Colorado Certified Public Manager Program

Includes: knowing & managing yourself, effective teams, conflict resolution & negotiation, and ethical behavior.

Includes: working with elected officials, establishing working relationships with key partners (w/in and w/out organizations), media relations, and effective presentations.

Includes: performance measurement, change and innovation, project management, evidence based management, and management of information and communications technology.

Includes: management principles for public and nonprofit organizations in the areas of effective emergency response, emergency preparedness, disaster recovery and promotion of community and organizational resilience; also includes crisis leadership and communication. Lessons will be drawn from the Colorado Experience.

Includes: managing human resources, administrative legal issues, use of data in evidence based management, decision-making and reporting results.

Includes: analytic techniques in strategic planning, understanding fiscal & budgetary approaches and management, understanding public involvement in policy making and governmental operations, and use of critical tools.

Includes: a practical project undertaking toward the end of the CPM program. The project can be based on a problem faced in your own organization or in another organization, but it must be something real, significant and useful. The capstone project demonstrates mastery of the skills developed throughout the CPM curriculum.

He is the vice chair of the Alliance for Innovation and member of the Center for Public Safety Excellence Board of Directors. Darin was named 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Colorado State University College of Business and elected in 2016 as a Fellow with the National Academy of Public Administration. Recently, Darin received the Colorado Governor’s Citizenship medal for being a leader who serves the public with innovation, operational excellence, and progressive vision.

Prior to coming to Fort Collins, Darin worked with cities in California, Washington, and Georgia. He attended Harvard University’s Senior Executive Program in State and Local Government. He holds a Master of Science in Civil Engineering and Master of City Planning from Georgia Institute of Technology. He received a Bachelor of Science in City and Regional Planning from California Polytechnic State University.

Darin Atteberry has served as the city manager for the City of Fort Collins, Colorado since December 2004. Darin has led the city government through a time of transformational change, moving the organization from a "trust us" model to one using a data-driven, performance-based approach. Darin is an advocate for community collaboration and building strong relationships with both public and private sector partners. 

Margaret Browne has over 25 years of experience in policy, management, and financial analysis.  Ms. Browne was appointed by two mayors of the City and County of Denver to serve as the director of finance and management. During her tenure, she demonstrated an ability to lead strategic change initiatives, improve service delivery and performance, reduce costs, and resolve a diversity of management issues.  She played a key role in developing a capital funding policy for the City and County of Denver that received an Award for Excellence by the Government Finance Officers Association. 

Previously she worked in multiple positions within Denver city government including serving as budget director for seven years. Before joining the City and County of Denver, she was a research analyst for the Joint Budget Committee of the Colorado State Legislature. 

Ms. Browne holds a Masters of Public Administration from CU Denver School of Public Affairs, with an emphasis in urban affairs.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Santa Cruz.  She received a Gates Fellowship to the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University.

Mark Collins is currently the county manager for Routt County, Colorado. Mark has over 30 years of local government experience including city management duties in Grand Lake, Gunnison, Laramie, and Sheridan Wyoming. He also served as the associate vice president for administration at the University of Wyoming, while also teaching classes in public administration. Following his graduate studies at University of Wyoming, he began his professional career in parks and recreation, including employment with the National Park Service. Mark has been an adjunct professor in public administration at the University of Wyoming, University of Colorado Denver, and Western State Colorado University. Mark is an avid cyclist and annually participates in the Tour de Wyoming and Ride the Rockies.

Dallas Everhart is a teacher, coach and consultant with a unique background in business, local government, and higher education.  His current higher education roles include executive director of University of Northern Colorado Extended Campus, director of the Monfort Entrepreneurial Challenge, and Monfort executive professor teaching management and marketing.  On the business side, he works with organizations to improve culture and performance.   

Dallas received his bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration from Western State College and PhD from the University of Northern Colorado. During his career, Dr. Everhart has consistently integrated innovative leadership and management theory with practical application to build teams, improve organizational performance, and increase employee productivity. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, Dallas has a successful record of identifying opportunities for businesses and local government to improve performance and the bottom line. 

Dallas has worked as a finance director and city manager in local government, executive director in higher education, and owned and restored profitability to a multimillion-dollar business. His experience and client projects are diverse; ranging from implementing employee productivity programs in coals mines in Canada to working in city management in Colorado resort communities including Aspen and Summit counties.  

Aden Hogan, Jr. is a retired public administrator with over 40 years in municipal/county government and the private sector civil engineering field. Currently a co-owner of Hogan and Associates, LLC, providing consulting services to government and business which include: interim CAO functions, professional development, leadership, disaster & emergency management, and personal coaching. A nationally recognized expert in several disciplines, Aden is an adjunct instructor for CU Denver School of Public Affairs and frequent speaker at national and international conferences and seminars regarding emergency preparedness, local government management, terrorist security and response planning, disaster management, leadership and ethics.

Most recently he served as city manager for Evans, Colorado from 2006 to 2016 and was responsible for directing and managing all municipal functions and operations. He has also held city management positions in Parker, Colorado and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 

Aden has a Bachelor of Business Administration (Cum Laude) from Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado and Master of Public Administration from CU Denver School of Public Affairs. He is a Certified Risk Manager and holds the Credentialed Manager Certificate from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). Aden has served as the president of both the Colorado Municipal League and the Colorado City-County Management Association. He has received national recognition for excellence in municipal government, receiving several ICMA Program Excellence Awards.

