Red Rocks Community College Appoints Three New Leaders

RRCC recently named Erika Hollis as senior vice president and chief of staff, Jane Marsh as executive director of the Red Rocks Foundation, and Chris Juarez as vice president of academic affairs and workforce innovation.

“I am very pleased to welcome these outstanding leaders to the college,” says Landon Pirius, RRCC president. “Each of these talented individuals brings passion and energy to Red Rocks and is as excited as I am about the opportunity before us to elevate Red Rocks as an exceptional institution. Their expertise will play a pivotal role in taking the college to the next level as we refine our institutional vision for this next important chapter in our history. I’m looking forward to collaborating to best serve our students and stakeholders.”

As senior vice president and chief of staff, Erika Hollis (JD, MBA) serves as second in command and provides support to the college’s president. Institutional research, marketing and communications, and grant development report to her.

Erika started her career in private practice as an attorney, representing a university, software providers, and other companies. She was outside counsel to Naropa University, then spent seven years at Regis University as vice president and general counsel. Thereafter, Erika left law and served as interim executive director for equal opportunity and Title IX at the University of Denver. Prior to Red Rocks, Erika was the chief of staff at Integrate, an enterprise software company.

As executive director of the Red Rocks Community College Foundation, Jane Marsh (MA) leads fundraising efforts to provide student scholarships and support for programs, teaching chairs, and capital projects. She also engages the community in those efforts.

Jane has 30+ years of experience supporting the fundraising, advancement, and philanthropic program development efforts of colleges, health care organizations, and nonprofits in Colorado. She has dedicated her entire career to philanthropy. Jane joins RRCC from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she departed as managing senior director of development for the College of Arts & Sciences. Previously, she served as senior director of philanthropy and operations for Craig Hospital Foundation and ran her own fundraising and philanthropy consulting business.

As vice president of academic affairs and workforce innovation, Chris Juarez (EdD) collaborates with faculty, staff, and community partners to advance credit and workforce programs to support the region’s economic growth and development.

Chris is a first-generation college graduate and community college alumnus of Garden City Community College (Kansas), where he also started his higher education career as a math instructor. Chris came to Colorado in 2014 to teach at the Community College of Aurora. He eventually became associate dean for the school for professional studies and sciences and furthered his leadership career at the Colorado Community College System as program director of engineering, technology, and media arts. Chris joins RRCC from Arapahoe Community College, where he was the dean of mathematics and sciences.

In 2025, Red Rocks will update its facilities master plan and launch a strategic planning process, with a tentative timeframe to publish that strategic plan in early 2026.

“There are many initiatives underway and on the horizon for Red Rocks and completing our leadership team enables us to continue those efforts and do even more,” says Dr. Pirius. “We’re focused on becoming the college of choice for students and a partner of choice for employers in the communities we serve. To achieve that, we must invest in our employees, elevate our visibility in the west Denver metro area, and prioritize all efforts to ensure a Red Rocks education is an excellent investment—one that drives students toward improved economic mobility. Those priorities informed these leadership hires and will inform the strategic planning process as well.”