Staff
Meet the Folks Running Colorado Water Congress
Chané Polo
Executive Director
chane@cowatercongress.org
Chané Polo was raised on a horse farm in the outskirts of Venice, Italy, until the age of 15 before moving to the family Ranch in Paris, Texas. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian, and holds dual citizenship (British and American). Chané obtained her B.A. in Plan II Honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 2011. There, she was also awarded the Dedman Distinguished Scholars Scholarship Award. In December 2015, Chané received both her M.A. and J.D. in Environment and Natural Resources with an Energy concentration from the University of Wyoming. Her Master's Thesis, Cargo Ship Emissions: Weaknesses of the Current International Regulatory Framework and a Prescription for the Future, analyzed the global ship emissions framework, scrutinized its three main weaknesses, and prescribed a way to modify the framework to reduce harmful ship emissions. In April 2016, Chané began working at the Colorado Water Congress, and is now the Executive Director. Her growing roles at CWC have enabled her to strengthen her passion for advocacy and water. Chané sat on the Board of the Ditch and Reservoir Company Alliance, and is a member of the State Executives Council of the National Water Resources Association.
AnnaLee Taylor
Member Services Manager
ataylor@cowatercongress.org
AnnaLee Taylor is an accomplished administrative professional with over twenty years of experience in various water agencies and associations. Her diverse skill set includes member services, meeting planning, website and graphic design, video editing, accounting, and office management.
AnnaLee began her career in the water sector in Washington State, working at the state association level, and later expanded her experience with a county board and a regional association. She has also worked at the national association level while in Washington, DC. She fosters professional relationships and is dedicated to streamlining processes and maximizing efficiency to ensure responsible stewardship of our vital natural resources.
Outside of her professional life, AnnaLee is a proud mother of three adult children and a grandmother to seven. She and her husband share a passion for travel, having recently explored the beauty of Italy, including Venice, Tuscany, and Rome.
Penny Pfeiff
Operations Manager
penny@cowatercongress.org
Coming Soon!
Sara Fraser
Government Affairs Manager
sara@cowatercongress.org
Coming Soon!
Blair Carpenter
Communications Coordinator blair@cowatercongress.org
Blair comes to the Colorado Water Congress from a unique place, but is excited to be here nonetheless! Blair's purview is anything communication - social media, email, website, press releases - that's all Blair.
Blair has an extensive marketing and communications background, starting in the arts nonprofit space, and more recently worked with a marketing agency supporting a wide variety of non-profit and for-profit businesses. Most recently, Blair's work has focused on search engine optimization and the technical side of digital marketing, though she has nearly a decade of experience in social media management.
She's excited to bring her expertise to raising the profile of the dedicated entities advocating for water access and water policy in Colorado. Additionally, she's ready to bring more voices into the conversation around water.
Before working in marketing, Blair obtained bachelor of arts and master of music degrees in classical voice (AKA opera) from Colorado State University and Georgia State University, respectively. She still sings and acts professionally in the Denver metro area (and occasionally non-professionally at karaoke).
Erin Hartlein
Member Services Coordinator
erin@cowatercongress.org
Erin is thrilled to take on the role of Member Services Coordinator at the Colorado Water Congress. Erin’s main responsibilities are to support the membership through signing up and/or changing organizational members, annual billing, tracking membership revenue and reporting up to leadership monthly and as requested. She will facilitate all registrations as well as provide onsite logistical support for the CWC team and membership for both conferences. Erin will provide supportive administrative contributions both to the membership and the internal CWC team.
Erin most recently completed 6 years of participation on the Mountain Phoenix Community School board, the final three serving as board chair. In this key role at a non-profit Jeffco charter school she collaboratively led the three main charges to uphold the mission & vision of the school, sustain healthy financials of the 5-million-dollar budget and provide oversight for the school’s directors.
Erin is looking forward to learning more about the CO water community and is already fascinated by the large (and growing!) as well as tight-knit water community. She continues to be enamored by the non-profit sector and appreciates the all-hands-on-deck thrill of pitching in for a positive end-result.
Don West
Member Relations
don@cowatercongress.org
Don is deeply involved with the Colorado water community, with a current focus on member relations and outreach at the Colorado Water Congress. He engages directly with members at their facilities and events, building connections across the state.
For more than 20 years, Don worked on instream flow water rights, substitute water supply plans, and water court cases at the Department of Natural Resources, serving with the Colorado State Engineer’s Office, Division of Water Resources, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. As a licensed professional engineer, he has testified as an expert witness in water court trials and depositions, authored numerous expert reports for trial, prepared the Colorado Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI), and served on the Colorado Drought Task Force. He has also delivered CLE presentations on water administration to the Colorado water law bar and presented at professional forums for DWR and CWCB.
Growing up, he helped his grandfather irrigate hay fields on his cattle ranch, which led him to understand water’s critical role in meeting both agricultural and urban needs.