became part of the executive management team at Source One Management, where he was in charge of Strategic and Business Planning, developing and implementing the organization’s short and long term strategic and operating plans. It was then when Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper asked him to join his cabinet as the Manager of the Department of General Services, to bring business ideas and management best practices to the public sector. Luis oversees an organization with a budget of approximately $60 million and 250 employees in the areas of Facilities Planning, Construction and Management, Purchasing, Utilities, Finance and Administration, Theaters and Arenas, and Central Services.
Throughout his career, Luis has received several awards for intellectual capital contributions in the areas of Full Value Procurement, Operations Strategy, Strategic Performance Measurement, Negotiation Management and e-Business Strategy. Luis received the National Society of Hispanic MBAs 2000 Brillante Award, the organization’s highest award, for his contributions to the society in the areas of Executive Leadership and Chapter Development. He was also awarded fellowships from the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, the William Davidson Institute, Astra-Zeneca (formerly ICI Pharmaceuticals), and Air Products and Chemicals. In 2006, Luis was selected one of the Denver Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 award recipients, recognizing his commitment to professional excellence and contributions to the Denver community. He also received the prestigious Gates Family Foundation fellowship to attend the Harvard Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government in 2006.
Luis has always taken a keen interest in community involvement, and currently holds or has held seats in the Board of Trustees of Mesa State College, the Board of Directors of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (currently serving as Board Chairman) and the Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation (Past Chair), the Rocky Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council, the Advisory Council of the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship, the Curious Theatre Company Board and the Denver Board of the March of Dimes.
Luis and his family reside in Centennial, Colorado.
