Brenda Bautsch Dickhoner, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Ready Colorado, an education advocacy organization.

Brenda has spent her career working in education policy at the national and state level. Recently, she served as the Mike A. Leprino Free Enterprise Fellow at Common Sense Institute where she examined the impact various education policies have on the Colorado economy and individual opportunity. Brenda has previously served as a policy expert at the Colorado Department of Education, helping design and implement programs to improve the state’s lowest performing schools and districts. Prior to CDE, Brenda supported education policy efforts at the Colorado Department of Higher Education and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Brenda earned a Ph.D. in Public Policy at the University of Colorado Denver's School of Public Affairs and studied political science as an undergraduate at Duke University. Brenda serves as the Chair of the board of directors for the Charter School Institute, the statewide authorizer for public charter schools. In 2021, Governor Jared Polis appointed Brenda as a member of his Education Leadership Council.

She and her husband live in Littleton with their two young boys. They are avid fans of skiing, rafting, biking and, in general, exploring the beautiful state of Colorado.