Jeff Campos: Denver Hispanic chamber CEO leads state's second largest chamber.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: EXECUTIVE EDGE - Chief Executive Officer

Growing up in a blue-collar neighborhood on Chicago's Southside, most kids saw only three options for their future: work for the city, become a cop or fire-fighter, or end up getting into crime.

"I chose the fourth option," said Jeff Campos, 52, president and CEO of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "I wound up being a hockey player."

From pickup games in the neighborhood to playing in high school, Campos would go on to play center for Loyola University.

"Not a lot of people in the neighborhood went to college or even thought about going to college so playing hockey was life changing," said Campos, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, his father working in construction.

Reserved and somewhat shy as a child, playing hockey would make all the difference.

"Sports was my personality, and I was always the captain," said Campos, who in 1994 was named to head Colorado's second largest chamber, growing its membership from 500 to more than 2,100. "I wasn't the rah-rah kind of guy. I led more by example. I rationalize that sports gave me the discipline that you need in life to be able to succeed."

Campos came to the chamber from American Family Insurance, which moved his wife and two daughters to Denver in 1997 so he could start its emerging-markets division, overseeing a six-state mountain region.

"I was going to go into criminal justice, which I studied in college, and go on to law school, but I got into a career path with American Family that started with a summer job processing claims and have never looked back," Campos said. "I enjoyed helping non-profits, sponsoring events, scholarships."

His work became a family affair, as his daughters, Nicole, now 20, and Alicia, 17, would go with their father to ride in parade floats, give out gifts and help the community's underserved.

"Now I'm on the other side. I'm the one asking for the checks," Campos said...