Jack Finlaw is the President and CEO of the University of Colorado Foundation, a position he has held since November 2014. The CU Foundation is the portal for philanthropic giving to the University of Colorado with over $3 billion in assets under management, including CU’s $2 billion endowment. Jack oversees the Foundation’s business operations, and he leads the development and execution of the Foundation’s strategic priorities in concert with the Foundation’s board of directors. Jack works closely with CU’s leadership and assures the Foundation’s alignment with CU’s philanthropic priorities.  

Before he joined the Foundation, Jack spent more than a decade in public service. He was chief legal counsel to Governor John Hickenlooper from 2011 until 2014. Jack held several senior government positions with the City and County of Denver between 2003 and 2011, including serving as director of Denver’s Theatres and Arenas Division (Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Colorado Convention Center and the Denver Coliseum) and as chief of staff to the mayor. Prior to his public sector career, Jack was a corporate lawyer in the cable television industry for 20 years.

Jack has significant experience as a community leader. He has chaired the boards of Visit Denver, Opera Colorado and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Jack currently is a member of the boards of Colorado Public Radio and Visit Denver. He is a mayoral appointee to the Denver County Court Judicial Nominating Commission and a gubernatorial appointee to the Colorado Creative Industries Council. In the past, Jack has served on the boards of the Colorado Symphony, the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation and St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral.

Jack is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the University of Denver’s College of Law.