Mayor-elect Mike Johnston on Friday tapped former Mayor Federico Peña to join the leadership team for his transition committee and state Rep. Leslie Herod to head his inauguration team, building his administration in preparation for taking office in July.

Johnston said the team members are community leaders, each with experience in the five values that will guide his administration: transparency, innovation, collaboration, equity and transformation. Many of them earlier endorsed his campaign for mayor. 

Johnston, a former legislator, defeated Kelly Brough, a former business chamber executive, in the runoff election on June 6. He will succeed term-limited Mayor Michael Hancock at a crucial time in Denver, which faces major challenges, notably a persistent and growing homelessness crisis and the perception of high crime, but also opportunities, in particular the chance to enhance the region’s reputation as a tech hub and solidify its position as an economic powerhouse for Colorado.

Both Peña and Herod are among Johnston’s most prominent backers. Herod, who also ran for mayor in the first phase of the race, threw her support behind Johnston after finishing in fifth place in the April 4 municipal elections. Many credited her endorsement, along with those from other progressive stalwarts, in helping Johnston secure the mayor’s seat.           

Johnston called the transition team “Vibrant Denver,” named for its mission to “build a vibrant Denver that inspires creativity and innovation, promotes inclusivity, collaboration, and transparency, and provides opportunity for all.” 

The committee also includes executive director Ami Desai, an educator and executive; Herod, who serves as inauguration chair; and co-chairs Makisha Boothe, Kourtny Garrett, Greg Moore, state Sen. Julie Gonzalez and Peña.

“We want to make sure that this is a city that hears everybody, that represents everybody and that includes everybody,” Johnston said.

Peña said the team reflects the ideas and talent the city needs to move forward successfully. 

“Look at their diversity, but more importantly, look at their talents, look at their backgrounds,” Peña said. “That’s precisely the kind of transition team you need.”

The transition will have 28 committees for “what we think are major issues facing the city,” Johnston said.

The three largest committees will focus on homelessness, partnership with Denver Public Schools and migrants arriving in the city.

Additional committees will focus on mental health, employee voice, labor relations, community wellbeing and neighborhood safety. 

Community members can apply to join the volunteer transition committees on the Vibrant Denver website. 

“There will be obstacles in our path, but working with our new mayor, I know that we can forge a future that is not defined by those constraints of the past,” said Gonzalez. “We can be imaginative, we can be creative and together we can build a future that is guided by our boundless potential.”

Meet Johnston’s transition committee and inauguration leader:

Ami Desai, executive director

Desai joins Johnston’s team from a career of “serving and supporting historically excluded communities both as an educator, as an entrepreneur, as a foundation leader, as an expert at really bringing together diverse voices at the table to make sure everyone is heard,” Johnston said. 

Desai has over two decades of executive experience in transforming the educational landscape, according to her profile on Gary Community Ventures‘ website. She is the company’s current chief operating officer and will take an unpaid leave of absence while she works on Johnston’s committee.

Desai is the first woman of color to lead a transition team in Denver, Johnston said, saying his team looked back 50 years and didn’t find a counterpoint. 

Leslie Herod, inauguration chair

Herod, who was elected in 2016 as the first LGBTQ African American in the General Assembly, has passed more than 150 bills. She championed Caring for Denver, Colorado’s largest mental health foundation, and shepherded grants to organizations providing mental health and substance misuse services to adults and youth in Denver, according to Vibrant Denver. 

“She has been an amazing catalyst and leader in this idea of a vibrant Denver, activating the creatives and the artists and the visionaries who build the parts of the city that we love the most,” Johnston said. “She is going to build something incredible for us to be able to celebrate the spirit of what Denver is and what Denver can become.”

Greg Moore, co-chair

Moore spent 14 years as editor of The Denver Post. As someone who has been a media leader, Moore has experience in “making sure the government and the city is transparent, open and communicating clearly with all of the members of our community,” Johnston said. 

In his time with the Post, Moore won four consecutive Pulitzer Prizes, including for coverage of the Aurora theater shootings. His journalism career has spanned over 40 years, according to his profile on Boettcher Foundation‘s website. 

Kourtny Garrett, co-chair

Garrett is the current CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, a non-profit organization that is the “leading voice for private sector business in Downtown Denver,” according to its website. 

Garrett is “working hard to make sure businesses all across the downtown area are collaborating to deliver results for the city,” Johnston said. 

Makisha Boothe, co-chair

Boothe is the founder and CEO of Sistahbiz, a business incubator that provides Black women business owners with affordable resources to grow. She also co-founded and led the Denver Public Schools Innovation Lab and was honored in 2021 as one of the Top 25 Women in Business by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce. 

“She has been an innovator throughout her career both in the public sector as a startup leader, as a community and civic activist, but really as someone who has looked at very hard problems and found innovative ways to solve them and bring creative solutions to her community,” Johnston said. 

Sen. Julie Gonzales, co-chair

“There is no more strong or more effective voice for equity in the city and in the state than Julie Gonzalez,” Johnston said. 

Gonzalez is currently a state senator who represents north, west and downtown Denver. In the past decade, Gonzalez helped “build the movement to defend and advance immigrant rights across Colorado,” according to Vibrant Denver. 

Federico Peña, co-chair

Peña, the former mayor of Denver and former secretary of transportation and secretary of energy under President Clinton, “embodies the concept of transformation,” Johnston said. 

Peña led the building of Denver International Airport, the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, a new Convention Center and Downtown Library. He created the Lower Downtown Historic District (LODO) and brought the Colorado Rockies to Denver. 

Peña was a member of both Clinton and Obama’s transition teams. 

Johnston will take office July 17.