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Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law SB21-185, Supporting Educator Workforce In Colorado, June 16 at a signing ceremony at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood. The bill dedicates more than $13 million for educator programs, many of which were drawn from the Education System Resiliency and Innovation Initiative (ESRII).
“We know so many teachers went above and beyond to close the learning gap and adapt to online and hybrid education during the pandemic. This legislation creates more entry points for tomorrow’s teachers,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
“What I think this bill does is create what I call an educator career highway or pathway,” said Sen. Bob Rankin, a co-sponsor of the legislation who also participated as a member of the ESRII coalition.
Senator Rachel Zenzinger, who sponsored the bill, detailed the background of ESRII and explained how the group’s findings played a critical role in helping craft this legislation.
“From June of 2020 to January of 2021, more than 80 stakeholders from across all of Colorado’s education ecosystem and the private sector met together to talk about what was happening and identify opportunities and learning from the challenges that were presented by COVID. And from this they published a report that detailed a number of recommendations that they brought to this work. Some of which we incorporated into this bill,” said Senator Zenzinger.
Representative Julie McCluskie, another co-sponsor of the bill and participant in the ESRII coalition, also lauded Keystone for the work of ESRII.
“I want to congratulate [Keystone Policy Center] and their leadership and the work that happened to make this bill come to life,” said Rep. McCluskie. “[They] helped lead a moment when we could see nothing but gray clouds and doom because of the pandemic. They said here is an opportunity to see how our education system responds to what’s going on in the world. It’s a chance for us to capture new innovative ideas, creative thoughts about how we could be doing education better.”
Listen to the Keynotes podcast episode below to learn more about the Education System Resiliency and Innovation Initiative.
Effective March 1, 2025, Thomas J. Vilsack, former United States Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of Iowa, became the first Chief Executive Officer for the World Food Prize Foundation. In this new role, Governor Vilsack is focusing on expanding the Foundation’s global network, and will further position the Foundation as a leader in addressing global food and nutrition insecurity, continuing his lifetime of public service.
Shelby Coffey III is a distinguished journalist, media executive, and thought leader whose career has helped shape the landscape of American news and public discourse. Over several decades, Coffey has held some of the most influential roles in journalism, including serving as editor of the Los Angeles Times, executive vice president of ABC News, and deputy managing editor of The Washington Post. His editorial leadership extended to key roles as president of CNN Financial News, editor of the Dallas Times Herald, and U.S. News & World Report.
Jerry Steiner has spent 40 years involved in agriculture following growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm. He began his career with Monsanto, in multiple business leadership roles. From 2003-2013 he served as a member of the Executive team, as the company’s Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs. He led the company’s global Government, Public and Industry Affairs teams across the 70 countries where Monsanto conducts business. This experience got Jerry connected to the Keystones centers work in agriculture. Key among his responsibilities were shaping the company’s public policy and building partnerships aimed at helping farmers around the world produce more food, while conserving valuable resources like water and energy. Two unique partnership that developed under his leadership were drought tolerant corn with 5 African countries, CIMMYT and the Gates foundation, and a building a sustainable business model in Brazil with the value chain leading to significant multi-company investment and soybean varieties that can protected themselves.
Jennifer Morris is the Chief Executive Officer of The Nature Conservancy, leading a team of nearly 6,000 staff working in more than 80 countries and territories tackling the dual crises of the 
Congressman Joe Neguse represents Colorado’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to his first term in November 2018, becoming the first Black Member of Congress in Colorado history. In December 2022, Rep. Neguse was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), becoming the first Coloradan to serve in a senior elected leadership role in the House in over 85 years. He serves on the Natural Resources and Judiciary Committees, and was also appointed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to serve as one of four Democrats on the prestigious Rules Committee. Rep. Neguse serves as Ranking Member on the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands, which he previously Chaired in the 117th Congress.
Llewellyn King was born in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He went into journalism as soon as he turned 16, stringing for Time magazine and United Press in Africa.
Steven Williams is the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo North America, overseeing a more than $48 billion business that spans PepsiCo’s Foods and Beverage operating units. His leadership encompasses more than 125,000 associates and over 900 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Steven joined PepsiCo in 2001 as part of PepsiCo’s acquisition of the Quaker Oats Company, which he joined in 1997, and has held leadership positions of increased responsibility since.