Jason brings over 25 years of experience leading high-impact organizations, including the National Park Foundation and The Trust for Public Land.

Just prior to joining the Telluride Foundation in 2022, Jason served as Vice President of The National Park Foundation where he helped manage and guide strategies around protecting and preserving resources at America’s more than 400 national parks. He is passionate about protecting and sustaining close-to-home quality of life opportunities for rural communities as well as honoring and amplifying diverse constituents within those communities.

Jason brings to his work extensive experience negotiating complex community-based projects and is an able communicator, a skill honed from years of working with a wide variety of philanthropic donors, community leaders, local, state, and federal officials. Jason holds a BS in Biology & Chemistry from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He earned his MS in Environmental Science from the University of Texas.

Jason was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas and prior to relocating to Telluride, Jason and his wife, Jennifer, raised three kids in Denver. His other priorities in life involve maintaining healthy skiing and fishing habits while trying to keep his streak of visiting every Major League Ballpark alive.

April is our Vice President of Programs. She has been with the Foundation since 2000 managing our nonprofit building capacity efforts, grant program and initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, April had a consulting business, where she provided nonprofit and government organizations with grant writing, legal, project management, strategic planning and land use planning assistance. She was a planner and the Open Space & Recreation Director for San Miguel County from 1991 to 1999. She has a BA degree in Government from the University of Virginia and received her law degree from the University of Virginia in 1989; she is currently a member of the Colorado Bar.

Susie Schaefer joined the Telluride Foundation as the Finance Director in June 2000. She is responsible for all aspect of managing finance including accounting policies and procedures, financial reporting and cash management.

Elaine arrived in Telluride in 1990. Her professional career began at the Peaks Hotel and Spa where she served first as the hotel’s Director of Management Information Systems and then as Director of Conference Services. In 2000 she founded Telluride Experience where, in addition to organizing corporate and social events, she served as Program Director for the Telluride Wine festival (2002- 2005) as well as founded the Telluride Yoga Festival. In addition to her professional endeavors, Elaine and her husband, Damon have raised two children in the Telluride community. Elaine served as Executive Director of Telluride Academy, serving over 900 local and visiting students annually from 2010 until joining the Telluride Foundation in May of 2017. She serves as the Foundation’s Vice President of Initiatives.

Prior to her work with The Chang Chavkin Scholars Program, an initiative of the Telluride Foundation, Valene worked for 21 years as a school social worker and school guidance counselor in a variety of roles including college counselor, academic advisor, mental health counselor, and health and wellness coordinator. Valene is also a licensed clinical social worker and has provided services for Hospice, Denver Family Court and the Department of Health and Human Services. Valene and her husband John are raising their two boys, Jack and Isaac, in Ridgway, CO.

Karen Byrom joins the Telluride Foundation as Financial Controller after 18 years of banking in Telluride, CO. Most recently, she was the Community President and Business Banking Center Manager at Community Banks of Colorado and previously a Commercial Lender with Vectra Bank. Karen enjoys working with the community and local kids to make Telluride a better place. She is an active Rotary member, leading the Dictionary distribution for the literacy initiative for the past 8 years. She is a past Telluride Youth Soccer Club board member and Telluride Accountability co-Chair. Karen moved to Telluride following a joint Mathematics and Physics B.S. degree from Middlebury College and fell in love with Telluride. She has lived “down valley” for the past 30 years with her husband, Cedric, and raised 2 girls. Karen loves hiking, boating, skiing and anything that involves the outdoors and family.

Bonnie Watson joined the Foundation in December of 2018 as the Telluride Venture Network’s Capital and Transaction Advisor helping regional startup companies and small businesses secure capital. Today, Bonnie is the Managing Director of TVN managing their mentor network, bootcamps, regional loan fund and venture fund. A Colorado native, Bonnie graduated from Colorado Mesa University with a B.A. in Finance and later received a Master’s degree in Finance from Colorado State University.

Previously, Watson worked in the finance industry as a portfolio lender and taught finance at Colorado Mesa University. Bonnie and her husband Brian are the proud parents of Eva Watson, born on July 8, 2022.

Annemarie Jodlowski joined the Foundation in 2021 and serves as Telluride Venture Network’s Network Manager. She brings with her marketing, brand management and business development experience from Baxter Healthcare, Unilever, and Alpine Lodging/Telluride.com. Annemarie holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Most recently she served as the Marketing Manager at Tri-County Health Network, leading the communication and outreach strategy. Annemarie moved to Telluride in 2004 after stints in Tokyo, London and Chicago. While juggling three rambunctious children she participated as a board member of the Telluride Ski Ranches HOA and the Telluride AIDS Benefit. She also served as a Co-Chair of the Telluride School District Accountability Committee and led fundraising efforts for the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club.

Erin joined the Telluride Foundation in fall 2022 as an AmeriCorps VISTA. A native of San Francisco, she received a BA in History from Stanford University and an MPhil in History from the University of Cambridge.

A remote tech job and a love for skiing brought Courtney Groves to Telluride, but her passion for the preservation and flourishing of our beloved county will keep her here.

Courtney has spent her career building client partnerships in tech companies of all stages and sizes. She has worked in many functions within sales and customer success, managing relationships with clients such as Google, Goldman Sachs, Visa, and others. Through her work in the tech industry, she has developed a unique ability to understand others’ challenges and motivate people to invest in change.

Passionate about having an impact locally, Courtney recently joined the Telluride Foundation to translate her business experience into donor engagement work at the Telluride Foundation.

Courtney holds bachelor’s degrees in Finance and Spanish from the University of Arizona. She enjoys skiing, mountain biking, vanilla lattes, and spending time with her dog, Rossignol.

As a new member of The Telluride Foundation as of January, 2023, Elisabeth brings her knowledge and experience as a 30 year Telluride resident and business owner. She is joining the accounting team with a background in bookkeeping and IT. She is passionate about the Telluride community having raised her son here and enjoys everything the mountains have to offer including skiing, hockey and trail running.