We are excited to host Dave Davia, CEO of Colorado Concern who will recap the 2025 legislative session and explain how it will impact the Colorado business climate.

Called “a person of action and someone who knows how to build an organization, raise money, take the tough meeting, and make the hard ask,” Dave Davia’s position as CEO and president of Colorado Concern is a fitting role given all that he’s accomplished not only professionally, but also as a charitable, civic, and governmental leader. Dave Davia is a tenacious agent of change.

For nearly 30 years, Davia has served the state of Colorado’s economic viability in a variety of private and public capacities. Most recently, he accepted the invitation to join Colorado Concern as its CEO, leading more than 140 CEOs in a collaborative effort to accelerate a positive, non-partisan business environment for Coloradoans. His sphere of influence includes advocating for practical business solutions and unifying community leaders against tough economic challenges with common-sense answers.

He’s worn the hats of CEO, board chair, member, founder, chief fundraiser, and city councilor, to name a few. A business and finance major from Metropolitan State University, Denver, and a fifth-generation Denver native, Davia brings political savvy to the table that transcends party lines. Ultimately, he believes that a unified government and diverse voices foster the most meaningful change for all Coloradoans.

What Stand-Up Comedy Can Teach You About Transforming Sales Teams and Accelerating Growth

Join Jay Mays, Founder of Pitch Lab, for an exploration of how stand-up comedy principles can transform your sales org’s bottom line. Learn how to equip your sales team with strategies that win deals without discounting, differentiate from competitors, and prevent costly prospect ghosting. You’ll walk away with actionable approaches that elevate your sales culture and accelerate your revenue growth. And yes, there will be jokes—because in business as in comedy, timing is everything.

Jay Mays’ sales career started in 1996 when he learned to sell dial-up internet accounts and web hosting plans to small businesses. Back in those days he used 4×6 index cards in an orange Nike shoebox as a CRM. Over the past 25 years a lot has changed, but not Jay’s love for helping clients succeed. He’s booked hundreds of “closed won” deals with marquee clients like AT&T, Red Bull, and the Miami Marlins to name a few.

For the sake of optimism, Jay never keeps track of his “closed lost” deals. That said, there are a handful of heartbreaks from which he pulls some of his best sales stories and lessons. For the past 9 years, Jay’s been a sales consultant and trainer, helping B2B business owners and their sales teams differentiate from the competition, build stronger connections, and win more deals.

Learn more about Jay by visiting him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaysmays/

Our very own, Solomon Muwanga will be interviewing Papa Dia, Founder and Executive Director of the African Leadership Group (ALG), a Colorado nonprofit created in 2006 to help improve the quality of life for African immigrants and members of the diaspora.

A native of Senegal, Papa immigrated to Denver in 1998.  He used his first job, stocking books, to teach himself how to read, write and speak English.  From an entry-level position in a local bank, Papa over the next 18 years climbed the ranks to become a regional vice president.  In 2017, Papa left banking to focus his full attention on running and growing ALG. 

Papa serves on the boards of the Denver Botanic Gardens, Energize Colorado, and is a member of the prestigious Livingston Fellowship. 

In addition to running ALG, Papa leads several businesses and nonprofits working in or based in Senegal.

The Civic Center Conservancy named Eric Lazzari the Executive Director in November of 2019. 

He joined the Civic Center Conservancy in November 2011, bringing extensive event operations and program management experience to his initial role as Director of Programs and Events. Eric was promoted to Director of Strategic Operations in May of 2018.

Eric is a proud member of the 2020 Class of Leadership Denver. He was also a member of the Downtown Denver Leadership Program’s 2014 class, where he was selected as the winner of the John Parr Leadership Award and elected by his peers as the class trustee.

Prior to joining the Conservancy, Eric served as the Program Operations Manager for USA Swimming in Colorado Springs, developing and managing various programs, clinics and series. He previously served as Director of Special Projects for the Metro Denver Sports Commission, leading event production for the 2008 Frozen Four and coordinating sponsorship development and activation for the CU vs. CSU Rocky Mountain Showdown. He received his bachelor’s degree in Leisure Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and his MBA from the University of Denver.

Deep entrepreneurial and technology experience helping companies from mid-sized to major corporations apply business technology that saves millions or opens new markets.

Specialties: Entrepreneur, founder of Inc 500 company providing IT consulting and software solutions across U.S. and Canada.

Scott is passionate about giving back to the community and supports many causes. Most prominent among these are the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the Blind Institute of Technology, and the Colorado Technology Association. He co-founded the Microsoft Scramble for Sight in 2001 and has raised over $3M for the FFB to cure blindness. Learn more at ScrambleforSight.org.

 

Topic: High Fee Sales: How to Land Better Clients, Bigger Deals and Higher Fees
Speaker: David Newman, Do It! Marketing

In this fast-paced session, you are getting:

• How to do LESS marketing that generates MORE leads – and STOP the pointless social media monkey work and stop wasting time with non-buyers or the wrong buyers
• Prospecting insights – the “who, what, where, and when” of high-fee prospecting success that leads to more, better, faster high-fee sales conversations that are far more likely to convert to “Yes”
• Building a bulletproof sales process ONCE that you can use consistently to generate sales today, sales tomorrow, and a predictable flow of clients and cash month after month, year after year
• Premium Sales Positioning and how to show up for your prospects as a peer, not a peddler, so that you have high-trust, high-confidence sales conversations from initial contact through signed contract
• Tactical sales outreach that works, and that prospects WILL respond to
• PLUS you’ll get specific resources, links, and tools to help you implement these revenue growth ideas RIGHT NOW.

About the Speaker:

David Newman is the author of the business bestsellers “Do It! Marketing” and “Do It! Selling.” He’s the founder of the Do It! MBA mentoring program and the host of The Selling Show, a top-rated business podcast with over 400 episodes. He counts 44 of the Fortune 500 among his clients and audiences. David helps small business owners and professional services firms grow their revenues by 50%-500% in less than 15 months. Nothing makes David happier than client results. (Well, maybe puppies – but that’s it!)

Ethan is a brand strategist and marketing expert who has spent 20 years doing award-winning brand strategy, advertising, and market research for some of the world’s biggest brands.

A scientist by training but a marketer by trade, he’s the missing link between science and creativity.

His career includes roles as Insight Manager at Radar Research, Planning Director at 72andSunny, Group Strategy Director at Crispin Porter Bogusky, and Vice President of Insight & Strategy at the Integer Group.

He’s done ethnographies in Tokyo and statistics in Matlab. He’s developed promotions scorecards and shopper marketing design principles. He’s helped launch razors and position new lines of women’s clothes. And he’s presented on the science of marketing internationally, including SXSW and TED.

Ethan’s first life was studying urban ecology. He earned a PhD at the University of New Mexico under a National Science Foundation grant for complexity theory in biology.

He studied human evolution and urban metabolism, and he used computational models to explore patterns of urbanization. His papers continue to be cited today.

Only his friends call him Doctor Decker.

And only in jest.