An Evening with Phil Washington – Global Engagement Award

DCFR Global Speaker Series

Speaker: Phil Washington CEO of Denver International Airport

Date: May 19th, 2026

Time: 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Location: Central Denver Location (Please register for more details)

5:00 PM | Cocktails & Networking
6:00 pm | Dinner
7:00 pm | Program Begins

About the Event

The Denver Council on Foreign Relations is very honored to present Phil Washington with this year’s Global in Leadership Engagement Award.

Bio of Speaker

Phillip A. Washington is the Chief Executive Officer at the Denver International Airport (DEN). He was initially nominated by former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock in July 2021 and most recently by current Mayor Mike Johnston in July 2023. Phil was unanimously confirmed by the Denver City Council as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Denver International Airport (DEN) both times. In 2024, DEN was the nation’s 3rd busiest airport by passenger traffic. The annual economic impact of DEN is $47.2 billion, and the airport has over 40,000 total badged employees with 26 commercial airlines and regional carriers and a total of 232 destinations (domestic and international). Within weeks of Phil’s arrival, he set forth a vision for DEN, Vision 100, that will prepare the airport to accommodate 100 million passengers, a 30% increase in passengers, by 2030.

Prior to Washington’s arrival at DEN, he was the CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) from March 2015 to May 2021. As Metro’s CEO, Washington managed a balanced budget of $8.5 billion, was responsible for overseeing between $18-$20 billion in capital projects and provided oversight of an agency with 11,000 employees that transported 1.2 million boarding passengers daily on a fleet of 2,200 clean-air buses and six rail lines. Metro is the lead transportation planning, programming, and financing agency for LA County. As such, it is a major construction agency that oversees bus, rail, highway, and other mobility-related infrastructure projects – together representing the largest modern public works program in North America. Washington was also engaged and partnering in all facets of transportation and infrastructure in LA County including aviation, goods movement, freight/railroads, water, public works, housing, congestion pricing/mitigation, and transit-oriented communities (TOCs).