Denise Conrado, the current mayor of Colusa, grew up with challenges that prepared her well for a life of public service.
Denise and her two brothers were raised in Sonoma County by their single mother. Economic troubles forced them to move frequently, meaning that Denise went to lots of different schools while growing up. With so many transitions, Denise developed the ability to meet people and to make new friends, a consideration for others who find themselves in insecure situations, and personal resilience.
As soon as she was old enough, Denise began earning money as a babysitter. At sixteen years of age, she took a job at Gordinker’s Turkey Ranch cleaning turkey eggs. Later she moved on to working at an ice cream store, then at a printing shop.
Denise never expected to go to college, but when she met her future husband, Ed Conrado, and began hanging out with his teacher friends and listening to their stories, she fell in love with the idea of teaching.
Achieving a teaching credential, however, would require resilience. Ed and Denise were married in 1977, and Denise completed her first semester of college, but then the first of their four daughters was born, and Denise took a break from college. Eighteen years later, Denise earned her college degree and her teaching credential.
Denise began her teaching career at Burchfield Primary School in Colusa, before moving along to serve as Reading Specialist, Vice Principal, then Principal at Williams Upper Elementary School. Though she retired in 2018, Denise was called upon to serve as Interim Principal at Williams Elementary School during the challenges of the COVID epidemic.
During her years in educational administration, Denise is most proud of creating a safe and structured environment so that when students came to school, they felt safe and secure and knew what to expect.
Despite her retirement, Denise’s desire to serve the community continued, so she ran for and was elected to the Colusa City Council in 2020. Her years of serving as a school administrator prepared Denise well for city politics, as she had already developed thick enough skin not to take everything personally but to keep things in proper perspective. Denise loves the work of the City Council and has gotten to know more about Colusa during her six years on City Council than in her thirty-seven prior years of living in Colusa.