University of Denver professor is also Mayor of Englewood

Written by Brandon Arneson

Linda Olson is a busy woman. For the last 12 years, she has served on the Englewood City Council, fulfilling the role of mayor since 2018, while simultaneously directing the University of Denver’s Pioneer Leadership Program.

Now, with her city council and mayoral terms ending after this November’s elections, Olson shares her journey to politics and leadership, what she has learned along the way, and what’s in store for her future.

The story of Olson’s involvement with the University of Denver and Englewood politics begins in the same way: healthy communities. In 2000, when Olson began pursuing her doctorate degree at the University of Denver, she researched healthy communities in Colorado, taking her across the state to interview both elected officials and active citizens.

“I met all these people who were just normal citizens doing things in their community and I was like, ‘Wow, this is really cool. I should get involved,’” Olson says with a smile.

And so she did. First, serving on committees in her community, and eventually stepping into and winning the 2008 Englewood City Council election for her district. 

In Olson’s role on the Englewood City Council, she has helped navigate the city through challenges such as the 2008 recession and the recent, intensified national call for police reform. During this time, Olson has also seen the city of Englewood experience more than an 11% population gain, reaching just over 33,000 residents in the 2020 Census. 

Olson’s political experience has certainly given her a strong base to work with in leadership academia, and vice versa. However, the worlds of academic leadership studies and political organization certainly have their differences. “I’m a really strong collaboration and teams person,” Olson describes. “In politics… it’s really hard to build a team.”

In politics… it’s really hard to build a team

Linda Olson

Olson explains that many times in politics, there are instances of representatives who think that conflict and opposition are necessary. “I don’t see it that way,” Olson emphasizes. “I see it as we’re going to come together from different perspectives and build something together.” To put it simply, Olson adds, “That’s what collaboration is.”

In the Pioneer Leadership Program, which serves over 300 undergraduates at the University of Denver, Olson’s ideologies of collaboration are mirrored in the course content. Students engage in a “transformational learning experience that combines course work, a residential community, civic engagement, and professional networks to equip 21st century citizen leaders,” according to the program’s website.

However, the learning isn’t done solely in the classroom. In their second year within the program, students complete Community Change Initiative projects, which focus on creating partnerships with community stakeholders to create impactful and sustainable change.

In an example of this, students from the Pioneer Leadership Program teamed up with Olson and the city of Englewood in 2018 to analyze the city’s struggles with homelessness. Working together with a collaborative team that included local public and private resources combating homelessness, Olson says the Pioneer Leadership Program students completed a report on homelessness that was sent out all over the county and state.

Now, Olson’s tenure as an elected official appears to be at an end as her term expiration approaches. Although she says she won’t run for office again, this doesn’t mean that Olson won’t be staying active in combating some of the largest issues she and her council have confronted. Environmental challenges and housing policy remain major targets. 

Olson also has plans to get University of Denver students involved in local politics, saying that she would like to start a public service internship program. “We need good people in the city [departments],” Olson explains. “Most people don’t understand that cities are where everything happens… it’s where they make the decisions.”

Cities are where everything happens… it’s where they make the decisions 

Linda Olson

Leadership requires grace, kindness, and collaboration. Throughout Olson’s experience on the Englewood City Council and directing the Pioneer Leadership Program, she has applied these intertwining practices every day. “It’s been an incredible opportunity to work in my positions with Englewood and DU,” Olson says, smiling gratefully.

As Olson takes the next steps in her journey, she encourages others to get involved in their communities as well, working collaboratively across multiple perspectives to affect positive change.