Lesley Dahlkemper, District 3

Term: 2023 - 2027
Email Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper

About

Lesley Dahlkemper is a resident of south Jefferson County.  She was elected to her second four-year term in November 2022.

Board Participation

National

• National Association of Counties
  • Environment, Energy & Land Use Committee

Statewide & Regional

• Chatfield Watershed Authority, Vice-Chair
• Colorado Counties Inc. Board of Directors, Treasurer
• Colorado Fire Commission, Representing Counties Statewide - East Slope
  • Legislative Subcommittee
  • WUI Subcommittee
  • Prescribed Burn Subcommittee
• Counties & Commissioners Acting Together (CCAT)
  • Natural Resources & Wildfire Committee
• Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (1st Judicial District, Gilpin and Jefferson Counties)
• Gateway to the Rockies Opioids Council (Gilpin, Clear Creek, and Jefferson Counties), Chair

Jefferson County

• Jefferson County Bright Futures Initiative, Co-Chair
• Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation
  • Board of Directors
  • Board of Governors
• Jefferson County Economic Recovery Task Force
• Jefferson County Engage Initiative, Board Member
• Jefferson County Head Start Policy Council
• Jefferson County Integrated Food Task Force 
• Jefferson County Wildfire Commission, Chair
• Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority, Secretary
• WestConnect Corridor Coalition

Work Experience

Lesley’s professional career has focused on what she loves most – helping people, solving complex problems, and giving back to our community. She offers more than 30 years of combined experience in public policy, strategic communications, nonprofit leadership, and journalism. Lesley has worked as a senior-level executive in both the private and nonprofit sectors on state and national levels, and served on leadership teams responsible for budgets ranging from $14 million to nearly $1 billion. As the former owner of a national award-winning communications firm, Lesley worked with clients to enhance student and teacher success. Her career began as a journalist for Colorado Public Radio where she contributed stories to NPR, The Osgood File, and the BBC. 

Prior to her election as County Commissioner, Lesley served as the Vice President of Strategic Engagement for the Colorado Education Initiative, providing vision and strategy across the organization’s five initiatives. Earlier positions included leading a multi-million grant at the Education Commission of the States for school improvement nationwide as well as working with large urban school districts and national education leaders as a senior director with a premier communications firm in Arlington, VA. Committed to enhancing her profession, Lesley also served as a vice president on the national board of the Education Writers Association and is the past president of the Colorado School Public Relations Association.  

An engaged community leader, Lesley was elected county-wide to the Jefferson County school board in 2011 and served as board president for two years. She is also a past board president of The Action Center, which promotes pathways to self-sufficiency, and she chaired the Jefferson County Boys & Girls Club Youth Investment Committee. In 2014, the West Metro Chamber named her as one of Jefferson County’s most distinguished women leaders. 

Personal Life

Originally from Chicago, Lesley moved to Denver in 1989 after obtaining her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois. Her family has called Jeffco home for nearly 30 years. Lesley and her husband, Mike Feeley, chose to raise their daughter, Grace, in Jeffco because of its excellent schools and quality of life. Grace graduated from Lakewood High School's IB Program and now attends college in San Francisco. Mike – an attorney and former Colorado Senate Minority Leader – was elected to the West Metro Fire Board in 2018. They live in south Jefferson County with their two rescue dogs, Peaches and Maisy. 

Learn more about Commissioner Dahlkemper, her priorities and goals as she serves the citizens of Jefferson County via the video below.