John Farnam is Director of Strategic Grantmaking at the Buell Foundation. He was previously Managing Director at the Morgridge Family Foundation for 15 years, where he aligned resources, fostered innovation, and administered more than $165 million in grants around social issues. He is an Aspen Institute Fellow, a member of the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network, and was an advisor to the Colorado Governor’s Leadership Committee on COVID Relief.
In 2022, he earned an executive certificate through the prestigious Chief of Staff Fellowship at the University of Oxford. In 2023, he was one of 60 leaders from 20 countries to complete the inaugural Chief of Staff Association Program through Harvard Business School Executive Education.
John’s ongoing passion for education began when he raised $6.5 million to build one of the first charter schools approved by Aurora Public Schools. Previously, John established the $10M Goodwill Endowment Fund in his role as VP of Marketing for Goodwill Industries.
In addition to other volunteer efforts across metro Denver, John and his husband Paul Heitzenrater grow and donate more than 2,000 pounds of produce every year. He was recently named 2024 9News Leader of the Year in Denver.