Attention: This is not a current document. It is an excerpt from the Web page of the former Colorado governor, Roy Romer. It is displayed by the Colorado State Archives for its historical value.

Colorado's first lady, Bea Romer, is a recognized leader in the field of family and children's issues both in Colorado and nationally. An early childhood and family life advocate and educator in her own right, she also chairs First Impressions, Governor Roy Romer's initiative on families and children.

Through projects such as "Read to Me, Colorado" and the Colorado Initiative for Family Learning, Mrs. Romer has taken the lead in making family literacy a priority for Colorado. She is active in Bright Beginnings, a non-governmental initiative to help communities organize support for new families, founded by Gov. Romer and the late Brad Butler, the former chairman of the board at Procter and Gamble. The initiative seeks to help make Colorado the best place to raise a child by providing "Warm Welcome" home visits to new parents, universal health care and quality and affordable child care for all children.

On a national level, Mrs. Romer serves on the boards of the Child Care Action Campaign, the Family Resource Coalition of America and the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (H.I.P.P.Y. USA). She has previously served as a member-at-large on the governing board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and has sat on the National Head Start Fellowship Review Committee.

Mrs. Romer initiated and chairs the Colorado Women's Health Campaign, part of the Governors' Spouses Program, National Women's Health Campaign. The Colorado campaign, "Good Health for Women is Everyone's Business," is designed to raise awareness about disease prevention and health promotion for women.

Mrs. Romer has a bachelor's degree in child development from Colorado State University in Fort Collins and holds a master's degree in educational psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is certified as a family life specialist by the National Council on Family Relations.

In her early career, Mrs. Romer founded the Montview Community Preschool in central Denver. The preschool is known in the Denver area as a progressive learning institution.

Gov. and Mrs. Romer live in Denver. They have seven children and 16 grandchildren. Mrs. Romer was born in 1929 and grew up in Laramie, Wyoming. She moved to Colorado when she was 18 years old.

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Last modified June 19, 2003