Jill Terry grew up in the small rural community of Broadus, Mt. It was a place where everyone knew everyone else and when hardships came – be it drought or personal tragedy – the entire community faced it all together.
Terry’s view of community and an innate desire to guide others has propelled her through institutions of higher education across the United States. No matter the location, her work is centered on fixing what’s broken and helping high achievers reach their goals.
“I am always focused on how I can best support business,” she said.
She now serves as the Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs at Colorado State University’s College of Business. She oversees a large, revenue-generating operation within the confines of an academic institution and is responsible for the graduate degree programs at the COB, including the Executive MBA that is offered in downtown Denver using a blended-delivery format designed for working professionals; an Evening MBA program offered on campus in Fort Collins; and our Global Social Sustainable Enterprise (GSSE) Program that has delivered solutions to global issues for over a decade.
Before coming to Colorado, she was an Assistant Dean at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.
While there she developed global marketing, recruiting and admissions initiatives and built customized programs, and cultivated positive relationships with corporate leaders at Fortune 500 firms and multinational companies including Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, GE, IBM, and Corning to secure internships and career placements for MBA graduates.
Terry has a passion for transforming organizations, improving operations, fixing under-performing systems, and getting the right people in the right roles and identifying market strategies for new and existing products.
In addition to all that, Terry sits on the boards for Colorado Companies to Watch,, the Denver World Trade Center and Rockies Venture Club. Serving with these organizations offers her the opportunity to engage in supporting the economic growth of the state.
“CCTW felt like a natural fit, between the type of people I served with the MBA programs and these companies that need business acumen,” she said.
Terry started out as a judge with CCTW. She has since joined the CCTW board and serves as the non-profit’s secretary.
She called the judging process, which involves selecting the top 50 nominees for CCTW’s annual awards, an intense and fun challenge.
“You spend an intense day reviewing the profiles of 100 different companies, and you have to analyze quickly who fits through this process to get to the top 50,” she said. “It is inspiring.”
The judging process allows her to get to know and interact with a wide range of companies.
“Judging l introduces you to a hundred new companies, many of which you have never seen or interacted with. You have the opportunity to get to know what’s going on in Colorado and it gives you a deep view of what’s going on in the state.”
Though she has worked with top companies and leading executives across the U.S., Terry said Colorado is a special place for business.
“The environment here is much more entrepreneurial, less hierarchal and that means you can get things done,” she said.
Her future plans are much like the path she has followed since her childhood in Montana:
“I want to continue in a role that lets me serve and support others,” she said.