Representative Sue Schafer
Sue Schafer is a career educator, small business owner, mother, grand-mother, and has worked as an educational consultant to improve low-performing schools. Her diverse professional background in both the public and private sectors enables her to understand the needs and hopes of all Colorado citizens. This has helped her to serve as House District 24's State Representative at the capitol since 2009.
Born in Portland, Maine of working-class parents, Sue was raised with three core American values: work hard, attain excellent education, and give back to the community. Sue’s father was a WWII veteran and her mother was a school secretary. Although her parents never had a college education nor owned a home, they insisted that Sue work nights and weekends at the local telephone company so she could attend college and reach her potential.
Sue earned a B.S. degree in secondary education from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, a Master’s of Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Counseling/Psychology, a Doctor of Education from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Principal’s License from Colorado State University.
Sue’s career has included teaching social studies and French in the Denver Public Schools, counseling high school and community college students for academics and employment in the Omaha Public Schools and Skagit Valley Community College in Mt. Vernon, Washington, and serving as the curriculum director and accreditation manager at the Colorado Department of Education for twenty years. Sue has also been joint owner of a physicians' medical practice, a wheat farm, and an educational consulting firm.
As the mother of two married daughters who graduated from the University of Colorado, Sue is passionate about guiding and protecting children, providing them with quality health care, and helping them plan careers, buy a home, and invest for a secure retirement. Sue lives with her life partner of twenty years and their rescued dog and cat.
Sue serves as a volunteer and advocate for many causes: West Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise Wheat Ridge, League of Women Voters, Human Rights Campaign, and the Wheat Ridge Congregational Church.
Sue will continue to use her experience and skills to improve the educational, economic, environmental, and health care opportunities for all Colorado citizens. Sue has proved that she is “of the people, by the people, and for the people”! (A. Lincoln)
