Colorado Technology Association Selects New Leadership to Advance Colorado’s Tech Community

Colorado Technology Association Selects New Leadership to Advance Colorado’s Tech Community

Foster, Soards, Senator Johnston and House Majority Leader Stephens Named to leadership roles in Association to Promote Colorado Technology

DENVER – January 9, 2012 – Colorado Technology Association (CTA) names Steve Foster as the new President and CEO of the Association and announces Bill Soards President of AT&T Colorado as the new 2012 Board Chair.  In addition, the Board of Directors elected two state legislative leaders to be on the board, including State Senator Michael Johnston and House Majority Leader Amy Stephens.

"Foster is one of Colorado’s greatest advocates of our state’s technology industry and will lead our ongoing efforts to advance the industry.  We are also excited about the additions of both Senator Johnston and House Majority Leader Stephens to our board as the Association continues its focus on making Colorado even more attractive to technology innovators and encouraging further investment in high-tech companies," said Bill Soards.

"It is a privilege to lead Colorado’s technology community,” said Steve Foster.  "Our state is fast being recognized as a center of excellence in leadership and innovation in technology, attracting top talent, companies and entrepreneurs from around the country.”

About Steve Foster

Steve Foster, who is also President of Business Controls, a leading SaaS ("Software as a Service”) provider of incident reporting management software and risk consulting services, has over 25 years of executive and operational experience in workplace security.  Known as a national expert on topics related to ethics, corporate compliance, and the convergence of technology and security, he is frequently asked to be a quest speaker on television and radio regarding these topics.

Recently, Foster was named to the board of The Colorado Innovation Network, (COIN), an consortium of  public, private and academic interests promoting innovation in the state that was developed out of Gov. John Hickenlooper’s economic development plan.  Steve Foster is also the co-founder for the new Public Private Partnerships Innovation Council (PPPIC) along with Vic Ahmed and Kristin Russell, (the Secretary of Technology and CIO for the State of Colorado), a public, private partnership with a mission to highlight innovative technology Colorado companies and their projects in order to provide these companies with exposure and access to private capital.

About Bill Soards

Appointed to CTA’s board in April of 2009, Soards is responsible for all external affairs for AT&T in the state which includes state and local government relations, community affairs, regulatory and legislative activities, and initiatives before the Colorado General Assembly and Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission.

Prior to becoming state president, Soards was Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs for AT&T’s Midwest region working in Chicago, IL. Coordinating public policy campaigns, managing research, message development, third parties, and foundation activities in five Midwestern states were among his chief responsibilities.

Soards began his career in public policy in 1994 as a partner at Livengood Soards & Associates in Indianapolis, IN. In 2000, he joined AT&T (then Ameritech) as Director of Government Relations. In 2006, Soards helped lead the state effort to deregulate the telecom industry and establish a statewide system for cable franchising and video competition. That legislation, The Indiana Telecom Reform Act, was signed into law in March of 2006 by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and continues to attract jobs and investment across the state.

About House Majority Leader Amy Stephens

Colorado House Majority Leader Representative Amy Stephens is from House District 20 – Northern El Paso County and worked hard to repeal HB 10-1192 with the passage of HB11-1293, which placed an unfair burden on the technology sector. 

Majority Leader Stephens has lived in Colorado for 20 years working in public policy for ten years and owning her own consulting business, Fresh Ideas Communication & Consulting.  Fresh Ideas helps non-profit, faith-based and businesses build their capacity by providing innovative ideas, coaching, program development and grant writing/development. 

Majority Leader Stephens’ leadership experience includes; being an appointed member of the El Paso County Election Commission (Help America Vote), being appointed by Colorado Governor Bill Owens to the Governor’s Task Force on the Welfare of Children, serving as a State Delegate for Colorado to the Republican National Convention (1996, 2004), and participating in Leadership Pikes Peak for future leaders in the Pikes Peak region.  She has done interviews and opinion editorials in many of America’s major newspapers such as USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, Denver Post, The Rocky Mountain News as well as interviews on hundreds of radio stations across the nation.

About Senator Mike Johnston

Johnston represents Northeast Denver in the Colorado State Senate and serves as a policy advisor to New Leaders for New Schools. Mike first entered education as a high school English teacher in Greenville, Mississippi, an experience that led him to write his acclaimed book, "In the Deep Heart's Core." After leaving the Mississippi Delta, Mike co-founded New Leaders for New Schools, a national non-profit that recruits and trains urban principals. Mike started his own career as a principal leading two alternative high schools serving Colorado students held in state custody or living in group homes and detention centers. Most recently, Mike was the co-founder and principal of MESA (Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts), a redesigned urban high school in the Mapleton Public Schools that made Colorado history by becoming the first public high school in which 100 percent of seniors were admitted to four-year colleges.

He has been an adjunct professor of education law at the University of Denver and has served as an advisor to state and federal political campaigns around the country, most recently as a top education advisor to Barack Obama's presidential campaign and transition. Recently named to Time Magazine’s "40 Under 40” and Forbes Magazine’s list of the "7 Most Influential Educators,” Mike holds degrees from Yale College, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Yale Law School. He sits on the board of many local and national organizations including the I Have a Dream Foundation and the Urban League.