Taryn Fort

Taryn is a storyteller at heart. At the Foundation, she leads the Communications team, where her work focuses on sharing the diverse stories of health from across the state and their impact on our mission. Taryn is driven by her belief that everyone deserves to be healthy, regardless of economic, social or geographic circumstances. As a communicator, she also believes we have a responsibility to tell the story of Colorado’s health and how it is taking shape.

Taryn has worked in health-related strategic communications for more than 15 years and has been at the Foundation since 2013. Her role includes everything from public relations and advocacy campaigns to the development of the organization’s identity and voice. As excited as she gets about a good engagement strategy, it is the work that happens on the ground throughout Colorado that Taryn finds most satisfying.

The Foundation’s statewide listening tour revealed much to her, especially as a non-native Coloradan who spent most of her adult life in New York City. Her experiences helped her view communities and their assets and barriers to health more clearly. Having grown up in a rural Kansas community, Taryn reconnected to the unique features of small-town life as a result of the tour and better understood how school systems, clinic settings and neighborhoods can impact health. From the public library in Rifle to the vibrant after-school programs in Craig, the tour illuminated the stories that are unique to each Colorado community.

It makes sense that this storyteller’s favorite hobbies include reading historical narratives, short stories and The New Yorker. Never one to stay still for long, Taryn has been an avid runner since the age of 17. On weekends, she strikes a healthy balance — brewery hopping; hitting the slopes; and spending time with her husband, Matt, and young daughter, Ginger.