Anne Button

Anne Button is the founding director of the University of Colorado Denver Change Makers program. Since 2022 she has worked with CU Denver faculty, staff, and community partners to build this innovative program for adults in the second half of life navigating career transitions, retirement, and other life changes. Since its launch, nearly 200 fellows have completed the Change Makers program and joined its growing alumni community. 

Anne has more than 20 years of experience in higher education. She led CU Denver’s successful effort to be designated as an Age-Friendly University in 2022 and chaired its Age-Friendly University operational committee. She currently serves on the advisory committee of the Nexel Collaborative, a global network of academic institutions advancing university-based midlife transition programs that foster purpose, community, wellness, and intergenerational connection. Earlier in her career at CU, Anne was executive communications director at both CU Denver and the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. The Nexel Collaborative is a not-for-profit network of academic thought leaders promoting college-based midlife transition programs focused on renewing purpose, building community, recalibrating wellness, and nurturing intergenerational engagement.

A New Jersey native, Anne previously worked as a policy analyst in Washington, DC and Denver and as a civil engineer in Los Angeles. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho (southern Africa), she taught school and happily lived for two years without electricity or running water. She has been a founding board member for several nonprofit organizations, including Engineers Without Borders, Northwest Denver NOW, and Amigos de la Academia Sandoval. Anne holds a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from CU Boulder and a master's of public and private management from the Yale School of Management. 

She is married to a proud Change Makers alum and they enjoy watching their two adult children forge their own paths. 

(back)