Taryn Fort
Taryn is a storyteller at heart. At the Foundation, she leads the Communications team, where she sets the vision for the communications department to advance organizational influence through effective and equitable communications and community engagement. She also co-leads the Foundation’s organizational bilingual strategy and media investing work, along with overseeing programming that advances the nonprofit executive leadership sector. Through all of this work, Taryn is driven by her belief that everyone deserves to be healthy, regardless of economic, social or geographic circumstances. As a communicator, she also believes we have a responsibility to tell the story of Colorado’s health and create a sense of belonging for those the Foundation serves.
Taryn has worked in health-related strategic communications for more than 20 years and has been at the Foundation since 2013. She started her career as a journalist, eventually moving into the corporate health communications sector working for about a decade in New York City at leading communications agencies where she honed her skills in public relations, brand development and marketing. After moving to Denver, she transitioned to the nonprofit sector, working as a marketing and communications director for a national patient advocacy organization that is now part of the American Stroke Association/American Heart Association. She then transitioned to the philanthropic health sector to lead communications at the Foundation.
Having grown up in a rural Kansas community, Taryn appreciates reconnecting to her small-town roots while out on the road in rural Colorado. She especially loves producing community events and engaging directly with Coloradans about their experiences in life. It makes sense that this storyteller’s favorite hobbies include reading historical narratives, short stories and The New Yorker. Never one to stay still for long, Taryn has been an avid runner since the age of 17. On weekends, she strikes a healthy balance — brewery hopping, hiking, being a dance mom, and spending time with her husband, Matt, and daughter, Ginger.
