Sheila O'Brien

Our 2026 Grand Marshal, Sheila O'Brien is creator and lead sponsor of the ‘UK/Ireland Cinema Showcase’ and founder of The Sheila K. O'Brien Foundation.

Sheila O’Brien is a longtime cultural ambassador for Colorado. Although she grew up in the New York area, she has long been connected to Denver where she was an Arvada West High School teacher, and a Denver Parks and Recreation social worker for senior citizens and underprivileged youth. 

Sheila had a varied business career, most recently as a global marketing executive for American Express, IBM and British Telecom (based in Paris, Amsterdam and London). She became involved with the 1978 Denver Film Festival (its inaugural year) and later served as the presenting sponsor for the Women+Film/Voices program, as well as serving on the Denver Film board from 2016 thru 2026.

She is the creator and lead sponsor of the ‘UK/Ireland Cinema Showcase’ which debuted at the 2017 Denver Film Festival and just celebrated its 9th year. Premiere film screenings from the showcase included: ‘Hamnet’, ‘Belfast’ (where she conducted an in-person Q&A with Jamie Dornan), ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ and ‘The Quiet Girl’.

In 2024, she established ‘The Sheila K. O’Brien Foundation’, which sponsors Denver Film, Rocky Mountain PBS, Denver Art Museum, and various charitable organizations.

Sheila O’Brien deeply supports the artistic community in Colorado, and also the UK/Ireland community for which she proudly shares her heritage. We are thrilled to have her join us this year as our 2026 Grand Marshal representing the Irish Community in Denver & Colorado.