Linda Childears

Linda Childears retired from the Daniels Fund on April 30, 2020, after serving as its President and CEO for 15 years. Bill Daniels appointed her a trustee of his estate and named her to the original Daniels Fund Board of Directors. Her leadership reflected her strong dedication to honoring Bill Daniels’ philanthropic intent. Under Linda’s leadership, the organization grew from $1 billion to $1.5 billion, after distributing approximately $1 billion in grants and scholarships.

Linda met Bill Daniels when he hired her company, The Financial Consortium, to help overcome the unprecedented operational, legal, and regulatory challenges of opening Young Americans Bank, his bank for kids. The one-of-a-kind bank required 16 regulatory exceptions. By the time of the bank’s grand opening in August 1987, Linda had accepted Bill’s offer to become its President & CEO.

Prior to Young Americans, Linda spent twenty years in banking as President of Equitable Bank of Littleton and Vice President of First National Bancorporation, working with 16 affiliate banks. She served as a board member of Colorado Bankers Association, Graduate School of Banking at Colorado, and Colorado Student Loan Program, and was Chairman of the American Bankers Association Education Foundation. Linda has served on the boards of six banks, most recently Alpine Banks of Colorado.

Linda serves as Chair of the Firefly Autism Board, and on the boards of Warren Village, Scouting Colorado, and Intermountain Health Peaks Region Board. She has served on over 30 state/local boards and five national boards and chaired ten of them. She has received several honors including most recently the Outstanding Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award from the Denver Business Journal. Linda has received honorary doctorate degrees from Johnson & Wales University and the University of Denver.

Linda attended the University of Denver and the University of Colorado. She graduated from the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, Wisconsin.