The Backyard

Coming soon

The Backyard will open at CSU Spur in Summer 2023.

This outdoor space features landscape architecture depicting the watersheds of Colorado, and allows visitors to enjoy a break in the Colorado sunshine while connecting them with educational opportunities and rotating interactive programming.

In addition to all that The Backyard has to offer, the space parallels the South Platte River, where restoration and new riverfront offerings, including walking paths and an amphitheater, are under development. It’s an easy walk down to the river from The Backyard to explore one of Colorado’s most important waterways.

The Backyard is also home to one of CSU Spur’s eight art installations, titled Crescendo, made up of large concrete waves, designed and installed by local artist Nikki Pike.

A person in a hard hat steps over the side of a piece of an art installation.

A large piece of an art installation is lifted by a crane.

Two pieces of an art installation sit on the ground.

A person in a hard hat leans against a piece of an art installation.

Several pieces of an art installation lined up back to back.

A piece of an art installation is lifted by a crane.

Hours

—Monday-Friday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
—2nd Saturday of every month: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (closed all other Saturdays)
—Closed Sundays

Location

4777 National Western Dr.,
Denver, CO 80216

CSU System | CSU in Fort Collins | CSU Pueblo | CSU Global

KAREN ROTER DAVIS

Managing Partner, Entrada Ventures

Karen Roter Davis is a technology executive, investor, and board member, passionate about driving innovation that energizes and transforms companies from early-stage start-ups to global leaders. She is currently a Managing Partner at Entrada Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund, where she invests in enterprise and industrial technology companies.

Karen spent over a decade in various senior positions at Alphabet, initially from 2003 to 2008, serving as a Principal in their New Business Development group, scaling its then early-stage businesses, as well as overseeing operations for the company’s groundbreaking 2004 IPO. Most recently, from 2017 until February 2022, Karen was Director of Early Stage Projects at X (formerly Google X), where she provided strategic direction and oversight for a portfolio of early-stage technology ventures.

Karen returned to Google in 2016 through Alphabet’s acquisition of Urban Engines, a SaaS geospatial analytics platform. Karen was the first business hire into the engineering-centric Urban Engines and established foundational business development, strategy, and operations functions as General Manager of Strategy and Business Operations.

Prior to joining Urban Engines, Karen was recruited by GE Digital to build software and analytics venture investing, M&A, and strategic partnerships to advance GE’s “Industrial Internet” (IoT, Industry 4.0) capabilities across its multi-billion dollar industrial businesses.

In addition to her executive experience, Karen has held multiple board and advisory engagements, including her service as a Board Director of Innovyze, a global leader in water software analytics, acquired in March 2021 by Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK). She is certified in Cybersecurity Oversight by Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute and the National Association of Corporate Directors. She also serves on Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Carbon Initiative Impact Committee.

Karen earned her M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, and her B.A. from Princeton University’s School of Public & International Affairs. She is a former Adjunct Professor of Business of Innovation at Northwestern University, a frequent author and speaker on a variety of innovation topics, a patent inventor, and a singer and songwriter.

WILL SARNI

Founder and CEO, Water Foundry

Will Sarni is the founder and CEO of Water Foundry a water strategy consultancy. He is also the Founder and General Partner of The Future of Water Fund, a water technology venture fund focused on addressing water scarcity, quality and equitable access to water. He has been a sustainability and water strategy advisor to multinationals, water technology companies, investors, and non-governmental organizations for his entire career.

Prior to Water Foundry, he was a managing director at Deloitte Consulting where he established and led the water strategy practice. He was the founder and CEO of DOMANI, a sustainability strategy firm, prior to Deloitte.

Will is an internationally recognized thought leader on water strategy and innovation. He was ranked as; A Key Player Pressuring Businesses to Care About Water and one of the Top 15 Interviews In Smart Water Magazine 2019. Sarni is the author numerous publications on water strategy and innovation including the following books.

“Corporate Water Strategies” (Earthscan 2011, and in Chinese by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press 2013)
“Water Tech – A Guide to Investment, Innovation and Business Opportunities in the Water Sector” (Sarni, W. and Pechet, T., Routledge 2013)
“Beyond the Energy – Water – Food Nexus: New Strategies for 21^st Century Growth” (Dō Sustainability 2015)
“Water Stewardship and Business Value: Creating Abundance from Scarcity” (Sarni, W., and Grant, D., Routledge 2018)
“Creating 21st Century Abundance through Public Policy Innovation: Moving Beyond Business as Usual” (Sarni, W. and Koch, G., Greenleaf Publishing 2018)
“Digital Water: New Technologies for a More Resilient, Secure and Equitable Water Future” (Routledge, 2021).

He is also the co-author, with Tony Dunnigan, of a children’s book on water, “Water, I Wonder” (Outskirts Press, September 2022).

Sarni is a co-founder of WetDATA and a host of the podcast, The Stream with Will and Tom. He is a board member of Silver Bullet, Project WET and the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club. He was the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for the WAITRO Global Water Innovation Summit 2020 and was on the Scientific Program Committee for Stockholm World Water Week from 2013 through 2019. His advisory work includes working with the 2020 X-PRIZE (Infinity Water Prize), as a Bold Visioneer for the 2016 X-PRIZE Safe Drinking Water Team and a Technical Advisor for the Climate Bonds Initiative: Nature- Based Solutions for Climate and Water Resilience. He is also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Water Security.

