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Representative Jenny Willford serves Colorado with the guiding principle and belief that government should make life better, safer and more affordable for the people who work hard every day to keep our communities running.

Raised by a librarian and a Navy veteran who worked his way through school as a night janitor. Jenny moved often as a kid, attending 8 schools before graduating high school including living on her grandfather’s farm in Kentucky and on her grandmother’s property in Wyoming. Those early experiences taught her resilience, adaptability and a deep respect for the sacrifices working families make to build stability and a future for their kids.

One of Jenny’s first jobs was processing emergency applications for families in Wyoming who had no heat in the dead of winter via the low income energy assistance program. She saw up close what happens when energy insecurity, poverty and policy failures collide. Since then, Jenny has spent her career standing up for working families and fighting for clean air and water. She went on to work for the Colorado Sierra Club, where she advocated for clean energy, environmental justice and protections for communities impacted by pollution. 

Before joining the Colorado House, Jenny served on the Northglenn City Council and as Mayor Pro Tem for five years. There, she championed one of the state’s strongest municipal paid-family-leave programs, pushed for affordable and senior housing, helped small businesses weather the pandemic and led the effort to build Colorado’s first all-electric City Hall - proving that climate leadership and local government go hand in hand.

At the Capitol, Jenny has taken on some of Colorado’s biggest fights including: tackling ozone pollution to improve air quality on the front range; establishing the family affordability tax credit to reduce childhood poverty by 50%; protecting Planned Parenthood funding for medicaid patients; expanding the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program to provide additional time for families with a child in the NICU; working to end Colorado’s backlog of sexual assault evidence cases; and ensuring that students have free access to menstrual products in schools so that no young person misses class due to basic health needs. Her work reflects a core set of values: respecting workers, keeping families stable, giving kids the best possible start and protecting the people who are most vulnerable to both economic and environmental harm.

Jenny holds a master’s degree in Human Rights and Political Science from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and bachelor’s degrees in Women’s Studies and International Studies from the University of Wyoming. She is also an entrepreneur and small-business owner who believes creativity, community and economic independence are part of a healthy democracy.

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Jenny lives in Northglenn with her husband, Matt, their two kids, six chickens, two dogs and two cats. She finds her grounding outside - fly fishing, camping and exploring the landscapes she is determined to protect for the next generation.