DENVER, CO – February 2020
Today, BEN Colorado and Silicon Flatirons are proud to announce the establishment of the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Colorado as an independent not-for-profit organization.
BEN Colorado was co-founded by renowned Colorado Venture Capitalist & Ecosystem Philanthropist Brad Feld and Attorney General Phil Weiser in 2014 during Weiser’s tenure as Dean of the University of Colorado Law School. BEN was created as a project to be housed within the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Since its founding, BEN Colorado has served more than 150 companies with participation from over 300 Advisors. The companies that BEN assists have created more than 8,000 jobs, raised $3.1B in total funding, and have grown by $4.7B in revenue over the last five and a half years.
Under the leadership of Greg Greenwood, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, BEN Colorado has obtained full sustainability of the organization going forward. Greenwood is overseeing this transition out of Silicon Flatirons before turning the organization over to Kay Henze, a long-time BEN Advisor. Henze is an accomplished Board Member, Strategic Advisor, CEO, and CMO with over 25 years of experience growing businesses. Greenwood is staying on as the Executive Director Emeritus to assist the Blackstone Charitable Foundation in their efforts to establish BEN-like programs in other cities across the US. The rest of the BEN Colorado team will be staying on board, including Operations Director, Nicole Barbera, who has been instrumental in the organization’s growth over the past three years.
“Silicon Flatirons and the University of Colorado Boulder have been essential in BEN Colorado’s establishment and operations. We are very grateful for their support as we move into independent sustainability,” says Greenwood, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer.
“Being a part of this unique organization over the past three years has been an incredible journey,” says Nicole Barbera, Operations Director. “We are so appreciative of all the support and collaboration we have received from Silicon Flatirons and are excited to continue to grow and prosper as our own independent organization.”
As an independent organization, BEN Colorado will be able to continue in its tradition of success as it expands to provide broader support to founders and innovators across the Denver/Boulder region. Silicon Flatirons will continue to reside at Colorado Law under the leadership of Amie Stepanovich, who started as Executive Director in July 2019. The mission of Silicon Flatirons is to elevate the debate surrounding technology policy issues; support and enable entrepreneurship in the technology community, and inspire, prepare, and place students in these important areas.
“It’s been an honor to work with Greg, Nicole, and the BEN Colorado team these past months, and have the opportunity to see first-hand the community they have incubated. I’m excited for their next chapter and look forward to working with BEN Colorado as partners in our on-going mission to support local entrepreneurship,” says Amie Stepanovich, Executive Director of Silicon Flatirons.
For more information on BEN Colorado, you can visit www.bencolorado.org or contact Nicole Barbera at nicole@bencolorado.org. For more information on Silicon Flatirons, you can visit www.siliconflatirons.org or contact Amie Stepanovich at amie.stepanovich@colorado.edu.