Editor’s note: This piece was written by Anna Jo Garcia Haynes, a co-founder and President Emeritus of Mile High Early Learning Centers and a co-founder of the Colorado Children’s Campaign
The remarkable career of an extraordinary woman is reaching a milestone this week as Barbara O’Brien completes her eight-year tenure as a member of the Denver school board.
Barbara’s varied professional accomplishments provide a template for others who aspire to a life of service, which Marian Wright Edelman described as “the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.”
I had the pleasure of first meeting Barbara when she was a policy advisor and speechwriter for Colorado Governor Richard Lamm. From this position as a policy advisor, she cheered on advocates who worked on legislation in the 1980s to create a state department of early childhood. This proposal faced opposition from conservative women who believed women should stay home with their kids and, therefore, Colorado did not need statewide childcare.
So we decided we would establish our own entity outside of government on behalf of children. Joining us in this effort were children’s advocates such as the Piton Foundation’s Elaine Berman (who later served on the Denver Public Schools board) and pediatricians Dr. Steve Berman and Dr. Paul Melinkovich. And that’s how the Colorado Children’s Campaign came to be.
Prior to that there was no advocacy organization for children. Sam and Nancy Gary, founders of the Piton Foundation, often helped us pay Colorado Children’s Campaign staff and rent in the early years because no other foundations at that time had looked at the importance of early childhood care and education. Barbara joined the Children’s Campaign as president in 1990 and successfully led it with strength and foresight for 16 years.
At the helm of the Children’s Campaign, Barbara was a tireless and effective champion for children’s education and health. Among her many accomplishments was co-chairing the successful effort (Amendment 35) to fund healthcare for children and families by increasing the tax on tobacco, leading high school reform throughout Colorado by establishing the Colorado Small Schools Initiative, helping to create the Child Health Plan for uninsured children, and the Colorado Preschool program.
The Colorado Children’s Campaign launched the legendary Doll Project in 1994 in partnership with the Denver Initiative for Children and Families and other groups. Each doll included a story about a real child in Colorado, and thousands of dolls were placed in the State Capitol and throughout the state to build support for investing in Colorado’s children.
The goal was to affirm children and how important they are. Within five years, more than 150,000 dolls reached across Colorado, earning national recognition. When Senator Ted Kennedy was sponsoring legislation for children, he asked Barbara to bring the dolls to Washington, D.C. to help him lobby for his children’s bill. The doll tradition continues, and the Children’s Campaign still puts dolls on the lawmakers’ seats on the first day of each legislative session.
As lieutenant governor, Barbara continued to advocate for children, establishing the Early Childhood Leadership Commission and setting up the P-20 Council, which implemented the first set of standards for young children in Colorado. She also was instrumental in securing the Race to the Top grant that brought several million dollars in federal funding to Colorado to help accelerate the state’s plans to improve school readiness.
Barbara’s leadership on behalf of children has come full circle back to the Governor’s office, building the foundation for important new work. Under the administration of Governor Jared Polis, Colorado will have a department for the first time dedicated to early childhood programs and will start developing a plan for universal preschool, supported with funding authorized by Colorado voters.
On the DPS board, Barbara maintained her relentless efforts to ensure that the focus remained on the children and put the kids “top line.” She fought to make sure that kids could read by the third grade, no matter what. She was tired of hearing that people projected the number of prison cells based on the number of children who couldn’t read by third grade.
Barbara had a mission to ensure that Denver’s kids receive the best education possible and worked tirelessly to focus on academic achievement and equity. As a result, Denver progressed from low growth scores relative to the state to very high growth scores, earning distinction as one of the top urban school districts in the nation.
Barbara has always focused on how children are growing, learning and living.
This is Barbara O’Brien’s ongoing legacy and those of us who care about the well-being and future of our children owe her a huge debt of gratitude.
