The Board

Lola Salazar received a B.A. in Elementary Education from Metropolitan State College, and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado at Denver. She taught in Jefferson County, the largest school district in Colorado, for eight years.

She then became involved with her husband’s companies and investments. They own several types of real estate projects and businesses. Their most recent venture was purchasing Denver’s well-know Regency Hotel off of I-25.  They have developed it into the first student housing community for students attending Auraria Campus.

In 1999, Lola and her husband established The Salazar Family Foundation.  She serves as President of this non-profit organization and runs the day-to-day operations.  The Salazar Family Foundation is a supporting foundation and its mission is to assist in the growth and development of other educational non-profit organizations. 

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Rob Salazar started his career as a certified public accountant and formed his own CPA and consulting firm, Salazar & Solomon, P.C., at the age of 26. He grew his firm, maintaining multiple offices around the country and received national recognition for his firm's specialization in the healthcare reimbursement field, providing consulting services to hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and other healthcare providers.

Mr. Salazar later formed Solomon Health Group, LLC, a Denver-based healthcare management company that grew to manage, own or control several businesses that generated over $300 million a year in revenues before Mr. Salazar sold his interest in 2000 in a private transaction. Mr. Salazar currently spends most of his time managing his and his family's personal investment portfolio, which includes a variety of business interests and significant commercial real estate holdings.

In 1999, Mr. Salazar and his wife, Lola Salazar, formed the Salazar Family Foundation, a non-profit, 501c(3) organization, to support educational causes throughout the Denver metropolitan area.

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Michael Barela is President and Portfolio Manager of Cordillera Asset Management. He co-founded Cordillera Asset Management in 1991 and has over 23 years of experience in the financial services industry, including research analysis, stock selection, trading, investment strategy development, and portfolio management. Prior to founding Cordillera, Mr. Barela was employed by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Company, Dain Rauscher Wessels, and Hanifen Imhoff.

As President of Cordillera, Mr. Barela chairs the Board of Directors and coordinates the growth and development of the firm.  He oversees Cordillera’s strategic business plan and is involved with all day-to-day management decisions of the firm. As Portfolio Manager, Mr. Barela manages all aspects of the firm's Small Cap Growth portfolio. He chairs the Investment Committee, which consists of himself, the firm's fundamental research analysts, and the equity trader. On a day-to-day basis, Mr. Barela oversees the formulation of investment ideas, the implementation of fundamental analysis and due diligence, and the execution of buy-sell decisions.

Mr. Barela earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. He has been a member of the Salazar Family Foundation Board since 2000, supporting public education programs in the Denver area. Mr. Barela has also been a member of the board of the Latin American Educational Foundation since 1998, including one term as its president.

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Barbara Berv is President and CEO of Denver Public Schools Foundation. She is responsible for the overall management, planning, and leadership of the organization. Prior to DPS Foundation, she worked 25 years in the non-profit sector in Denver, including Senior Philanthropic Planner for The Denver Foundation as well as top development and fundraising positions at Young Americans Education Foundation, Young Americans Bank, and Special Olympics of Colorado. Before joining the non-profit sector, she was a marketing manager with U.S. West.

A Denver native, Ms. Berv graduated from Denver Public Schools and parented three DPS graduates.  Through the years, she has volunteered and held offices with the Parent Teacher Associations at Carson Elementary School, Hill Middle School, Manual High School, and East High School.  She even received her teaching certification at Colorado State University and student-taught at Hill Middle School.  Although she did not ultimately pursue a teaching career, she is passionate about public education and believes that her children received great benefits while at DPS, both in academic excellence and experiencing a richly diverse student population. 

Ms. Berv is a current board member with the Colorado Ethics in Business Alliance and previously served on the board of Rotary Club of Denver.

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Since 1994, Mona Sandoval has served as the Executive Director of the non-profit Jefferson Foundation, the oldest K-12 public education foundation in Colorado. She has worked diligently to increase the visibility and revenue of the Foundation through community partnerships and strategic alliances that have provided over $6 million in funding for programs and projects in Jeffco Public Schools.

Ms. Sandoval has served on the board of the FlatIron Crossing’s Music and Arts Foundation and currently serves on the advisory committees for Serving Kids (a clothing program for Jeffco students in need), and the West Chamber, serving Jefferson County’s Links for Learning and Youth Leadership programs. Ms. Sandoval is the Chair and a founding member of the Colorado School Foundation Association.

As a member of the Jefferson County Kiwanis, Ms. Sandoval has supported their mission of “Serving the Children of the World” through her volunteer efforts for programs impacting children and young adults in the metro community. Ms. Sandoval has received recognition for her work, including the Phi Delta Kappa Service Award, and acknowledgments from the Jefferson County Administrators’ Association, Jeffco Council PTA, DECA and was named as one of the West Chamber’s 2006 Outstanding Women in Jefferson County.

Ms. Sandoval has served on the board of the Salazar Family Foundation since August 2003.

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