Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame names Class of 2027

The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame announced 11 inductees for its Class of 2027 on July 22, 2026, during Colorado’s 150th year of statehood. The class includes founder M.L. Hanson and will be honored at the Hall’s gala on March 26, 2027.

Why it matters: - The Class of 2027 adds 11 women whose work shaped Colorado in education, health care, science, public service, media, law and community leadership. - The announcement comes during Colorado’s 150th anniversary of statehood, giving the class added historical weight. - The Hall will also honor founder M.L. Hanson, tying the induction to the organization’s origins more than four decades ago.

What happened: - The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame announced the Class of 2027 on July 22, 2026, at IMA Financial Group in Denver. - The new class brings the Hall’s total to 205 recognized women. - The 2027 theme is “Dream Big.” - The inductees will be formally honored at the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Gala on March 26, 2027. - Businesses, organizations and community leaders are invited to support the gala through sponsorships, corporate tables and attendance.

The details: - Janine Davidson, PhD, is a former Air Force pilot and the first woman to fly the tactical C-130. She later served as the 32nd Under Secretary of the U.S. Navy and has led Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2017. - Lucille EchoHawk, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation, has spent more than four decades advancing Native American child welfare and philanthropy. She co-founded the Denver Indian Center, the Denver Indian Family Resource Center and Native Americans in Philanthropy. - M.L. Hanson founded the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984 after breaking barriers as Assistant Vice President at United Bank of Denver. She later led nonprofit organizations and the Women’s Leadership Foundation. - Florence Hernández-Ramos founded Denver’s KUVO jazz public radio station and became the nation’s first Latina president and general manager of a jazz public radio station. She later co-founded the Latino Public Radio Consortium. - Rebecca Love Kourlis, a former Colorado Supreme Court Justice, founded the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver and became a national leader in court reform. - Leslie Leinwand, PhD, is a molecular biologist at the University of Colorado Boulder whose research advanced understanding of inherited heart disease and cardiovascular health. She co-founded Myogen and MyoKardia. - Margaret A. “Peggy” Lemone, PhD, was the first woman to become a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. Her research focused on the planetary boundary layer and tropical convection. - Donna Lynne, DrPH, served as Colorado’s 49th lieutenant governor and first chief operating officer before becoming CEO of Denver Health. She led the successful 2024 ballot measure that secured the future of Colorado’s largest safety-net health system. - Gail Schwartz served two terms in the Colorado State Senate and sponsored the BEST Act to fund rural school construction. She also served as a University of Colorado Regent and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley. - Diane T. Wendt was the University of Denver’s first director of women’s athletics and a national advocate for Title IX. She also served on the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force. - Joyce Porter Arneill co-founded the National Federation of Republican Women and served as its first president. She also organized Colorado’s Independent Coalition of American Women and won the state’s first women’s open golf championship. - Betty Jennings helped establish legal, licensed nurse-midwifery in Colorado. She founded the University of Colorado’s faculty midwifery practice and launched its nurse-midwifery education program. - Marcy Morrison was the first woman elected to the Manitou Springs School Board and later served as an El Paso County commissioner, state representative, mayor of Manitou Springs and Colorado insurance commissioner.

Between the lines: - The class mixes contemporary leaders with historical figures, signaling an effort to connect current leadership with the state’s longer civic history. - Several inductees broke firsts in their fields, including aviation, journalism, public radio, athletics and state government. - The Hall is using the “Dream Big” theme to frame the inductions as both recognition and a call to future leadership. - The inclusion of founder M.L. Hanson reinforces the Hall’s own institutional legacy at the same time it spotlights individual achievement.

What’s next: - The Hall will celebrate the inductees at the March 26, 2027 gala. - Sponsorships, corporate tables and public attendance are open as the organization builds toward the event. - More information is available through the Hall’s LinkedIn page, Instagram account and Facebook page.

The bottom line: - Colorado’s 2027 Hall of Fame class is both a celebration of women who changed the state and a reminder that the Hall’s legacy now spans generations.