Mary joined the Board in 2010 after graduating from the 20th class of CILT and became the Executive Director in 2011. Mary comes to the public policy side of life from a background of the arts and education. With an undergraduate in English Literature and Art History, Mary began a Master's degree in education and ended up as the children's book buyer at the Tattered Cover Book Store advocating for the importance of children's literature and anti-censorship.
Politics was always the wallpaper which grew dark and dreary as we moved into the 21st century, and Mary first became politically active in the Referenda C & D campaign to untangle Colorado’s budget woes. Mary has since worked on numerous campaigns and served as district officer in the Democratic Party. Mary is eager to bring CILT’s signature experience to many of our future leaders.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Monica Rosenbluth (CILT 2004)
An attorney by training, Monica Rosenbluth practiced special district and public finance law before going to work for the Higher Education Access Alliance as their business organizer. Monica currently serves on the board of the Rocky Mountain Region of the Anti-Defamation League and is a graduate of numerous public policy and leadership courses, including the Bighorn Leadership Development Program and the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training.
Monica is a regular participant in programs like the Denver Bar Association’s Constitution Day teaching program and the Denver Bar Association/Denver Public Schools substitute teaching program, and has been a moderator for the University of Phoenix/National Association of Women MBAs Women in Action series. Monica also presents the occasional Continuing Legal Education course. Monica grew up in Denver, Colorado and she and her family live near City Park.
Julie Kronenberger (Community Member)
Julie joined the Board in October 2010 after five years of helping CILT with catering, fundraising, marketing and recruitment. After the board agreed to add community leaders it was only fitting that Julie become the first non-alumni board member.
Julie is a Colorado native and has lived all over the state. She was born in Littleton, spent junior high in Lakewood, high school in Steamboat Springs and earned her bachelor's degree in Fine Art from The Colorado College in Colorado Springs. In 2002 Julie met CILT alum Jill Conrad ('00), and in 2004 then brand-new CILT alum Cindy Lowery. Julie helped Jill win a very tough Denver School Board race in 2005, began volunteering with Cindy for the Democratic Party of Denver, and has helped lead others to their true calling, both as elected officials and progressive community leaders. Between all of that, her job as a Paralegal, and working on Colorado Bar Association events, Julie learned that she had a knack for event coordination, fundraising and marketing. She is proud to give those skills to CILT to help ensure another 20 years of success.
Ken Bennett (CILT 2009)
Originally from Ohio, Ken visited Colorado at age 13 and made the decision that he would someday live in our beautiful state. He got his chance when granted a graduate teaching assistantship at Colorado State University in education administration. Ken then worked as a teacher, principal and district level administrator in both the Greeley and Loveland public school systems. During his career in education he also did consulting and training at the local, state and national levels in instructional strategies, juvenile delinquency prevention and education leadership.
Ken has had a lifelong interest in current events and has been involved in many political campaigns. Ken ran for election to the Colorado House of Representatives in District 51 in 2008. From 2009 to January of 2011, Ken served as the District Director for Congresswoman Betsy Markey of the 4th Congressional District. Currently Ken is the Director of Colorado Operations for Capitol Partners, Inc., a DC firm that helps businesses, communities and nonprofits secure federal funding and government contracts.
Ken is very excited to serve on the CILT Board as he has a deep and ongoing commitment to developing the next generation of leaders for our society.
Barb Parnell (CILT 2004)
Barb joined the Board in May 2011. Barb lives in Denver and grew up in Laramie, Wyoming. Barb works for Pearson Learning Solutions developing CourseConnect, a Pearson product which provides a full-online curriculum solution to colleges across the nation. Barb is also an adjunct paralegal instructor for Santa Barbara Business College. She has taught online courses in paralegal and criminal justice since 2004. Previously, Barb served as program director of a criminal justice and paralegal college education program and chaired a nationwide criminal justice curriculum committee.
Prior to her career in education, Barb practiced law for eight years as a Public Defender in Wyoming and as a private attorney in Denver, focusing on criminal defense. While working with the Wyoming Public Defender’s Office Barb was co-counsel on two death penalty cases and served on a multi-disciplinary team that established a drug court in Cheyenne. Barb has training in death penalty litigation as well as pertinent sentencing/mitigation issues.
After graduating from CILT Barb became an active leader in the local political community. She volunteered for numerous campaigns and is a former House District 8B Captain and HD8 precinct committee person for the Democratic Party. Barb has served on campaign steering committees for state-level elected positions and as delegate to the party's state convention.
CILT's Staff or Board of Directors can be reached at
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Mary joined the Board in 2010 after graduating from the 20th class of CILT and became the Executive Director in 2011. Mary comes to the public policy side of life from a background of the arts and education. With an undergraduate in English Literature and Art History, Mary began a Master's degree in education and ended up as the children's book buyer at the Tattered Cover Book Store advocating for the importance of children's literature and anti-censorship. 
An attorney by training, Monica Rosenbluth practiced special district and public finance law before going to work for the Higher Education Access Alliance as their business organizer. Monica currently serves on the board of the Rocky Mountain Region of the Anti-Defamation League and is a graduate of numerous public policy and leadership courses, including the Bighorn Leadership Development Program and the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training. 
Julie joined the Board in October 2010 after five years of helping CILT with catering, fundraising, marketing and recruitment. After the board agreed to add community leaders it was only fitting that Julie become the first non-alumni board member. 
Originally from Ohio, Ken visited Colorado at age 13 and made the decision that he would someday live in our beautiful state. He got his chance when granted a graduate teaching assistantship at Colorado State University in education administration. Ken then worked as a teacher, principal and district level administrator in both the Greeley and Loveland public school systems. During his career in education he also did consulting and training at the local, state and national levels in instructional strategies, juvenile delinquency prevention and education leadership.
Barb joined the Board in May 2011. Barb lives in Denver and grew up in Laramie, Wyoming. Barb works for Pearson Learning Solutions developing CourseConnect, a Pearson product which provides a full-online curriculum solution to colleges across the nation. Barb is also an adjunct paralegal instructor for Santa Barbara Business College. She has taught online courses in paralegal and criminal justice since 2004. Previously, Barb served as program director of a criminal justice and paralegal college education program and chaired a nationwide criminal justice curriculum committee.