Linda Childears Named CEO of Daniels Fund
Linda Childears Named President of Daniels Fund
 

May 9, 2005 -- Denver, CO – Daniels Fund Board of Directors today unanimously approved Linda Childears as the Fund’s new President and CEO.  Childears will replace former U.S. Senator Hank Brown, who will assume the presidency at the University of Colorado this summer. 

Childears has been a member of the Fund Board since it was created in 2000.  Since then, she has served as Vice Chairman of the Board, member of the Investment Committee and Chairman of the Grants and Scholarship Committee.  She will take on her new responsibilities on Aug. 1.

“We are very excited about this transition,” said John Saeman, Chairman of the Board.   “Linda has been a very strong member of our Board. She guided the development of both our Grants Policy and Scholarship Policy.   Bill was very proud of the Young Americans Bank and Linda’s leadership there.  He appointed Linda as a Trustee of his Estate and Board Member of the Daniels Fund.  I’m sure Bill is smiling down on us today.” 

Childears also serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Daniels College of Business and a Board Member of the Cableland Home Foundation, which manages Bill Daniels former home which he gave to the City of Denver.

Childears is currently the CEO of the Young Americans Bank and Young Americans Center for Financial Education.  The bank was founded by Bill Daniels in 1987 and Childears has been the CEO since then.  “Bill created a bank to cater exclusively to young people to teach them what a remarkable financial system we have in America and how to be a responsible participant.  I, like hundreds of others who worked with Bill Daniels, admired and adored him,” Childears said.   I have dedicated the past eighteen years to assuring that his legacy at Young Americans continues and have loved every day there.  Moving to the Fund will be the most natural thing I can imagine.” 

Childears brings executive experience in both business and nonprofit management, having served as a Chief Executive for the past 22 years.   She has served the banking industry as Chairman of the American Bankers Association Education Foundation and as a member of the boards of the Colorado Bankers Association, Colorado Student Loan Program and the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado.

Childears has been an active member of the Denver community for years having served on the boards of the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Denver Chamber Foundation, United Way, Cherry Creek Arts Festival and Cherry Creek Business Improvement District.  She has served on many local non-profit boards, including Denver Public Schools Foundation, Alliance for Choice in Education, Junior Achievement, Colorado Jump$tart Coalition, and DU’s Bridge Project.  She was involved with Camp Fire for over 30 years and chaired the local board and the national board for six years.  She served for four years as the Chair of the National Assembly, an association of over 60 major nationwide health and human service organizations such as Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way of America, Boy Scouts, Volunteers of America, and Points of Light Foundation.

The Fund was established in 1997 by Bill Daniels, a pioneer in cable television known for his kindness and generosity to those in need.  When he died in 2000, his $1 billion estate transferred to the Fund, making it the largest foundation in the Rocky Mountain Region. 

In 2005, the Fund will award a projected $31.1 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in the areas of Aging, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Amateur Sports, Disabilities, Education, Homeless and Disadvantaged and Youth Development. In April, the Daniels Fund named 220 new “Daniels Scholars,” students from low income families who will receive full “unmet need” scholarships to any college or university in the United States to which they are accepted. The announcement brings the total number of Daniels Scholars to more than 700.

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