Bortz inducted into Women’s Hall of Fame

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

When Libby Bortz left her home for college, her parents told her it was important to have an educated heart, not just an educated mind.

“When you can feel with people and you know what it feels like to be in their shoes — that, for me, is kind of what an educated heart is about,” Bortz said. “It means that you think beyond yourself and you take into account other people’s needs, not just your own.”

For Bortz, an educated heart was the motivator behind much of her work in Littleton, where she made a di erence in the community through counseling, housing, education civil rights and criminal justice.

Bortz was one of 17 trailblazing women inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame at the annual induction gala on March 15.

“Our lives and those to come have been made better because of what these women reached and what they’ve accomplished,” said Anne Trujillo, a Denver7 news anchor who emceed the gala at the Sheraton Downtown Denver hotel. “ e best part is that some of them are not nished yet.”

Since its founding in 1985, the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame has inducted 172 women in recognition of their contributions to society. e hall highlights those who have advanced the roles of women in society, including teachers, scientists, social activists, philanthropists, writers, humanitarians and more.

Making change

Bortz, who is 88, grew up in a small town in New York and later attended the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

When she moved to Littleton after college, she spoke with an admissions o cer at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to see what it would take to have a decent application.

“She told me, “Don’t bother, you’re too old,’” Bortz said. She was 27 at the time.

A few years later, Bortz took steps toward legal action against the medical school for gender discrimination, causing the institution to eliminate their gender quota and start enrolling more women. Decades after that, Bortz became part of the medical school’s admissions committee and continued working to bring more gender equity to the institution.

Bortz got her master’s degree in social work from the University in Denver and began practicing as a clinical therapist. In this role, she saw many female clients and started to connect the dots between