Maria Hannon

Maria’s specialty is people. As a human resources (HR) professional for more than 20 years and a counselor working with women and families before that, she blends her background in counseling with her many responsibilities to the employees at the Foundation. She believes an organization is only at its best through its people.

She is endowed with the important task of caring for our Foundation employees, so that they in turn take the best possible care of the organization. She believes this tightly interwoven relationship is crucial to the success of every organization and every individual.

Maria has built her career around mission-driven organizations with which she personally connects. It’s why she joined the Foundation in 2014 and also why she takes an innovative approach to empowering our employees. This is not your grandma’s HR, she admits.

Maria makes time to care for herself in many ways, including workouts, quiet time and hanging out with close friends and family. She’s an expert at both hiking high mountains and binge-watching good TV. You’ll also find her roaming Denver’s world-class museums to view fine art, including the only collection of Konovalenko sculptures on display outside of Moscow at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

She has a silly side, too. (“Oh, why not?” she says.) This people person is driven by all the wonderful and weird things that make us unique and human.

Education

BS Family and Environmental Resources and Psychology — Northwest Missouri State University

Certification in Professional Mediation — University of Denver

Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) Certification — Human Resources Certification Institute

Society for Human Resources Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) — Society for Human Resources Management