Born and raised in Colorado, Charles S. Gilford III is a leader of social change and innovation. He is a thought provoking social advocate in the Denver metro area that is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and do the work to make our community a better place for all.
Charles earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management, Human Resources and International Business from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he served over 33,000 students as one of the youngest student body presidents in the University’s history. After university, Charles spent several years leading and serving at Fortune 28 media giant Comcast in their corporate talent and human resources division.
Charles currently serves the City and County of Denver as the Deputy Director of Council Relations and Special Projects in the Mayor’s Office to Mayor Michael B. Hancock. In this role, he partners with the Executive and Legislative branch in Denver, manages several projects including a project to improve prompt payment of $3.45 billion dollars in city spending, and is driving a project to shift departments from line item budgets to program based budgeting systems to ensure maximum impact and departmental output. He also works to enhance equity-based initiatives to ensure meaningful outcomes departmentally and citywide; particularly, for small businesses, minority owned businesses, and women owned businesses.
Additionally, he serves as the Western Region Vice President for the National Urban League Young Professionals. Charles is also the Executive Pastor at The Potter’s House of Denver, an Executive Board Member for the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation, Commissioner and Chair for the Human Relation Commission for the City of Aurora, and former Chairman of the Denver African American Philanthropists. He is alumnus of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Leadership Denver program and member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.
Most importantly, Charles is a loving and devoted husband to his beloved wife Rikki and proud father to his darling daughter Liliana. He enjoys reading, watching documentaries, listening to old presidential debates, studying business and history, connecting and engaging in healthy dialogues with friends, colleagues and strangers and he is currently learning how to play the guitar.