The Honorable Wellington E. Webb & Honorable Wilma J. Webb Human Investment Scholarship
Mayor Wellington E. Webb and First-Lady and former State Representative Wilma J. Webb are considered by many as one of the most dynamic, giving, and community centric political couples in the city of Denver, the state of Colorado, and the nation. Mayor Webb is a 1962 graduate of Northeastern Junior College. While at Northeastern, he was a member of the men’s basketball team where he established records playing as a power forward.
With strong roots mostly imbedded in Denver, both Wellington and Wilma have lived lives of purpose and passion as servant leaders. As a couple, they prioritize the health, safety, and well-being of local and global communities. They rank uplifting the variety of individuals who are woven into the fabric of communities as number one, with a keen emphasis on helping those whose life experiences have been met with challenge and impediments.
These priorities are a common lace throughout the multitudes of actions that both Wellington and Wilma have taken for more than half of a century to better laws, policies, and environments that greatly impact lives. Collectively, they have tirelessly aimed to eliminate injustices and frailties of society while acting to gird up the strength and well-being of the human spirit. It is with this backdrop that Wellington and Wilma provide resources for the Honorable Wellington E. Webb & Honorable Wilma J. Webb Human Investment Scholarship at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, a scholarship to be awarded on an annual basis to selected female and male student athletes who have need and who, through demonstrated action and declaration, prioritize the health, safety, and well-being of local and global communities and unconditionally seek to uplift others.
Wellington E. Webb Biography
Mayor Wellington E. Webb was born in Gary, Indiana. He later moved to Chicago, but in 1954 an asthmatic condition forced him to move to a dryer climate in Denver, Colorado. In Colorado, Mayor Webb received his B.A. from Colorado State College (now known as University of Northern Colorado) and his Master of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado. He received four Honorary Doctorate Degrees from the University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State College, University of Northern Colorado, and the American Baptist Seminary in Berkley, California. Prior to being elected mayor, he served in the Colorado State Legislature; was appointed a Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President Jimmy Carter; was appointed Executive Director of Colorado's Department of Regulatory Agencies under Governor Richard Lamm; and was elected Denver's city Auditor. His first career was as a teacher and then faculty member for the University of Colorado and Colorado State University.
Webb was elected as Denver’s 42nd Mayor in 1991. He is the city’s first African-American mayor. During his service, he helped to pull Denver from the economic challenges of 1991 to an investment of $7 billion in infrastructure when he left office in 2003. As mayor, he oversaw the completion of the $4 billion Denver International Airport, overseeing 85 percent of the construction and opening airport concession bids to all Colorado-owned businesses including women and minorities. Mayor Webb negotiated four new airline routes to serve Denver including British Airways, Lufthansa German Airlines, Mexican Airlines, and Korean Air. He focused on stimulating Denver’s economy by opening foreign trade offices in London, England; Shanghai, China; and Mexico City.
Mayor Webb and his administration coordinated the redevelopment of the former Stapleton International Airport, secured funding for a $300 million addition to the Colorado Convention Center, and led negotiations to construct the privately-publicly funded Hyatt Convention Center Hotel. As a huge proponent of open space, Mayor Webb led the redevelopment of the Central Platte Valley that includes professional sports venues, Six Flags Elitch Gardens, and community gardens and acres of city parks along the South Platte River. He additionally added more than 2,000 acres of new parks and open space to the city – the largest addition of park land by any mayor in Denver’s history.
As mayor, Webb convinced the city to create Denver Health Medical Authority in 1997. This move postured Denver Health to eliminate a cash deficit of $39 million. During his tenure, his hosted Pope John Paul II, welcomed President Clinton and eight world leaders at the Denver Summit of the Eight, and hosted visits of the Emperor and Empires of Japan, Prime minister of China and president of Ghana and Mozambique. He is the only mayor in U.S. history to serve as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Conference of Democratic Mayors and the National Conference of Black Mayors.
Mayor Webb currently serves as the founder and CEO of Webb Group International, a consulting firm that works with businesses and cities on economic development projects, public relations and other consulting areas. He serves on several local and national boards, is a member of the Denver Rotary, a 33rd Degree Mason and a member of Kappa Alpha Psi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities. The tennis shoes he wore as he walked the city during the 1991 mayoral campaign are now housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He is the husband to former First Lady and State Representative Wilma J. Webb and a father.
Wilma J. Webb Biography
Wilma J. Gerdine Webb was born in Denver, Colorado in 1943. She married Wellington Webb in 1971. Webb formally entered the political arena in 1980 when she was elected to the Colorado State Legislature. She served 13 years in that position. She was the first African American member of the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee (the Legislature’s most powerful six-member committee) and thus participated in writing the state’s $4 billion budget in 1981. While serving in the legislature, Wilma sponsored forty-four bills, eleven of which passed, including legislation concerning the Comprehensive Anti-Drug Abuse Program; Elderly Frail People to Receive Care at Home as Opposed to Nursing Home Placement; and Improvement of Living Conditions for Troubled Youth. In one of her hardest battles, Webb fought four years before the State of Colorado adopted the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. As a State legislator, she attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1988.
Wilma Webb served as Denver’s First Lady for twelve years after her husband was elected the first African American mayor of the city in 1991. In that capacity, she chaired special governmental committees, managed personnel, and represented the City and County of Denver at key public/private meetings and events. As First Lady, Wilma worked tirelessly on anti-drug abuse programs and youth and family issues. Her efforts to promote the arts resulted in the creation of the Denver Art, Culture, and Film Foundation in 1994.
In 1997, President William J. Clinton appointed Webb to serve as the Secretary’s representative for the Department’s Region VIII Department of Labor and Employment where she was responsible for the administration and enforcement of 180 federal statutes governing workplace activities including pension rights, health benefits, and job training in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Webb became the first woman to serve in the region in this capacity. In this position, Webb helped oversee this region’s portion of a $37.9 billion Department of Labor budget and its eighteen department agencies.
Wilma Webb and her husband, Wellington, are the parents of four adult children. She is also a member of Denver’s Zion Baptist Church, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and The Links, Inc. and has been recognized for her significant contributions by hundreds of for-profit, non-profit, national, and international organizations.