STEPHEN ROE LEWIS

Governor of the Gila River Indian Community

Stephen Roe Lewis was raised in Sacaton, “Gu-u-Ki”, on the Gila River Indian Community. His father is the late Rodney Lewis and mother Willardene Lewis. Mr. Lewis has a son, Daniel currently attending Arizona State University.

Mr. Lewis is in his third term serving as Governor of the Community, having previously served as Lt. Governor. Prior to serving in elected leadership, Governor Lewis served the Community as a member of the Board of Directors for the Gila River Healthcare Corporation, as a Gaming Commissioner for the Gila River Gaming Commission, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Gila River Telecommunications, Inc..

Stephen Roe Lewis graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s of Science and pursued graduate studies at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Governor Lewis currently oversees the implementation of the Community’s Water Settlement of 2004 (at that time the largest water settlement of its kind in United States history). Governor Lewis advocates for renewable and green technologies guided by O’odham agricultural history and cultural teachings. Governor Lewis’s vision is to support a new generation of Community member agriculturalists with the goal of promoting and protecting the Community’s shudag (water) and agricultural development.

During his tenure as Governor of the Gila River Indian Community, Governor Lewis has brought innovative solutions to long-standing issues that will create long-term gains for the Gila River Indian Community. One of these projects, Management Aquifer Recharge sites, brings together the need for access to water while restoring the return of the Community’s riparian area which is vital for farming and the return of wildlife to the Community. Bringing back the Gila River, which is critical to the culture and identify of the Gila River Indian Community, has been a key milestone during Governor Lewis’ Administration and one that will lay the foundation for future projects across the Community.

In addition, Governor Lewis’ innovation can be seen in his approach to providing educational opportunities for the youth of the Gila River Indian Community. The Community was the first tribal community in the Nation to utilize the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to create a program that revolutionzied how infrastructure is constructed and maintained throughout Indian Country. This program, the Section 105(l) program was utilized for education construction in the Community, and the Community is working to expand the uses of the program to other infrastructure in the Community and throughout Indian Country.

Governor Lewis has also prioritized the Community’s Veterans and youth by working to establish the Community’s first Veteran’s and Family Services Department and by committing more resources to protect the Community’s children by advocating for the protection of the Indian Child Welfare Act both at home and nationally.

These projects illustrate the commitment that Governor Lewis has to respecting the history and culture of the community while providing for a brighter future for all of the Community’s citizens.

In addition to his leadership in the Community, Governor Lewis has worked on numerous political campaigns and organizing projects throughout Indian Country including serving as an elector for the 2020 Presidential election and selected as an Arizona delegate and Co-Chair of the Native American Caucus for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Governor Lewis was the first Native film curator for the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and was an Associate Producer for the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed TBS six-part feature documentary, “The Native Americans.”

Governor Lewis proudly serves as the Secretary of the National Congress of American Indians, President of the Arizona State University’s American Indian Policy Institute Board of Directors, on the Executive Board for the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), and on the Board of Trustees for the Heard Museum of Phoenix.

Coming soon

Hours

—Monday-Friday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
—2nd Saturday of every month: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (closed all other Saturdays)
—Closed Sundays

Location

4777 National Western Dr.,
Denver, CO 80216

GLORIA MONTAÑO GREENE

JAIME VIENNEAU

GILI ELKIN

JOHN TRACY

BENNY CHEFETZ

SYLVAIN FABI

TONY FRANK

JOCELYN HITTLE

ROBERTO SALMON

EDWARD DRUSINA

STEVEN BARTON

JAY FAMIGLIETTI

MICHAEL WEBSTER

KATE GREENBERG

TY SMITH

KAREN ROTER DAVIS

WILL SARNI

KEVIN O’DONNELL

ROBERT SAKATA

STEPHEN ROE LEWIS

CODY DESAUTEL

NATHAN MATTHEW

JENNIFER GIMBEL

ANGELA BRICMONT

MAURA BARRY

ANA MARGARIDA LUÍS

HAPPY HAYNES

JENI ARNDT

Coming soon

Hours

—Monday-Friday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.—2nd Saturday of every month: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (closed all other Saturdays)—Closed Sundays

Location

4777 National Western Dr., Denver, CO 80216

GLORIA MONTAÑO GREENE

JAIME VIENNEAU

GILI ELKIN

JOHN TRACY

BENNY CHEFETZ

SYLVAIN FABI

TONY FRANK

JOCELYN HITTLE

ROBERTO SALMON

EDWARD DRUSINA

STEVEN BARTON

JAY FAMIGLIETTI

MICHAEL WEBSTER

KATE GREENBERG

TY SMITH

KAREN ROTER DAVIS

WILL SARNI

KEVIN O’DONNELL

ROBERT SAKATA

STEPHEN ROE LEWIS

CODY DESAUTEL

NATHAN MATTHEW

JENNIFER GIMBEL

ANGELA BRICMONT

MAURA BARRY

ANA MARGARIDA LUÍS

HAPPY HAYNES

JENI ARNDT

—Monday-Friday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
—2nd Saturday of every month: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (closed all other Saturdays)
—Closed Sundays

4777 National Western Dr.,
Denver, CO 80216