Staff

Brian Ross, Executive Director
Brian moved to CCT following a 27 year career with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), one of the world’s preeminent real estate advisory organizations. Brian, an International Director with JLL, was President of the firm’s Leasing and Management division in the United States. He led the development of repositioning strategies for some of the country’s most notable office towers including the City Center complex in downtown Denver, Fox Plaza in Los Angeles, The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco and US Bank Tower in Seattle. Prior to joining JLL, Brian worked for United States Senator Gary Hart concentrating on natural resource matters. He was directly involved in the negotiations of the 1980 amendment to the Wilderness Act which dramatically expanded federally protected wilderness acreage in Colorado. Brian is a Colorado native. He attended the University of New Mexico for his undergraduate degree and attended graduate school at the University of Colorado’s school of environmental design.

Ben Duke, Deputy Director

Ben is a rancher based in Elizabeth, Colorado.  He received his B.A. in Geology from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1975.   He has historically been involved with the Colorado Historical Society, the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining and Railroad Park, Graland Country Day School, the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, Denver’s Four Mile Historic Park, 4-H, the National Western Stock Show, Denver Academy, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya.  Ben has most recently worked for the Denver Zoo as development director.

Patrick Holmes, Conservation Program Coordinator
Holmes received his Master of Environmental Management Degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a focus in conservation finance. Prior to joining CCT, he helped to launch the State of the Rockies Project at Colorado College, serving as the program coordinator there for two years. Patrick has also worked with the Sonoran Institute and the Yale Center for Business and Environment. He is a past fellow of the Kinship Conservation Institute and was selected as the recipient of a Wyss Foundation scholarship for conservation in the Intermountain West.

Lauren Swan Carpenter, Finance and Administration Coordinator
Prior to joining CCT, Swan served the United States Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa as a Small Business Development Volunteer where she worked mainly in the microfinance sector with entrepreneurial development and women’s savings groups. Living in New York City before Peace Corps, she worked for Check Group, LLC as an Executive Assistant and for Reich & Tang Funds in client interface. Lauren has a B.S. in Finance from the University of Florida and is currently enrolled in the International M.B.A. program at Denver University, where she will concentrate her studies in Environmental Policy and Management.

Leslie Volkar, Marketing and Development Coordinator
Volkar has a B.A. in Advertising and an M.A. in Media Studies from Pennsylvania State University, with a research specialization in nontraditional marketing strategies. Prior to joining CCT, she worked for five years at a Denver-based urban design firm, coordinating marketing, promotion, and event planning efforts.