Sam Houghteling is a creative leader passionate about collaborative problem solving as he leads the development of the Straayer Center for Public Service Leadership at Colorado State University. From 2013 through 2017, Sam worked with the City of Fort Collins, and has served on the leadership teams for Fort Collins Startup Week, the Northern Colorado Food Cluster, the Downtown Fort Collins Creative District, the City of Fort Collins Parks & Rec Advisory Board, and the Colorado Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration. Prior to moving to Colorado, Sam served as a director for a Massachusetts based non-profit, interned in a U.S. Congressional Office, and received his Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas. He is interested in how community networks influence policy and impact governance. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD at Colorado State University in public administration and environmental policy. In his free time, Sam enjoys playing baseball, cooking, live music, and spending time in the mountains.

Clint Kinney is currently the town manager of Snowmass Village having served in this position since 2014. Previously, he served as the city manager of Fruita, Colorado from 2002-2014, and worked in the Durango City Manager’s office prior to that. Even with all of this time on the Western Slope, he still doesn’t own cowboy boots and has never worn a bolo tie, but he now concedes that his management style is more like Ron Swanson than Chris Traeger. Clint has a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration. Clint is fortunate enough to be married, have two outstanding daughters, and gets to enjoy his fair share of time on ski and bike trails.

Jim Krugman joined CU Denver School of Public Affairs faculty in August of 2018 as a half-time lecturer and Emergency Management Practitioner in Residence following 5 years as an MPA course lecturer in the Emergency Management and Homeland Security concentration. He has served as a Certified Public Manager instructor and module leader since 2014 and is a former lecturer for Arizona State University’s Emergency Management- Master of Public Administration program.

He retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 2012 after 36 years as a professional forester, wildfire/hazardous fuels management specialist, and agency administrator in multiple western states.  Concurrently, he served as a national wildfire and disaster practitioner including extended assignments to Hurricane Katrina and Ivan.

He joined the Denver Fire Department full-time in 2016 as its wildland fire program manager following 4 ½ years as an emergency management coordinator with the Denver Office of Emergency Management.

Jim holds a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management Science from Colorado State University, an Associate in Emergency Management and Planning from Red Rocks Community College, and a Graduate Certificate in Homeland Security and Emergency Management from the University of Colorado Denver.  He regularly presents on forest health, wildfire, and climate change related issues and has been a Colorado Certified Emergency Manager since 2014.

Sarah E. Moss, MPA, is a civic dreamer and doer and strategist solving policy and political puzzles. 

Her professional experience ranges from local government, to political and public awareness campaigns, to serving as a White House appointee in the Office of Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. She has given keynote remarks and workshops for Engaging Local Government Leaders, Priority Based Budgeting Summit, 3CMA, Colorado City & County Management Association, Colorado Lean Network, Colorado Conference on Volunteerism, Emergency Services Public Information Officers of Colorado, City and County of Denver, Denver Zoo, Arvada Fire District, Pueblo West Metropolitan District, and more. She created the Presidential Campaign Advance class for American University School of Public Affairs.

Moss is a two-time Bighorn Leadership Program fellow in energy and economic development, a Truman National Security Project security fellow, and Colorado City & County Management Association member. A lifelong learner, she earned a Denver Peak Academy black belt in lean process improvement, yellow belt in Krav Maga, Executive Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver, and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Communication from American University.

Jon Peacock is the county manager of Pitkin County, Colorado, where he has served since 2011.  Prior to coming to Pitkin County, Jon served as the county administrator of Mesa county, worked for the State of Ohio, and taught political science and public administration at the University of Wyoming.  Jon has a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of political science. He lives in Snowmass Village with two artists (wife and daughter), a budding litigator (youngest daughter), a dog, a cat, and a praying mantis (which he hopes his daughter will take to college). When not working, Jon enjoys biking, skiing, and talking about great books.

Gary Sears has been teaching the Colorado Certified Public Manager class on strategic planning and management since 2004 and also taught public budgeting at the CU Denver Department of Political Science over the last 10 years. In 2002, he was recognized by CU Denver School of Public Affairs as the Public Administrator of the Year for the design and construction of the City of Englewood’s Innovative Transit Oriented Development. This project helped lead the way for transit oriented projects in Denver and many other U.S. metropolitan communities.

After retiring in 2014 as a city manager for City of Englewood, he was awarded life membership in the International City Management Association (ICMA) for his 42 years of experience as city manager or assistant city manager to Glendale, Silverthorne, Greeley, and Loveland. In 2014, he was also recognized by the Colorado House of Representatives for his “commitment to the public and contributions that he has made over the years to not only Englewood, but to the entire State of Colorado.”

Additionally, Gary has been president of the Colorado Municipal League, the Colorado City & County City Management Association, and the Municipal Management Association.  Currently, he is the ICMA Liaison to the SPA Student Chapter of ICMA for the University of Colorado.

Carolynne White currently practices law at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP. Her practice spans the land use, government relations, real estate and natural resources groups. Carolynne is an experienced land use and public policy attorney, with strong state and local government relationships, and cutting-edge expertise. 

Her specialty is managing complex and challenging projects and navigating multiple regulatory environments for optimal outcomes for clients. Her strong local and state relationships with elected officials and staff statewide ensure that clients always have the best information and the best opportunity to be heard. One of only twenty-three LEED-accredited attorneys in Colorado, Carolynne also holds a Master of Public Policy and Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado Denver and a law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.