On the future of downtown spaces, key leadership practices and the mantras that drive success.
Kourtny Garrett, CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, has a strong reputation for making communities better. We touch on inspiring topics such as the importance of leadership within the workplace and communities, the mantras that motivate her and help drive her success, and the vision she holds for the community she leads.
About the Guest
With 25 years of experience in the development of livable communities, Garrett is fueled by a passion for cities. Her expertise is rooted in building social, cultural and economic vibrancy, creating places for people that provide access and opportunity for all. The mantra of her life and her work follows the great Jane Jacobs’, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
While in Dallas, Garrett worked on the revitalization of Downtown through a period that included more than $11 billion of investment, public-private partnerships that brought more than 40 vacant buildings back to life, and a steady rise in residents from just a few hundred to more than 13,000. One of her proudest achievements was a decade-long process to create Downtown Dallas’ first public elementary school with Dallas ISD. Prior to her work in Downtown Dallas, Garrett led community relations work for Children’s health, with particular focus on hospital network expansion. Her career started in community relations, government relations and retail development at a then-new lifestyle center in Southlake, Texas.
Garrett is a Marshall Memorial Fellow and an honorary member of the Texas Society of Architects and AIADallas. She is a several-time honoree of many Dallas-based media awards such as Forty Under 40 (2009), 78 Women Who Make Dallas Great (2021) and Dallas-Fort Worth’s 500 Most Influential Business Leaders (2016- 2021). In addition, her long-standing commitment to the Dallas community included roles on Dallas ISD’s Business Advisory Board, and the Boards of Directors of Children’s Health, the Dallas Regional Chamber and a long list that includes public, non-profit and community organizations.
Garrett has expanded her work nationally and internationally through research and participation in the International Downtown Association, German Marshall Foundation, Brookings Institute and the International Business of Cities. She has published through many of these organizations, working toward the health and vitality of city centers across the globe.
Garrett, originally from Colorado, was selected to lead the Downtown Denver Partnership from over 400 candidates through a national executive search. In Denver, Garrett is proud to sit on the Board of Directors of Visit Denver and the CAP Advisory Board of the CU Denver College of Architecture and Planning.
