She has pushed the envelope, colored outside the lines and reached some creative business and philanthropic solutions by thinking outside the box. Which made Caz Matthews the perfect choice for Urban Peak’s Maverick Thinker Award, an honor she accepted at a dinner chaired by Marti Awad, Leanna Clark and Dr. Dean Prina. Matthews landed in Colorado 11 years ago to be president of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado and Nevada. She also was president of the WellPoint Foundation and of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, where she was AtlantaBiz magazine’s Business Diva of the Year in 2006.
Urban Peak and its focus on helping homeless youths overcome real- life challenges caught her eye early on, and supporting it became one of her priorities. She also was the founding chair of the Mile High United Way Women’s Leadership Council and created the Matthews Match Fund to promote women’s philanthropic leadership.
She can be tough as nails when the occasion demands, but she’s also a compassionate, understanding and giving friend.
“Caz makes you feel special, regardless of who you are, where you come from or what you’re going though,” observed CBS4’s Gloria Neal, whose friendship with Matthews began in 2009, when Matthews was receiving the Athena Award and Neal was mistress of ceremonies. “She sees things you can’t see and gives you the confidence to do it.”
Or, as RTL Networks president Rich Lewis put it: “Caz sees things so clearly she may be Urban Peak’s first maverick clairvoyant.”
Those lavishing praise — in person, by letter or on video — included Gov. John Hickenlooper, U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette and Ed Perlmutter, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall; former Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter; and Matthews’ boyfriend of seven years, Jim Polsfut.
Members of Matthews’ family came from England and Washington to join a crowd of well-wishers that also included United Way president Christine Benero and vice president Michael Niyom-pong; Jamie VanLeeuwen, the governor’s senior policy adviser; Aaron Serna, who is with the governor’s office of legislative affairs; Urban Peak chief executive Kay Ramachandran; board chair Todd Fredrickson; Deana Perlmutter; Gerald Moore; Helen Drexler; Patricia Barela Rivera; Gary Mobell; Dawn Fay and Garrett Ammon from Ballet Nouveau Colorado; attorneys Hubert Farbes and Willie Shepherd; and previous award recipients Rich Rainaldi, Martha Records, Anne Warhover, Judi Wagner and Sam Gary.
Coming right up
The 10th annual Centus Samaritan Luncheon, at 11 a.m. Thursday at the PPA Event Center, 2105 Decatur St., honors Larry Graham, a professor at Iliff School of Theology, for his work on behalf of families affected by war.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
