About Us

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

Office of State and Federal Government Relations

	Tanya Kelly-Bowry, Associate Vice President of State & Federal Relations
	Kirsten Castleman, Deputy Director of State Relations
	Amanda Lewis, Assistant Director of State & Federal Government Relations
	Todd Saliman, Policy Advisor for State and Federal Relations
under construction	Melissa Miller, Special Assistant to the Associate Vice President
	Vicky Starbuck, Professional Staff Assistant
	David Sprenger, Director of Federal Relations
	Lynne Lyons, Deputy Director of Federal Relations

Tanya Kelly-Bowry, Associate Vice President of State & Federal Relations

Tanya Kelly-Bowry serves as the Associate Vice President of CU State and Federal Government Relations. She is the chief state and federal lobbyist for the CU System. Ms. Kelly-Bowry has served the University of Colorado for the past five years. Previously, she was the University’s Director of Federal Relations for two years and prior to that, she was the Associate Director of State Legislative Relations at the CU Health Sciences Center. Additionally, Ms. Kelly-Bowry worked for eight years as the Public Media Relations Director for the Colorado State Senate. Tanya was raised in the San Luis Valley and she is fluent in Spanish. An international affairs graduate of CU-Boulder, she received a Master's in nonprofit management from Regis University on a fellowship. You may contact her at (303) 831-6192 or tanya.kellybowry@cu.edu

Kirsten Castleman, Deputy Director of State Relations

Kirsten Castleman serves as the lobbyist focusing on health care policy issues for the University of Colorado Denver (UCD), University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), and the CU Colorado Springs Beth El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She specifically represents these entities, and generally the University of Colorado System, to the State of Colorado General Assembly and members of the executive branch. Kirsten has worked in the University of Colorado Office of State and Federal Government Relations for over three years. Before being promoted into the Deputy Director position in July 2004, she served as the Higher Education Policy Specialist for the CU System. A native of Colorado, Kirsten has a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a Master of Arts in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. You may contact her at 303-315-6623 or kirsten.castleman@uchsc.edu

Todd Saliman, Policy Advisor for State and Federal Relations

Todd Saliman serves as Policy Advisor in the Office of State and Federal Government Relations. He focuses on state budget issues, higher education legislation, and the CU-Boulder campus. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1989. He served in the State House of Representatives from 1994 through 2002. During his first four years at the Capitol, he served on the Local Government, Transportation, Finance and Appropriations committees. In 1999, he was elected by his colleagues to the Joint Budget Committee. He was responsible for allocating and balancing Colorado's $13 billion budget. During his tenure on the Joint Budget Committee, he prioritized budgets for Executive Branch elected officials, all state departments and the Judicial Branch. You may contact him at (303) 669-6688 or todd.saliman@cu.edu

David Sprenger, Director of Federal Relations

David Sprenger serves as the Director of Federal Relations representing the University of Colorado System before the U.S. Congress and government agencies. David, a Colorado native, has opened a new Washington, D.C. office for the University of Colorado's Office of State and Federal Government Relations. Prior to coming to CU, David worked as an Assistant Vice President for B&D Sagamore, a government relations consulting firm and an affiliate of the international law firm of Baker & Daniels. David also served as Congressman McInnis' legislative aid and health policy advisor where he provided key policy and legislative strategy to Members on the House Committee on Ways and Means. It is in this capacity that David drafted legislation that increased Medicare reimbursements for rural health care providers, which was signed into law in November 2003. You may contact him at (202) 682-3992 or david.sprenger@cu.edu

Lynne Lyons, Deputy Director of Federal Relations

Lynne Lyons serves as Deputy Director of Federal Relations in our Colorado office. Lynne lobbies on issues ranging from research funding, academic health legislation, hospital legislation, and intellectual property legislation. She assists Associate Vice President Kelly-Bowry and Director Sprenger on federal special projects for all three campuses. Lynne has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver. You may contact her at 303-831-9245 or lynne.lyons@cu.edu

Amanda Lewis, Assistant Director of State and Federal Government Relations

Amanda Lewis serves as the Assistant Director of State and Federal Relations. She serves as chief of staff for the office and is responsible for organizing and coordinating all office special events. In addition, Amanda oversees the CU Ambassadors Program, manages much of the internal and external office communication, analyzes and tracks state higher ed policy and assists in the coordination of campus tours for congressional members and state legislators. She has worked in the office for the past four years and she is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. You may contact her 303-831-9295 or amanda.lewis@cu.edu

Melissa Miller , Special Assistant to the Assistant Vice President

Melissa Miller is the Special Assistant to the Assistant Vice President to Associate Vice President Tanya Kelly-Bowry. Her position manages the Associate Vice President's calendar and travel, inter-office budget maintenance and many of the office administrative duties. Previously, Ms. Miller has worked in the for the office as a Student Assistant.. She is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. You may contact her at (303) 831-6192 or melissa.miller@cu.edu

Vicky Starbuck, Professional Staff Assistant

Vicky Starbuck is a Professional Staff Assistant at the University of Colorado Denver. She divides her time by providing administrative support to Chancellor M. Roy Wilson and Deputy Director Castleman. She also serves as the UCD Legislative Liaison. She maintains the healthcare legislative website and tracks healthcare bills. Ms. Starbuck responds to legislative and constituent requests, including physician referrals, as well as coordinates campus tours. You may contact her at 303-315-7527 or vicky.starbuck@uchsc.edu

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