Cristal Torres DeHerrera
Board Member - Biennial of the Americas
Cristal Torres DeHerrera serves on the Board for the Biennial of the Americas. Previously, she was Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President of Denver International Airport (DEN) where she served on the executive management team. As the world’s third busiest airport by passenger traffic in 2022, DEN is Colorado’s largest economic engine with an annual economic impact of $36.4 billion and supports over 220,000 jobs. DEN has more than 37,000 badged employees, 23 air carriers, and serves as a major airline hub for United, Southwest, and Frontier.
As Chief of Staff, DeHerrera operationalized CEO Phil Washington’s Vision 100 strategic plan to ensure DEN is ready to meet an anticipated 100 million annual passengers by 2030, while preparing its workforce for the future. DeHerrera is a national thought leader and convener to advance women in aviation. She led airport-wide long-term strategic planning, annual business planning, and established key performance indicators to strengthen systems and improve customer and employee experiences. She directed crisis management, strategic business, and workforce development initiatives, including managing the team developing the first of its kind Center of Equity and Excellence in Aviation. She also led the airport’s external affairs division which includes all global government relations strategies and relationships, including the congressional delegation, airlines, industry groups, the business community, organized labor, public constituencies, and federal partners (USDOT, FAA, TSA, CBP).
Previously, Denver Mayor Hancock appointed DeHerrera to serve as Denver’s Deputy City Attorney, a post she held from 2014 to 2018, where she served as a key advisor to the mayor and managed one of the west’s largest public law offices. She partnered with the city CFO to organize, determine evaluation criteria for project selection, and navigated the political process for the $937M Elevate Denver, a 10-year general obligation bond program approved by voters, and led the development of the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund. She also streamlined city contracting, cutting legal processing time from an average 121 days to 37 days.
Prior to her career in public service, DeHerrera was a shareholder in the Corporate & Securities Group at the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP.
DeHerrera has received numerous distinctions. In 2022, DeHerrera graduated from the Eno Foundation’s Transportation Senior Executive Program and the Latinas First Foundation awarded her its Trailblazer Award. In 2021, the Denver Business Journal named her one of its Outstanding Women in Business recognizing her innovation, professional accomplishments, and community leadership. In 2020, the Colorado Black Round Table honored DeHerrera for her work with the African American business community. In 2019, the Airport Minority Advisory Council selected her to moderate the Airport Directors 20/20 Vision Forum discussion with airport CEOs at the Airport Business Diversity Conference. In 2017, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association honored DeHerrera with the Christopher A. Miranda Outstanding Hispanic Lawyer Award. In 2016, she received the Denver Bar Association’s Richard Marden Davis Award, presented to a lawyer who combines excellence as a lawyer with creative civic, cultural, educational, and charitable leadership. In 2015, the Colorado Women’s Bar Association honored DeHerrera with the Raising the Bar Award, Women to Watch: 5 Female Attorneys Who Will Make an Impact over the Next 10 Years. She also received the Denver Business Journal’s 40 under 40 award. In 2014, Law Week Colorado honored her as a “Compleat Lawyer” for her work.
