PRESS CONTACT
John Eding, Manager of Communications and PR
303-594-2133 | john.eding@state.co.us

Winchell has more than 25 years of leadership, finance, accounting, budget, procurement, and human resources experience, working for the public and private sectors in such roles as the Controller/Budget Director for the Governor’s Office from 2014 to 2016, Chief Financial Officer for the Adams County 14 School District, and Financial Reporting Specialist in the mutual fund industry.

A fourth-generation Coloradan, Winchell serves as the president of the State Employees Leading Colorado (SELC) organization (formerly known as the Colorado Fiscal Managers Association) and is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association. From Regis University she holds a Master of Business Administration in finance and a dual Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance, with a minor in banking. December 10 was her first day at History Colorado.

Winchell will oversee the Finance, Facilities, Information Technology, and Human Resources departments in her role. She succeeds Michelle Zale, who provided 25 years of service to the State of Colorado, and was Controller for the Governor's Office prior to joining History Colorado in 2014. During five years at History Colorado, Zale spearheaded organizational advancements overseen by a new Board of Directors created in 2015, leading History Colorado’s budget out of an annual deficit into a modest surplus. Under Zale’s leadership, History Colorado had no audit findings for three fiscal years.

Additional Hires
Alyssum Skjeie is the new director of El Pueblo History Museum. Skjeie succeeds Dawn DiPrince, who was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of History Colorado earlier this year. Formerly the Program Manager at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Architectural Center, Skjeie spent eight years at the Carnegie Museum of Art. She holds a Master of Architectural History degree from the University of Virginia.

History Colorado’s new John W. Emery Family Assistant Curator of Oral History is Rachael Beyer. Now in her second month, Beyer is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Delaware and a Fellow in the Hagley Program in the History of Capitalism, Technology, and Culture there.

The appointments of Beyer, Skjeie, and Winchell complete a year of more than a dozen significant hirings for positions including Associate Curator of Archaeology and Ethnology; Collections Manager; Digital Content Manager; Digital Imaging Manager; Education Coordinator; Gallery Manager; Preservation Communications Manager; Public Program and Events Manager; and, at the Stephen H. Hart Research Center, Manager as well as Collections Access Coordinator.

Also, Eric Carpio—director of History Colorado’s Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center—was promoted to Deputy Community Museum Officer in October and named Senior Fellow for Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion for the American Association of Museums’ Facing Change initiative.

Among the positions that History Colorado will fill in 2020 are Assistant Curator of Archives and Photography; Associate Curator of Hispanic, Latino and Chicano History and Culture; Digital Marketing Manager; IT Strategist; a temporary Business and Industry Curator; and an additional major curatorial post to be announced in January. History Colorado job opportunities are posted on the state jobs portal here.

About History Colorado
Inclusive, values-driven, and intentional, History Colorado has become a force for finding new ways to serve people in Colorado. In 2018 History Colorado provided programs to more than 18,000 students in their own schools, and assisted more than 40 schools with bus funds, to expand efforts that now serve more than 85,000 students annually. Its all-day Hands-On History program at El Pueblo History Museum responds to the four-day school week that is now administered by 61% of Colorado school districts.

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and nine other museums and historic attractions statewide. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information.

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