Since starting CRL 26 years ago, Maria Garcia Berry has been the guiding force behind what is today one of the most influential public affairs firms in Colorado. In fact, for three consecutive years, Denver's 5280 magazine named her one of Denver’s "25 Most Powerful People."

As Chief Executive Officer of CRL Associates, Inc., Maria is highly respected for her skills in negotiation, mediation and advocacy and she is experienced at forging links among diverse interests and groups. She is widely recognized in her field for her expertise in government and public decision making, public finance, strategic planning, coalition building, crisis communications, community outreach, public positioning and legislative advocacy.

Maria Garcia Berry is a member of the Board of Trustees of Metropolitan State College, the Auraria Higher Education Center Board of Directors and the Citywide Banks Board. Her community involvement includes the boards of the Regional Transportation District, the American Israel Friendship League and the Colorado Children's Campaign. She is a member of the Colorado Advisory Committee for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the Urban Land Institute. She is a member of the Denver Partnership and an associate member of the Colorado Municipal League. Maria is an alumna of Leadership Denver.

Maria is married to Chuck Berry, president of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry and former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. They have three children.

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As part of CRL Associates since 1998, Holly Brown Nichols has secured Denver City Council votes, including the inaugural Shell Grand Prix of Denver; the amendment of an urban renewal district for a convention headquarters hotel; the rezoning of the Sears redevelopment site in Cherry Creek North; and a successful public and political outreach for the new site of the Denver Newspaper Agency.

Holly also has a successful record lobbying local governments throughout the metro area on a variety of issues, including rezoning of more than 5,000 acres in Douglas County. Her primary duties include general lobbying/legislative advocacy, strategy development, quality control over client delivery, budgetary management, marketing, and business development.

Holly rejoined the firm after leaving for a year to run the 2002 Inaugural Shell Grand Prix of Denver. Her duties with the Grand Prix included running the day-to-day operations of the organization, including securing the necessary approvals for running a CART race on the streets of Denver. Her efforts resulted in an attendance of more than 100,000 people at the three-day event. It was called one of the "finest first time events" in racing, according to CART's Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Pook.

Holly is full member of the Urban Land Institute.

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Brittany Morris is responsible for a wide range of CRL clients and oversees the firm¹s account executives. As a Colorado native, Brittany uses her longstanding relationships with Colorado's local government officials to gain the best advantage for her clients. She's responsible for several successful political and community outreach efforts for large and small scale public/private partnership projects in metro Denver.

Brittany numbers among her successes lobbying Denver City Council for $126 million in public subsidies for the redevelopment of the Gates Rubber factory; representing local businesses and developers in crafting a compromise to proposed outdoor lighting rules and regulations in Denver; and representing several local land developers in successful neighborhood outreach efforts designed to reach community consensus on proposed zoning map changes.

Brittany was appointed to the Denver Women's Commission by Mayor Hickenlooper in 2005. She is the co-founder of Businesses Unified for DPS (BUDS) ­ a grassroots organization whose mission is to cultivate partnerships between the Denver Public Schools and the business community.

She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and just recently finished her MA in Political Science at the University of Colorado at Denver with an emphasis in Politics and Public Policy.

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Bethany's deep knowledge of government relations enables her to act as a governmental liaison at the local, state and federal levels for our clients. Before joining CRL, she developed strong relationships with the City of Denver in her role as council aide to Councilwoman Peggy Lehmann, where she was able to contribute to major public and private development projects. She successfully implemented community outreach campaigns for the councilwoman as well as managing her election campaign and honed fundraising skills. 

Bethany has specialized knowledge in municipal water policy, urban renewal programs and directing citizen participation in policy development. She has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Providence College.

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Kim’s strong background in zoning issues and transportation matters lend great value to our clients.  Her highly effective consensus-building skills along with her broad experience in strategic planning and community outreach serve constituents on all fronts. In addition, Kim’s connections to the City of Denver run deep with over eight years of experience as council aide to Councilwomen Debbie Ortega and Judy Montero. As Councilwoman Montero’s senior aide, Kim became especially familiar with urban issues that will have a far-reaching impact on Denver, including housing options for Denver’s homeless, the Downtown Area Plan and RTD’s FasTracks program. Her working knowledge of Denver government will be a definite asset to CRL and our clients.

Kim has a Master’s degree in Social Work and Political Social Work from the University of Houston, a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Denver and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Colorado State University.

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Sean Maley serves various clients as a government affairs specialist. Stemming from the broad responsibility of daily monitoring of municipal and county-level legislation, Sean is able to provide a wide-range of research, policy analysis, and lobbying services.  
 
Sean has a strong background in local government with an emphasis in land use, having most recently served as a council aide to Denver City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb.  He has specialized knowledge of zoning codes and development procedures, local and metropolitan planning and strategic community relations.  
 
Sean was part of the 2007 Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program and helped develop a business engagement program to launch the new initiative, Greenprint Denver.  He also supervises the CRL internship program in partnership with the University of Colorado and Metropolitan State College of Denver.

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Peg provides in-depth project and issue research for CRL clients. She manages our archives and communicates strategic items of interest to staff and clients. She has cultivated strong relationships with local, regional and national media to generate positive media coverage and generated successful public relations media and public outreach campaigns.

Prior to joining CRL, Peg was the Denver City Council District 10 council aide and legislative analyst, in which role she successfully advocated for the district's diverse constituency. She has extensive public relations and marketing experience; she served as public relations director for the Colorado Historical Society for 17 years.

Peg has a Master’s degree in Western U.S. History. She is an alumna of the Denver Community Leadership Forum and the Outward Bound Leadership Program. Her memberships include the Denver Press Club and the Denver Woman’s Press Club (president 1997-1999). In addition, Peg is an adjunct Colorado history instructor at Metropolitan State College.

Peg is often referred to as the “Hat Lady.” She owns over 150 of them.

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Cathie is a veteran when it comes to expertly juggling the wide range of administrative needs of top officials. She's served some distinguished executives, including the Dean of Law at the University of British Columbia. The more variety a job presents, the more she enjoys it. Cathie just can't stand not being busy, which is never a problem at CRL.

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Kelley has been with CRL Associates since 1998. With her strong background in music, she also serves as the Youth Music Director at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Centennial and directs the Swallow Hill Choir at Denver's Swallow Hill Music Association. Kelley's main job, though, is being mom to her four beautiful children, Sarah, Tessa, Josiah and Isaac.

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