Posner-Mayer, Joanne

Biography

A Denver native with an international perspective, Joanne Posner-Mayer has made a positive impact on the nonprofit community. Her mother, Hanna, was a Holocaust survivor, who lived in England 1939-1945. After the war, she worked for the American occupation forces as a translator; She moved to the United States in 1948. Her father Jerry was a Polish immigrant who operated Posner Hardware on Larimer Street from the 1930s until the mid-1950s when he moved the business to 34th and Franklin Street. Jerry Posner died in Denver on May 14, 1956. Raised in east Denver, Joanne Posner attended George Washington High School and received a degree in physical therapy from CU. Her interest in PT grew from her childhood dancing with what now is the Colorado Ballet. Following her dream of travel, Joanne worked in hospitals and clinics in Switzerland, where she was introduced to the successful use of large balls in physical therapy. Her pioneering idea to import the balls to the United States and educate other therapists quickly expanded to a broader vision when she started Ball Dynamics International in 1991 and introduced the fitness community to Fitball®. Her success allowed her to become a noted philanthropist. Joanne’s philanthropy includes The Posner Center for International Development, a nonprofit and workspace named for her parents, and located in Curtis Park. She serves as a trustee on the board of the University of Colorado Foundation. She endowed a student scholarship and a Chair in Physical Therapy at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She has seeded endowments and provided significant support and leadership for the Colorado Ballet, Jewish Colorado, the Rose Andom Center, Rocky Mountain PBS, National Jewish, The Women’s Foundation, the Rose Community Foundation, the Denver Foundation, as well as funding a teaching garden for elementary students in Israel in her mother’s memory.

Source: script written by Dr. Jeanne Abrams for film Legacy of Leadership (2020).

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