Who We Are
Gretchen Hammer
Public service and leadership are the cornerstones of Gretchen Hammer's professional life. Gretchen began her career at a boutique consulting firm, Conocer, where she worked at the national, state and local level supporting public leaders to reach their full potential. During this time she worked with many amazing public leaders including the firm founder and mentor, John Creighton. Many of the ideas they hatched together inform the work of the Public Leadership Consulting Group.
Nearly a decade ago, Gretchen decided to put her ideas into practice and became the Executive Director of the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of all Coloradans. During this time, Gretchen also served on and lead numerous public and private boards including Connect for Health Colorado, Colorado's health benefit exchange, the Anchor Center for Blind Children and the Colorado Children's Health Care Access Program.
In 2015, Gretchen made the transition to state government, serving as the Medicaid Director and Deputy Executive Director at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. In this role, she experienced first hand the responsibility of administering public programs to meet the needs of members. She navigated complex regulatory challenges, worked with elected officials and directly engaged with stakeholders. She also worked in cross sector ways, partnering with other state and local agencies to align policies and programs to maximize impact.
Gretchen is fiercely passionate about public leadership and the awesome opportunity everyone has to improve our communities. She is thrilled to return to consulting in November 2018 and work with clients to meet their goals. To meet client's diverse needs, in addition to her own involvement, Gretchen maintains a network of partnerships with other skilled consultants.
Gretchen is a graduate of the Colorado College and the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. She lives in Denver with her husband and two sons.