Welcome Manish Kumar, CPD's new executive director 

This month Manish Kumar started his position as the new executive director leading Denver's Community Planning and Development department. Manish is an established leader in the field who brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role. Before joining Mayor Johnston’s administration, Manish held a distinguished career as a United States Diplomat, successfully planning and managing over $6.5 billion projects across diverse global environments, including Haiti, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Colombia.

Prior to his diplomatic service, Manish honed his skills on high-profile and complex projects within the Regional Transportation District’s $5.4 billion Public-Private-Partnership FasTracks initiative, the Colorado Department of Transportation, and a private construction company. He also has on-the-ground experience, creating and managing the LHI Development Group, which has developed and renovated over 40 single-family, multi-family and commercial projects in the Denver region and San Francisco Bay Area.

Manish was born and raised in Denver and graduated from Cherry Creek High School. He studied civil engineering at CU Boulder before earning a master’s in civil and environmental engineering with an emphasis in construction management from Stanford University. Manish also holds an Executive MBA from Northwestern University and WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management.

“I could not be more thrilled to serve the people of Denver in this role. I believe my background helps me understand various perspectives held by the public, developers, contractors and policy makers. I also believe the Mayor’s goals to listen with humility, dare to be creative and deliver breakthrough solutions are the foundation of any successful department.

As such, we will integrate these critical goals in the development and permitting process to reduce city review time by at least 30 percent. Improving the customer service experience is paramount and I look forward to meeting many stakeholders in the months ahead and listening to everyone’s ideas.”