We are excited and honored to have Susana Cordova and Eric Duran serve as honorary co-chairs of this year’s One Epic Night. Susana and Eric are the parents of one DPS graduate and one current DPS high school student and have each and together worked to build community and bring people together. We’re thankful for their contributions and support.
Susana Cordova. Photo Courtesy Denver Public Schools
Susana Cordova
Susana is the Superintendent of Denver Public Schools where she brings more than 20 years of experience to DPS, serving as a teacher or school leader at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
She is a lifelong Denver resident who believes in the power of our schools to transform our city: “Schools are the great equalizer in our society. We must help create opportunities for all children by meeting them where they are and helping them grow and achieve at high levels.”
Susana is a DPS graduate who began her teaching career as a bilingual teacher at Horace Mann Middle School, teaching English and Spanish in a dual language program. From there, she moved to West High School, where she was taught both English and English as a Second Language, and was recruited for the DPS Leadership Academy. She served as assistant principal at Bryant-Webster Elementary for a year before becoming principal of Remington Elementary, a school with a 95% poverty rate.
While at Remington, Susana helped the school develop a comprehensive school-wide Title I plan and lead the school to implement a visionary program of integrated literacy instruction. While she was the principal, Remington experienced a gain of over 33 percent over four years on the state reading assessment. In 2002, she was recruited to the district level to broaden her impact.
Susana received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Denver, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction/education administration from the University of Colorado, and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate in education by the University of Denver.
Eric Duran. Photo courtesy D.A. Davidson & Co.
Eric Duran
Eric is the Managing Director, Public Finance Banker for Fixed Income Capital Markets of D.A. Davidson & Co.. Eric provides financial advisory services and bond financing to schools, municipalities and affordable housing developers, both private and nonprofit. He has worked in the municipal finance business for more than 15 years. In 2002, he served as the State of Colorado’s financial adviser on two note offerings that totaled $1 billion, the largest note offerings in Colorado’s history at the time. He also has worked on a number of other notable financings, including the Denver Convention Center Hotel and the State of Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program.
Eric is known in Denver’s business community for his creative approach to finance capital improvements. He has shared his financial expertise in the nonprofit community through board service on a number of 501(c)(3) organizations. He has served the City and County of Denver on the St. Anthony Redevelopment Task Force, the Neighborhood Small Bond Project Committee and Denver’s Library Commission. Eric currently serves on the Board of Directors of Denver Health and co-chairs the Finance Committee. He also serves on the Colorado Children’s Campaign Board. Duran was the recipient of the 9NEWS Business Leader in the Year in 2010.
Eric holds a master’s of public administration from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College. He is a Woodrow Wilson fellow and was selected as a Presidential Management Intern. Eric has run nine marathons and has been a team member in the 170-mile Colorado Outward Bound Relay.
One Epic Night is Swallow Hill Music’s annual fundraiser for our Community Outreach Programs. This year’s One Epic Night takes place on Saturday, May 18 from 6-10 p.m. at our Yale Avenue location. Complete event details and tickets can be found here.