Former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, whose legacy touches every traveler going to and coming from Denver International Airport on Peña Boulevard, will receive a Colorado Governor’s Citizenship Medal Thursday for his lifetime of service to Denver. 

Gov. Jared Polis awarded Peña with the Vanguard Legacy Medal, which is given to a business leader who has made transformational contributions to the community throughout their career, according to the Citizenship Medal website. 

The 8th Annual Colorado Governor’s Citizenship Medals event is Thursday night at History Colorado. Peña is one of six recipients at the event, which includes entrepreneurs Amy Schwartz and Kelly Leid, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, University of Colorado Denver student Mitchell Mauro and late LGBTQ activist Clela Rorex.

Peña hopes the award serves as inspiration and encouragement to others to be active in their communities in whatever ways they can be. 

“The award shines a spotlight on the value and importance of any kind of public or civic service,” Peña said. “I hope people hear about it and do whatever they can to make their city and state better.”

Throughout his career, Peña has “demonstrated visionary leadership and dedication to civic engagement for generations, from his tenure as a state legislator, the city’s first Hispanic mayor beginning in 1983 to holding two federal cabinet positions,” according to the medal program’s website www.theeventcgcm.org.

Peña began his career as a civil rights attorney, serving on numerous corporate and non-profit boards and working in private equity. 

In his time as Denver’s mayor, Peña shaped the growth of Denver through his “Imagine a Great City” campaign.  He pushed for significant city projects, such as the Denver International Airport, light rail, a new convention center, the Cherry Creek Mall and the Denver Public Library. Peña also helped recruit Major League Baseball team the Colorado Rockies and supported the construction of Coors Field. 

Despite these significant projects, Peña said his proudest accomplishment in his time in city government is actually none of them — but rather his dedication to opening city government to everybody. 

When Peña first arrived in Denver, he sensed that the city’s residents didn’t feel they had an opportunity to contribute to, and participate in, the city’s growth, he said. 

“What I feel most positive about and proud of is that I opened up city government to everyday people,” Peña said. “I opened the doors of City Hall and started appointing people to all kinds of committees and task forces because I wanted people to be engaged in the work of their city and in creating a great city.”

Peña said he hopes efforts to get Denver residents involved in government carries into the future. Whoever wins the upcoming mayor race needs to bring in as many new ideas, from people of every walk of life, as they can into office, Peña said. 

“We need to get the ideas and involvement from these people who I think really want Denver to be better, but they’ve got to be asked,” Peña said.

He emphasized the importance of tapping into the skills and talents of young professionals moving to Denver from other parts of the country, saying young people are often doubted, but, as his administration proved, can make a big difference.

Peña was only 36 during his first run for mayor. People had a lot of doubt in a young administration’s ability to run the city.

“My administration was very young … and people looked at us and said, ‘how can a bunch of young people run this very complicated city?'” Peña said. “Well, we did, and I think we did a very good job.”

Having a young team was one of several challenges Peña faced in his time as mayor, he said, most of which had to do with people having low expectations of him.

Along with being a young mayor, Peña was also the first minority to be elected mayor during a time when Denver was only about 18% Hispanic and about 12% African American, Peña said.

“Some people said ‘this young Latino kid, what does he know? We’ve never had a minority mayor and we shouldn’t take the chance’,” Peña said. “I sort of broke the ceiling so to speak and opened a door for others to follow.”

Peña also faced the challenge of running a city during a major recession. 

“I had this whole vision of what I wanted to do with the city, and I was hit with this recession,” Peña said. “We had to be very creative in how we invested taxpayer dollars.”

Peña said he is thankful to have had a great team and a community who had confidence in him as he overcame challenges. 

His love for the city began in his first few months in Denver, when he felt embraced by the community despite coming to the city as a young person from another state. 

“I’ve always found the broader community of Colorado open its arms to people from any walk of life or any part of the country or world, as long as you’re willing to contribute,” Peña said. “That’s what continues to make our city great and our state even better.”

Peña said his key to success in city government and in life has been involvement. He hopes his legacy inspires others to engage in their communities and share their talents, energy and visions.

“If you see an issue, if you see something you believe in, get involved,” Peña said. “Everybody’s got a talent, a skill, an asset that they can contribute. Sometimes we don’t know what that is until we get involved.”

Peña is moved to receive an award from the governor at this stage in his career, he said. 

“Usually when an individual like me is out of public life for so long, people generally forget the thing’s you’ve done,” Peña said. “It’s very rewarding to have the governor recognize my life’s contributions here in Colorado.”