2025 Gala

Denise Burgess is the President and CEO of Burgess Services, Inc., a Denver-based construction management firm. In 2017, she became the first African American Board Chair of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. She has been recognized among the Top 25 Most Powerful Women by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce and received the Davide E. Baily Small Business Advocate Award, among others.

After earning a journalism degree from the University of Northern Colorado and beginning her career in broadcast management, Denise joined her father, Clyde Burgess, at the family’s HVAC business in 1994. Following his passing, she transformed the company into a nationwide construction management firm and
earned a construction management certificate from the University of Denver.

Under her leadership, Burgess Services has delivered major projects including the Denver Justice Center and the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport—the latter awarded in 2017 as a $39 million contract, the largest of its kind to a woman- and minority-owned firm in Denver. The company continues work across Colorado with clients like the City of Aspen, City of Denver, and University of Colorado Boulder.

Denise attributes her success to strong support from family, her team, and her community, and remains deeply committed to giving back to Denver both personally and professionally.

Robert F. Smith is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. Vista currently manages equity capital commitments of over $100Bn and oversees a portfolio of over 90 enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled companies. Since Vista’s inception, Smith has supervised over 600 completed transactions representing more than $320 billion in aggregate transaction value. In 2023, Vista was named Global Technology Private Equity Firm of the Year by Private Equity International.

In 2017, Smith was named by Forbes as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds. 

Smith is the founding director and President of the Fund II Foundation, dedicated to preserving the African American experience, safeguarding human rights, providing music education, preserving the environment while promoting the benefits of the outdoors, and sustaining critical American values.

In 2017, Smith signed on to the Giving Pledge. As part of his philanthropic commitment, he gave $20 million to the National Museum of African American History and Culture – the museum’s largest gift by an individual donor at the time.