Christina Carlson '93 is the 2024 Distinguished Alum

This year's Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is Christina Carlson '93, the CEO of Urban Peak.

Ms. Carlson was on campus for Ethics Day 2024, and students listened to her keynote remarks at an all-school assembly that opened the day. Ms. Carlson also sat down with Head of School David Braemer to talk about her time as a student at Kent Denver and how it inspired her career journey and commitment to service. Read below for a preview of her conversation with David Braemer.

David Braemer: Christina, clearly you've had a tremendous career, and you still have a lot of runway ahead of you. When you think about service and your commitment, where does that stem from, and how does it tie to your experience that you had here on this campus?

Christina Carlson '93: What really kicked off service for me was the requirement to graduate that was a certain number of volunteer hours. And I took that really seriously. I don't know why, but I completed all of my volunteer hours in one summer before I was a junior in high school, and it really set me on a path to think about what I wanted to do. The graduation requirement sort of kicked me into wanting to do it, and I'm so grateful for that.

My first volunteer job was at Warren Village, and Warren Village works with mostly single women coming out of having experienced homelessness. They provide housing and childcare. And then in college, I worked with migrant children that were working on the various farms in the Willamette Valley. I think that starting here [at Kent Denver] and feeling lucky to have so much really made me realize how important it is for someone with so much privilege and so much access to give back.

DB: When you think about some of the people—the teachers, the coaches—are there any individuals in particular who stand out, whose impact really helped shape the course of you and who you've become?

CC: Yes. I am so lucky. I mean, my mom [Hilary Carlson] was working here for such a long time. She is the smartest, most dynamic, interesting person. When you need advice, you should call her. She's really good. Mrs. D'Antoni was my English teacher, and she believed that I could read and that I could do the things in school that I didn't think I could do. When I was a junior, she would say, “When you go to college…” and I would think, “I'm never going to go to college. School has been way too hard.” But she changed my perspective.

DB: And how about your experiences as a student here?

CC: Playing sports was really good for me. I loved playing sports. I'm competitive. I think it's why I raised money for so long. As you know, we like to win. So playing field hockey and lacrosse was really meaningful for me. And it gave me some structure and expectations that I think I wouldn't have had. I've always had a little bit of the wild child on my side, and so playing sports created a lot of structure and community that was good for me. 

DB: Clearly community means a lot to you. You’ve spoken of the sense of community growing up here at Kent Denver or the communities that you've been a part of, both in college and in going forward in your career. How do you define community?

CC: I love that question because I think it changes for me day to day. I think community is about where do you feel safe? Where do you feel connected? Are there people who you can relate to, and can they hold you accountable, and can you hold them accountable? And also, how does it feel safe? And I think my time at Urban Peak has really taught me how important safety and connection is, particularly for youth.

To hear more from Christina Carlson ’93, watch her full interview with David Braemer. You can also watch highlights from Ethics Day 2024, which includes part of her speech to students.