Sixteen Estes Valley Women were recognized Tuesday evening by the Estes Chamber at the fourth annual Women of Impact celebration. The event is sponsored by the Bank of Colorado and supported by Mueller and Pye, CPAs, and The Barrell.
The recipients were nominated by their peers, colleagues, friends, and families as community role models with powerful voices, optimism and persistence, and a strong sense of self-confidence that they instill in others.
The annual event takes place in March near March 8, International Women’s Day, which has been celebrated since 1911 when women organized to work collectively for shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights. Today, International Women’s Day is a global day of awareness to honor women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements and to raise awareness about the ongoing work to achieve gender parity.
The Chamber also hosted the second annual Ready, Set, Grow conference and networking event on Tuesday for women entrepreneurs, featuring speakers Dale Wisher with Larimer County Business Resources, Janine Ledingham with Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development, Karen Jackson and Cato Kraft with the Estes Nonprofit Network, and Kevin Benes, owner of Running Wild Events.
In addition to honoring a class of women, this year the Chamber selected two women for individual awards: Victoria Endsley and Ruby Bode. Both women will each receive a $1,250 award from the Bank of Este Park, which they can designate to a nonprofit in the area.
Victoria Endsley
Victoria Endsley, the owner of Bear and Bee, an artist’s maker space, and the director of programming and marketing for the Whimsadoodle Foundation was honored for her work in promoting the arts in Estes.
Endsley wrote the grant application that secured the state’s designation of Estes Park as a Colorado Creative Districts. The designation was announced in October 2025.
The Colorado Creative Districts program which is an initiative of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade certifies communities that contribute to our state’s economy through creativity, culture, and the arts. The program’s goal is to help communities increase jobs, incomes, and investments in creative places.
To achieve certification, a district must demonstrate local government recognition of the arts, a vibrant concentration of creative organizations and businesses, diverse and sustainable funding sources, dedicated paid staff, and a well-defined strategic plan.
Along with official designation, benefits of the program include financial support for newly certified districts and after being certified for a year or more, access to resources and a learning community among districts, marketing support, Colorado Department of Transportation highway signs and leadership training.
Endsley’s work with the newly formed Whimsadoodle Foundation is helping to bring the late Barb Marshall’s vision of an arts colony to life in Estes. The foundation has acquired several properties in the community that will become arts studio, workshops, and conference settings, classrooms, artist live-work spaces., and performance venues including the Historic Park Theater, the Cleave Street Commons, the Rent-All Building Manford Avenue, and the Wonderful Things house on Moraine Avenue.
Ruby Bode
Estes Park Superintendent of Schools Ruby Body was recognized for her 20 years of service as an educator, mentor, role model, and administrator in the Estes Park School District. Bode announced recently that she will be resigning at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
Christian Kraft, market president and loan officer with the Bank of Colorado in Estes Park presented the award to Bode as both women wiped away tears. Bode has been well-respected and deeply-admired by students, parents, staff, and the community throughout her tenure. She was named superintendent in July 2022.
Bode has focused both parents and staff on improving student attendance, an issue that has become more pressing nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, schools shifted to months of online learning before returning to in-person instruction, creating challenges that many districts are still working to overcome including chronic absenteeism. Defined as missing 10% or more of the school year, chronic absenteeism is closely linked to poor student achievement and lower test scores.
During her tenure, Bode also navigated a proposal from a group of parents interested in establishing a classical charter school. Had the charter effort succeeded, district officials estimated the public schools could have lost 10% of their enrollment and as much as $1.5 million in revenue, as school funding follows the student.
Like many mountain communities, Estes Park Schools have experienced declining enrollment. Over the past decade, student numbers have dropped from 1,153 in 2016 to 917 — a 20.5% decrease. The decline is attributed to several factors, including lower birth rates and the high cost of housing for families in the Estes Valley. Because school funding is tied directly to enrollment, the decline has a direct impact on the district’s budget.
Bode has also led the development of a long-range master plan to guide the district’s facility, financial, and operational strategies. One of the district’s ongoing challenges is maintaining aging school buildings. In 2022, she also oversaw the implementation of a five-year strategic plan built around three priorities: academic achievement and growth, real-world learning that demonstrates student understanding, and student and staff wellness.
Although her career plans after leaving Estes have not been announced, Bode has been working on a doctorate and recently told the Estes Valley Voice she will defend her dissertation in the fall at Colorado State University. Bode holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Northern Colorado and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Secondary Education from Iowa State University.
Honorees
Over the past four years, the Estes Chamber has honored 99 women in the Estes Valley, for their leadership, volunteerism, philanthropy, and service to the community. Some women have been named more than once.
Julie Abel (2023), Cathy Alper (2023), Alissa Anderson (2024), Carlie Bangs (2024), Mary Banken (2023), Jenn Bass (2024), JoAnn Batey (2023), Jan Boatman (2024), Ruby Bode (2026), Toni Brese (2026), Diana David Brown (2026), Patti Brown (2025; 2026), Julie Bunton (2025), Ingrid Bush (2024), Elizabeth Clark (2025), Robin Converse (2025), Alexandrea Crain (2026), Velina Davidson (2026), Ingrid Drouin (2026), Breeyan Edwards (2023), Victoria Endsley (2026), Julie Ferguson (2024), Lisa Foster (2023), Niki Gassman (2023; 2025), Rebecca Domenico Gelsinger (2024), Deborah Gibson (2024), Alison Gilbert (2024), Erika Goetz (2024), Helen Hahn (2023), Amy Hamrick (2023), Kirby Hazelton (2023), Kris Hazelton (2026), Courtney Hill (2023), Kristen Hill (2024), Susan Hochstetler (2025), Renee Hodgden (2025), Lisa Hohensee (2025), Stacy Huyler-Fisher (2023), Iryna Irkliienko (2025), Suzanne Jurgens (2024), Stephanie Klein (2025), Wendy Koenig-Schuett (2023), Cato Kraft (2023), Christina Kraft (2023), Ania Leahy (2024), Connie Leavitt (2025), Pamela Leitner (2026), Kathy Long (2024), Cindy Mackin (2025), Barb Marshall (2023), Laurie Dale Marshall (2024), Maureen McCann (2025), Shannon McGlothlen (2024), Jenny Miles (2025), Erin Miller (2024), Rut Miller (2023), Claire Molle (2026), Julie Mowat (2025), Teresa Mueller (2023), Diane Muno (2023), Maricruz Ortiz Murillo (2024), Mary Murphy (2024), Caitlin Nave (2023), Jennifer Newhouse (2024), Vita Panchenko (2024), Vicki Papineau (2025), Kyle Patterson (2024), Claudine Perrault (2023), Julie Pieper (2023), Natasha Pleshkova (2025), Kristine Poppitz (2026), Anastacia Galloway Reed (2024), Marissa Reid (2026), Alice Reuman (2026), Estee Rivera (2025), Becky Robbins (2026), Patricia Guerra Rountree (2024), Denise Shank (2025), Alex Shaughnessy (2024), Laura Shepard (2023), Darla Sidles (2023), Ashley Silva (2025), Suzanna Simpson (2024), Judy Smith (2023), Vanessa Solesbee (2023), Mindy Stone (2024), Carissa Streib (2023), Deena Sveinsson (2025), Jean Tasker (2025), Susan Taylor (2024), Val Thompson (2023; 2025), Melissa Westover (2023), Nicole White (2023), Brittany Wild (2025; 2026), Lisa Williams (2025), Dawn Wilson (2025), Harriette Woodard (2023), and Sue Yowell (2025).
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