Summer Gathercole

Summer Gathercole excels at doing things that people think are impossible: She recently led Governor Polis’ initiative to reform Colorado’s behavioral health system. Many people said it couldn’t be done because there has been a myriad of efforts to reform Colorado’s system over the past two decades. But it was done under Summer’s leadership. Summer and the Behavioral Health Task Force, comprised of 120 members, delivered their Blueprint to Governor Polis in September 2020 and he immediately asked them to start implementation. The recommendations are currently being executed and Colorado is well positioned to be the state in the U.S. that has a comprehensive behavioral health system for all people. 

Despite graduating with a degree in accounting and attaining her CPA license, Summer heard a calling to join the nonprofit sector, and began working full-time directly with unemployed and underemployed to prepare them to (re)enter the workforce. She has founded and launched a nonprofit organization, served at the “state” Secretary of Labor for Washington, DC, and consulted to organizations of all sizes across the U.S. Summer was listed in Washingtonian magazine as one of the “40 People Under 40 to Watch.” She is an alumna of the 21/64 training on how to engage the next generation of philanthropists. Her work has been published in PR News’ Corporate Social Responsibility Guidebook.