As a first-generation college graduate and a woman who found early success in a male-dominated industry, Barbara Winter credits her career to the people who mentored and supported her along the way.
Now, more than 50 years after graduating from Colorado State University’s College of Business, Winter wants to “pay it forward.”
That’s what led her to fund a new scholarship aimed at supporting first-generation students at the College of Business who demonstrate leadership skills and “want to be our future’s leaders in various capacities,” she said.
Winter pledged $100,000 to fund the scholarship, which will be awarded to undergraduate students beginning in Fall 2023. Preference will be given to students who are members of the Dean’s Student Leadership Council or the Women in Business Association.
“People helped to make me a success, both personally and professionally and financially, and I believe we can do the same for others,” Winter said.
Mentors ‘set the stage’ for Winter’s successful career
One of those people in Winter’s life was Douglas Benton, a College of Business professor who helped her launch her career and inspired her well after graduation.
“I give him a lot of credit, because he’s the one that pushed me out of the school incubator into this whole world of interviewing, going through the recruitment process and actually getting hired,” she said. “To me, he really set the stage for my subsequent career.”
When Winter was a junior, Benton encouraged her to attend a career fair where companies would be doing summer employment interviews. She was reluctant — she had looked at the list of attending employers and wasn’t sure if she was interested in any of them — but he insisted.
“He said, ‘Well, you need to go, because you need experience in learning how to interview,’” Winter recalled.
She didn’t know it then, but it was a moment that would shape her career. At the event, she met with Colorado Interstate Gas Company and landed a summer job. After graduation, the Colorado Springs-based company hired her, and she stayed for 28 years, eventually becoming the company’s first female assistant vice president.
“Again, I would attribute my success there to having good mentors in my organization that supported me and helped me move up through the ranks over time,” she said.
Lessons in leadership
After a corporate merger led to Winter’s early retirement from Colorado Interstate Gas Company, she was offered the role of director of HR for Ent Credit Union, reporting to the chief operating officer. She was interested but had several reservations — primarily, that it would be a step down in title.
Winter had lobbied for a long time for the head of HR to have a seat at the table with the first line of officers at the company at Colorado Interstate Gas Company, and she wasn’t willing to give that up.
She expressed her concerns and thought that was the end of it, but to her surprise, Ent returned with a new offer: They would give her more money, make her a senior vice president and reorganize so she could report to the CEO, not the COO.
“You have to know where you’re at and where you want to be, and you have to know the right way to go about things to make progress,” Winter said. “Studies in leadership help you learn those kinds of skills in particular.”
Winter spent 18 years at Ent Credit Union, where she was promoted to executive vice president before retiring as the company’s chief community officer, a role in which she coordinated the company’s philanthropy program.
During her time at Ent, she was recognized across the region for her leadership skills and received several major business awards.
A lasting commitment to philanthropy
Winter’s final role at Ent — chief philanthropy and community officer — reflected her commitment to volunteering and giving back.
Over the years, she has served on the boards of a long list of nonprofits and organizations, work that she continues to do in retirement. She also served for six years on the board of the CSU Alumni Association, including one year as president.
“Serving on boards, particularly nonprofit boards, you see where the needs of organizations are,” Winter said. “In my Ent role in philanthropy, I saw the other end of the spectrum: how to make judicious grants to entities. So, I have seen the full gamut of how investment into organizations pays off, because I’ve seen it as a board member representing organizations and on the grantor side, seeing where’re best to place a philanthropic gift.”
The volunteer opportunities she seeks out often align with issues she’s passionate about: education, healthcare and financial literacy. She has a particular love of higher education and has spent significant time mentoring students.
“I know that I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today without my education or the people along the way,” Winter said.
It all comes back to her “pay it forward” mentality.
“By helping others, you’re exhibiting the gratitude you had for others that helped you,” she said.
About CSU’s College of Business
The College of Business at Colorado State University is focused on using business to create a better world.
As an AACSB-accredited business school, the College is among the top five percent of business colleges worldwide, providing programs and career support services to more than 2,500 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students. Faculty help students across our top-ranked on-campus and online programs develop the knowledge, skills and values to navigate a rapidly evolving business world and address global challenges with sustainable business solutions. Our students are known for their creativity, work ethic and resilience—resulting in an undergraduate job offer and placement rate of over 90% within 90 days of graduation.
The College’s highly ranked programs include its Online MBA, which has been ranked the No. 1 program in Colorado by U.S. News and World Report for six years running and achieved No. 16 for employability worldwide from QS Quacquarelli Symonds. The College’s Impact MBA is also ranked by Corporate Knights as a Top 20 “Better World MBA” worldwide.
