Outstanding Colorado State University graduates and friends will be honored at the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner on April 18, 2009.
Brenda Davis, business administration ’80, global chief information and change initiatives officer for MolsonCoors Brewing Company, received the College of Business Honor Alumna award. Davis is responsible for MolsonCoors Brewing Company's information technologies, as well as the Corporate Program Management Office. She has a proven track record as a senior executive in both technology and business roles. She has worked in the oil and gas industry where she was accountable for supporting all facets of United States and international accounting, tax and financial systems. At Electronic Data Systems she developed technology solutions to solve business issues for General Motors.
A suggestion from a Colorado State professor put Brenda Davis on the path to her dream job. “Twenty-five years ago, I was finance major and he talked me into changing to information technologies,” says Davis.“It’s proven to be the best decision I ever made. I get to be creative, work with teams of great people and drive business value all at the same time.”
Davis now lives in southwest Denver with her husband Bill, and they have two daughters, Lauren and Hope. She held several jobs in other industries before signing on with Coors 16 years ago and is now an integral part of the company’s growth. A merger two years ago with Canadian brewer Molson Inc. has turned Molson Coors into a $6 billion company with major operations in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and markets in the Caribbean and Asia.
Her CSU roots still strong, Davis wants to help today’s students understand that information technology as an exciting career choice. “IT student enrollment is down due to the myth that IT careers are all outsourced or it means sitting behind a computer screen all day,” she says. “The message that the field is both lucrative and potentially creative needs to be targeted at both college-bound students and parents of high schoolers.”
From her office in downtown Denver, Davis continues her involvement in Molson Coors’ growth.
“It’s an exciting time,” she says. “I’m living my dream job.”