Col (Ret) Jim Hendrickson

Col (Ret) Jim Hendrickson has been a change leader in senior level positions within military and civilian occupations for more than three decades. Strategic and systems-oriented transformational change and start-up expertise focused on improved performance, budget friendly, and sustainable operations in changing environments.

“Serving in the military for 35 years requires finding daily inspiration. For me, it has been education. As an enlisted soldier, finding time to work on my own education, getting commissioned, and completing a master's degree as an officer helped fuel my personal goals and ambitions. Later, my own troops’ desires for advancement through education became my inspiration. I carved out considerable time to counsel the next generation of leaders through college and into officer ranks or into promising leadership roles in civilian occupations.  My goal has always been to make access to education easier for those following by removing systemic roadblocks and eliminating mistakes and missteps.

"This inspiration dovetailed with my role as Executive Director of The Wounded Warrior Scholarship Program at Colorado Technical University (CTU). With a great deal of time, effort, and resources we were able to bring full online scholarships to the hospital beds of wounded warriors as they recovered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and across the U.S.  It has been a very rewarding.

“I approach most tasks keeping in mind a quote from General Chesty Puller, USMC. Upon learning he was surrounded during the Korean War, he said, ‘We're surrounded, that simplifies the problem. They can't get away now.’   This reminds me that with effort I can always improve a situation, but if I do nothing, the situation can most certainly get worse. This keeps me motivated and engaged and sets realistic expectations and goals to do better today than yesterday.”