Lu M. Córdova was appointed by Governor Jared Polis to his cabinet in 2019. She heads the Colorado Department of Revenue and oversees divisions of tax, motor vehicles, lottery and business services (marijuana, liquor, gaming, racing and auto). She is also Chair of CTEK, a global nonprofit breaking down barriers to entrepreneurship worldwide. She remains the Chair of Corlund Industries, L.L.C., a diversified holding company specializing in operations management, strategic planning, business development and capital finance. Corlund Industries also manages the Almacen Storage Group, which provides self-storage and small business warehousing in Mexican resort areas. Córdova holds both US and Mexican citizenship.
Currently she is on the Board of Directors for the Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS), which is the largest cross-border US-Mexican railroad, along with the Panama Canal Railroad. She is a member of Audit and Nominating/Governance committees and chairs the Finance and Strategic Investments Committee.
As a five-time CEO/President, she brings thirty years of experience in navigating companies through start-up phase to maturity and international scope. Córdova was formerly an advisor to the State of Wyoming, serving on their investment committee selection panel. She served with Euronet Worldwide (EEFT), an international payments company, on audit, governance, and compensation committees. Ms. Córdova retired from the 10th District Federal Reserve Bank where she was Chairman of the Board of Directors. She began on the bank’s Economic Advisory Council in 2002 before joining the Board in 2004. Her board strengths are in technology, security, finance, international operations and succession planning.
Formerly, Córdova was the President of the Techstars Foundation, and before that was President of Colorado Venture Centers, which won international recognition and awards as one of the most distinguished business catalysts in the country. Sister organization CTEK Angels, which Córdova founded and chaired, became the largest group of individual investors in the Rocky Mountain States.
Córdova also worked to develop several companies, including Acteva (TixToGo), @Home Network, MMS International, The Center for Economic & Monetary Affairs (CEMA), and Accent Design. Córdova consulted with TixToGo as their Chief Development Officer before becoming CEO, renaming the company Acteva, and growing the e-commerce service for event planners at over 100% per quarter, from concept to revenue production and second-round financing before the company’s sale. As part of the @Home Network original team (later Excite@Home), Córdova co-founded their @Work Division which accounted for 45% of total sales their first year. Córdova then went on to create @Home's Online Services before becoming the principal architect of their business portal, Work.com, with strategic funding she raised from Excite, Dow Jones and AT&T.
Córdova spent ten years in the financial markets, including joint ventures in emerging data networking technologies. She was SVP at MMS International, a start-up she helped to grow in the real-time fixed income analysis area, which was sold to McGraw-Hill. She then became Vice President of Corporate Development with McGraw-Hill’s Standard & Poor's Corporation. She spearheaded Standard & Poor’s drive to deliver financial market analysis on the Internet and authored one of McGraw-Hill’s first studies on Worldwide Internet Security. Previously, Ms. Córdova held the positions of CEO of the Institute for Economic & Monetary Affairs and Executive Editor of the Journal of Economic & Monetary Affairs, now called Geonomics. She worked at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors office conducting empirical research on foreign exchange rate expectations, and for the California State Attorney General.
Córdova was appointed and served for three terms on the Business Research Advisory Council of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. She has been a judge for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, the Boulder County Business Report’s IQ Awards, and for the Colorado Software and Internet Association’s Apex Awards. Córdova has served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Business Economists (NABE) where she chaired their Roundtable Committee, co-founded both Corporate Planning and Technology Roundtables, and was a member of their Economics Education Committee. Córdova also served on the Board of the Silicon Valley Roundtable where she was awarded "Silicon Valley Guru" status. She founded GenXangels in California and CTEK Angels in Colorado.
Córdova attended UC Berkeley with degrees in Political Science and Economics. At Berkeley, she was advanced to doctoral candidacy in the Ph.D. program in economics (all but dissertation), was awarded Rockefeller and AEA scholarships, became President of Students for the Arts, was elected as a lifetime Fellow of the Order of the Golden Bear, and served as Chairman of the Graduate Economics Association. Córdova is a frequent speaker on business management, emerging technology, private equity investing, and entrepreneurial ventures. She has been an expert witness on matters of business development, entrepreneurship and capital finance.