Nina Lopez
Nina Lopez
Vice President – Strategy and Partnerships
303-736-6477, Ext. 205
Nina Lopez is the Vice President of Strategy and Partnerships at the Colorado Legacy Foundation (CLF). She joined CLF in May 2009 to expand upon the organization’s educator effectiveness efforts.
Currently, Nina is leading CLF’s efforts to cultivate partnerships with local school districts as well as state and national associations, as well as determining how to leverage those partnerships in new and innovative ways to achieve improved outcomes for Colorado students. Until August 2011, Nina also served as the Special Assistant to the Commissioner at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). In that role, she led the State’s work in implementing Senate Bill 10-191, Colorado’s landmark legislation to create a statewide performance evaluation system for public school educators. She is currently directing efforts to support high-quality implementation by local schools and districts of this legislation and is also collaborating with the CDE leadership team responsible for implementing educator effectiveness goals and supports. Nina currently serves as the Commissioner’s designated representative on the State Council for Educator Effectiveness, which is charged with making recommendations to implement a statewide performance evaluation system for Colorado K-12 educators.
Prior to joining CDE and CLF, Lopez served as Vice President of Strategy and Operations for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, providing overall organizational oversight as well as direct supervision of the policy team. She has worked in K-12 education policy since 2003, first as Director of External Affairs for the Colorado League of Charter Schools and then as Policy Director for the Donnell-Kay Foundation. Significant accomplishments in those roles included leading passage of the legislation to create the Charter School Institute as well as the creation of the Trujillo Commission of Online Education. She also co-chaired the education committee for Governor Ritter’s transition team.
Prior to 2003, Nina practiced corporate law for nine years. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature from Harvard-Radcliffe and a Juris Doctorate from Columbia Law School.
Currently, Nina volunteers as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for KIPP Colorado, which operates three Denver charter schools. She previously served as the school’s board president. Nina has been a member since inception of the scholarship committee for the Reisher Scholars Program through the Denver Foundation, which provides college scholarships to first-generation college students who lack the financial means to complete their undergraduate education.
Hometown: New York, NY and Ramey, Puerto Rico
College: Harvard-Radcliffe
Major: Literature
Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird
What would you do if you didn’t have to work? Play with my kids, learn to play piano, and travel.
Favorite Colorado Getaway: I LOVE visiting all of the different parts of CO.
