Rachel Zenzinger, Mayor Pro Tem and Councilmember for District 1

Rachel Zenzinger was named Mayor Pro Tem in November 2011. Since moving to Arvada in 2002 and prior to taking her seat on the Arvada City Council in 2009, she served the community in many capacities. She was a member of the Arvada Council for the Arts and Humanities, and she sat on the Citizens’ Arvada Capital Improvement Project Committee. She is also a member of the Arvada Jefferson Kiwanis and a graduate of the Transit Alliance Citizens’ Academy.

In her role as member of the Arvada City Council, she serves as treasurer of the Denver Regional Council of Governments. She is the city's representative on both the metro area’s Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, and the Jefferson County Child and Youth Leadership Commission. She also sits on the APEX Coordinating Committee, the Gold Line Advisory Committee, the Jeffco Transportation Action & Advisory Group, and the R1 Coordinating Committee in which she serves as a liaison between the city and the Jefferson County School District.

She has vigorously engaged in those volunteer efforts while raising her two young children, Sophia and Olivia. She works for Regis University as program coordinator of the Master of Arts in Education program at Regis College. She has also worked in various non-profit positions, including most recently as executive assistant to the chief operating officer of Catholic Charities, and before that as a resource developer for Catholic Charities.

She earned her graduate degree at Regis University with a Master of Arts in Adult Learning and Training. She graduated with honors from Regis University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in education and a Colorado State Secondary Teaching License.

Rachel was born and raised in Western Colorado and moved to the Front Range to attend college. She was awarded the Regis University Community Service award and inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society. In 2011, the Arvada Chamber of Commerce recognized her as one of the organization’s “Young Professional of the Year,” and in 2012, she was named “Woman of the Year” by the Northwest Business and Professional Women organization.