Jeannie Ritter, Colorado’s former first lady, wants to break mental health stigma

Jeannie Ritter jokes that she could have chosen bicycle helmets as her “first lady cause” while her husband, Bill, was Colorado governor. At least she could have counted the number of children who received a helmet and declared her goal achieved. 

Instead, the former teacher who grew up in a family affected by severe mental illness, chose something much messier. She spent four years traveling Colorado to talk about mental health, ditching the pantsuits early on for a jean jacket and cowboy boots, all part of her plan to seem more approachable and get people to open up about their struggles.

When the Ritters left the governor’s mansion in 2011, the former first spouse continued her mission, becoming a mental health ambassador for WellPower, which is Denver’s…