Moira Cullen, Founding Partner

mcullen@capstonegroupllc.com
303.860.0555

Moira Cullen specializes in advocating for education reform, higher education, non-profit advocacy, mental health, human services and children’s policy issues. She has over a decade of experience in coalition-building, grassroots strategies and in the creation of essential partnerships between state/local agencies and key public and private interest stakeholders.

Ms. Cullen’s successes include:

• Spearheaded the creation of new literacy benchmarks and intervention strategies for children in Colorado’s public education system to ensure all third graders are adequately literate. Moira engaged all stakeholders from school districts to education reform organizations to develop a bill with unprecedented support from all education interests.
• Stabilizing funding for Colorado’s community colleges to ensure that they maintain their mission as the gateway to higher education for Colorado’s citizens.
• Legislation to provide oversight and accountability of K-12 online programs while ensuring that online education remains a viable option for at-risk students.
• Passing legislation to create a $12 million, results-based pilot program to provide mental health services to abused children and their siblings.
• Advancing a “fifth year” pilot program aimed at keeping students engaged in high school and post-secondary education.
• Legislation to expand mental health insurance coverage.
• Passage of SB 10-191 by Senator Johnston and Spence & Representative Scanlan and Murray, a bill to help ensure there are effective teachers and leaders in schools, marking a significant milestone in the education reform movement. Moira took a lead role in passing SB 10-191, which was hailed as a national model for educator effectiveness legislation.
• Passage of a bill authorizing community colleges to offer AA and AS degrees with academic designations, adding specificity to the community college degree and better positioning students to transfer to 4-year colleges or enter the workforce.
• Passage of a bill that created seamless pathways to the baccalaureate degree for students who begin their postsecondary education at community colleges by eliminating unnecessary administrative processes and creating at least 10 new degree pathways, thereby easing the transfer process for many non-traditional, low-income, and at-risk students around the state.

Prior to establishing The Capstone Group, Ms. Cullen served as the Legislative Liaison at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, where she worked on a wide range of issues, including air and water quality, child immunizations and regulation of health facilities. Ms. Cullen also spent three years at the Colorado Children’s Campaign as the Director of Public Affairs, where she lobbied on child health, early childhood education and education reform legislation. While at the Children’s Campaign, Ms. Cullen developed an innovative statewide grassroots initiative, working in local communities to dramatically increase interest in children’s issues and motivate active participation in policy decisions impacting children.

Ms. Cullen moved to Colorado after graduating with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia. She earned her Masters degree at Colorado State University and worked with at-risk youth, leading to a decision to enter the government relations field in order to impact change at a statewide level. Ms. Cullen currently serves as the State Director for Democrats for Education Reform-Colorado. She also serves as Chair of the Board of Strive Preparatory Schools.