DENVER (KDVR) — Women in the Centennial State have achieved great things, and on International Women’s Day, they can be honored as part of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

The nonprofit is located in Greenwood Village and has inducted 172 women into the hall since it was founded in 1985.

The inductees range from a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright to newspaper publishers, authors and even a former Miss America, according to the CWHF website.

The CWHF works with other nonprofit organizations, such as the Girl Scouts, to educate young women on the achievements of Colorado’s most extraordinary females.

According to the site, the CWHF mission is:

The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame (CWHF) mission is to inspire by celebrating and sharing the enduring contributions of Colorado’s distinctive women. To achieve this, CWHF educates the people of Colorado about the stories of the women who shaped our state and the nation’s history with courage, leadership, intelligence, compassion, and creativity. Their talents, skills, struggles, and contributions form a legacy that the CWHF is dedicated to protecting. 

The Class of 2022 Induction Gala is on March 15 at the Sheraton Downtown Denver, where 17 women will be honored as the newest members of the hall.

How the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame came to be

Founder M.L. Hanson, who was the assistant vice president at the United Bank of Denver in the late ’70s and early ’80s, caught on to the trend of women such as herself emerging as trailblazers in the workforce, the hall’s site history says.

Hanson was inspired by the accomplishments of the many women she spoke with and wanted to design a platform in order to share these amazing feats with the public.

As a prominent member of the Colorado Federation of Business and Professional Women in 1983, Hanson attended the annual legislative conference in Washington. She engaged in conversations with other state representatives and learned of the establishment of a women’s hall of fame.

Hanson made her vision into a reality in 1984 by creating a small group of women from the Federation which evolved into the CWHF. The hall was unveiled at the Business and Professional Women’s State convention at the Brown Palace Hotel.