Free Newsletter
This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals vary in their backgrounds and their professional pursuits – they’re leaders in banking, real estate, nonprofits, law, entrepreneurship and architecture, to name just a few.
Some are lifelong Coloradans who couldn’t conceive of living anywhere else; others are transplants from the East and West coasts or somewhere between. What they have in common is a relentless achiever’s mindset, a can-do spirit and a desire to do good for others as they do well for themselves.
Read on to learn more about Simone D. Ross, CEO of Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
Simone D. Ross, 39
CEO, Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce | Denver
In December, Simone D. Ross was named the first Black woman CEO of the Colorado Women’s Chamber and executive director of the organization’s foundation. As CEO, Ross intends to ensure the organization is the advocate and intersection of the identities of women in business in Colorado.
In her varied career, Ross has constantly looked for opportunities to positively impact others.
For example, she founded the “dental delivery” corporation SpringRock Dental Inc., a concept that increased access to quality oral health care in underserved communities and provided an inclusive and equitable patient experience for Medicaid patients.
Ross also created and founded Youth United University (YUU), a virtual summer learning cohort whose mission is to cultivate a spirit of anti-racism, systemic change and activism for middle school youth in grades six through eight. Fifty-three kids graduated from the program in its inaugural summer cohort, and it then expanded to a school-based curriculum with more than 100 students graduating. In summer 2021, YUU expanded its school-based program to more public schools.
As CEO of Simone D. Ross Consulting, Ross builds strategies to operationalize equity within corporate firms. She sees equity and inclusivity as not just a corporate culture shift, but an operations strategy that has to be optimized through people, process and performance. Ross’ firm supports businesses in designing a new architecture that focuses on collaboration, belonging and relations.
Ross has served as the chair of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado luncheon and, noting that a key barrier to advancement is access to a sponsorship network, she started the Black Womxn’s Sponsorship Network with other colleagues to ensure a seat at the table for women of color, and to support businesses as they build their talent pipeline.