Kevin Patterson headshot

Kevin Patterson

Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]

Kevin Patterson has served as Chief Executive Officer of Connect for Health Colorado since April of 2015. He previously served as chief administrative officer and interim chief of staff to Gov. John Hickenlooper and has an extensive history of public service. Kevin has served as the interim executive director of three state agencies during leadership transitions, the Governor’s Office of Information Technology, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and the Governor’s Energy Office. He brings a strong understanding of state government and stakeholder engagement to this role. Kevin has held leadership roles for the city and county of Denver in the Budget Office, the Planning Department, the Department of Human Services, the Department of General Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation. He was elected to the Denver Board of Education in 2001 and reelected in 2005. Kevin graduated with a B.A. in Teaching from Sam Houston State University and holds both a Master’s of Public Administration and a Master’s of Urban Regional Planning from the University of Colorado at Denver.  He serves on the Denver Zoological Foundation’s Leadership Council, the Health subcommittee of the Rose Foundation, and serves as a board member on the Keystone Policy Center and Mile High United Way.


Brian Braun headshot

Brian Braun

Chief Financial Officer

Brian Braun joined Connect for Health Colorado in July of 2015 as Chief Financial Officer, leading the financial oversight for the organization. This includes management of budgeting and financial planning toward sustainability, and oversight of state and federal compliance measures. His previous work includes leadership roles as Chief Financial Officer for the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) and Policy Studies (acquired by Maximus). Braun holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wyoming and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado.


Kelly Davies headshot

Kelly Davies

Chief Product Officer

Kelly Davies is the Chief Product Officer at Connect for Health Colorado. In her role, Davies drives the development of new products and programs with a customer focus.

Davies has held a variety of roles within Connect for Health Colorado since joining the organization as a project and product manager in February 2015. As Director of Product Development, Davies helped lead several critical modernization initiatives such as redesigning the customer-facing application, building new plan shopping decision support tools and upgrading the customer relationship management tool. She also led the organization’s transformation from a waterfall design methodology to an agile shop that is focused on continuously producing value for users.

Davies is a member of the Customer Experience Program Advisory Board for the University of Colorado-Boulder Leeds School of Business. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Marquette University. Davies is also a certified DevOps Practitioner and Scrum Master.

Davies’ proudest professional achievement is getting to work alongside an amazing team of talented and caring people. She credits them with teaching her the importance of a healthy team culture and demonstrating that real leadership is not top-down or the responsibility of a single individual, but rather it is driven by those doing the work.


Kelly Guthner headshot

Kelly Guthner

Chief Innovation Officer

Kelly Guthner has 35 years of experience and operations in Information Technology and has expertise in designing, implementing and supporting the architecture, infrastructure, software design and systems that support secured multi-tenant private and public cloud based infrastructure and solutions. He has cyber security expertise in compliance which includes the design, implementation and operations of IT systems and software for the protection of systems responsible for the safe handling of data ranging from PII, PHI through DOE Classified. Kelly has worked for industry-leading companies including CSC, CH2MHILL, and Children’s Hospital, and has supported planning, implementation, and operations for large private, government, and medical organizations globally. His industry experience includes IT Department C Level Management, Enterprise Architecture and Cyber Security of Health Informatics, Department of Energy systems supporting nuclear weapons manufacturing, IT managed cloud services, implementation and operations. Expert knowledge in designing and implementing security solutions that meet Federal Security Guidelines and Regulations including NIST 800-53 rev 3 & 4, FISMA, HIPAA, IRS-1075, CMS Safeguards for the CMS ACA Network and HITECH. Deep technical experience with network designs, server systems, modernization of enterprise IT systems, modernization of existing legacy systems, integration and implementation for central and decentralized computing facilities, cyber security with implementation and migration of private and public XaaS solutions. Experience in aligning IT Organizations and Systems with theITIL and MITA best business practices and frameworks. Experience in adopting Balance Score Card and supporting Earned Value.


Renata Robinson headshot

Dr. T. Renata Robinson

Chief Human Resources and
Training Officer

Dr. T. Renata Robinson joined Connect for Health Colorado as the Chief Human Resources Officer in May 2022. Over the past two decades, Dr. Robinson has served as a Human Resources executive at global Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and small non-profits and start-ups. Most recently, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer of Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.

Her expertise includes strategic people development, team management, organizational development, creating company visions and inspiring double-digit revenue growth by advancing inclusive and equitable workplace practices. She calls on her diverse professional experiences to train leaders in shaping high-performing cultures where everyone—regardless of identity— feels included, welcomed and valued.

Dr. Robinson is a member of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership, a Master of Art in Organizational Management and an Educational Doctorate of Organizational Management.

Dr. Robinson is devoted wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend and community leader. During her free time, she enjoys cooking and hosting events; a tried-and-true “people person.”


Alan Schmitz headshot

Alan Schmitz

General Counsel and
Chief Compliance Officer

Alan Schmitz is Connect for Health Colorado’s General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. With over thirty-five years’ experience in private practice, Alan maintains expertise in regulatory compliance and transactional matters for the insurance industry. He oversees the legal, audit, and privacy and security functions for Connect for Health Colorado. He also serves as the president of Colorado Connect, Connect for Health Colorado’s public benefit corporation and online platform.

A Colorado native, Schmitz earned a degree in Business & Finance from Colorado State University graduating in 1983. He obtained his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1986. Alan is a published author of a treatise for the insurance industry on the topic of market conduct oversight and a long-time member of the national Federation of Regulatory Counsel.


Nina Schwartz headshot

Nina Schwartz

Senior Director of Policy and
External Affairs

Nina Schwartz is the Senior Director of Policy and External Affairs for Connect for Health Colorado. She joined Connect for Health Colorado in October 2020. In her role, Schwartz leads the organization’s policy research and implementation team, outreach team, and government relations team.

Prior to joining Connect for Health Colorado, Schwartz worked for the state of Colorado in several roles, including positions as the Legislative Liaison and as Strategic Policy Manager for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Before moving to Colorado, Schwartz worked on health policy in Washington, D.C., advocating for passage of the Affordable Care Act, and as the health care legislative assistant for Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04).

Schwartz holds a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.


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Ezra Watland

Director of Marketing and
Communications Strategy

Ezra Watland is the Director of Marketing and Communications Strategy for Connect for Health Colorado. Watland has been with the organization since 2017. In his role, he oversees marketing and communications efforts and Broker and Assister relationships.

Watland has over a decade of experience in health policy implementation, with previous roles at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Enroll America and the U.S. House of Representatives prior to joining Connect for Health Colorado. Watland grew up in northern New Mexico, holds a bachelor’s degree from Adams State University in Alamosa and worked throughout southern Colorado before relocating to his current home in Denver.