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Robinson: Why Eddie Campos is the young professional of the year

Scott Robinson
Valley Voices
Mountain Recreation staffers toast Eddie Campos, the 2020 Vail Valley Partnership Young Professional of the Year.
Special to the Daily

It was 15 months ago that life changed as we knew it. As the entire world was figuring out how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, our community was no different.

In times of crisis, natural leaders rise to the occasion. Eduardo “Eddie” Campos is one of those natural leaders, which is exactly why he won the 2020 Vail Valley Partnership Young Professional of the Year.

Some might wonder how a marketing and communication manager for Mountain Recreation played a role in our community’s response to the pandemic and the answer is short and sweet: because he is really good at his profession.



I remember it like it was yesterday. It was March 13 — the first day all of Mountain Recreation’s programs and facilities shut down. I was walking through an eerily quiet Gypsum Recreation Center and Angelo Fernandez, the deputy county manager for Eagle County, called me. The county needed Eddie’s help reaching the Latino population with life-saving information regarding the pandemic.

I told him, if Eddie is up for it, then we’re OK with it too. Why? Because we believe everybody deserves to be healthy and happy.

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Just like that, Eddie hit the ground running. For three months he temporarily left Mountain Recreation and worked full-time out of the Emergency Operations Center. Eddie coordinated with 70+ community partners, conducted media buys, developed bicultural and bilingual messaging, managed public relations, and acted as a trusted spokesperson by engaging with local and statewide networks (including Telemundo and Univision).

If Eagle County was communicating anything with the public in Spanish through any medium, chances are he scripted it and was behind the camera or keyboard facilitating it.

Once we were given the green light to reopen recreation in May, Eddie was back working hard at Mountain Recreation to let the community know we were here for them as the first large-scale recreation center to re-open in the state.

It wasn’t long before Eddie joined forces with the Emergency Operations Center again, except this time it was for the Grizzly Creek Fire. Over the course of about two weeks, he fired up his Latino outreach efforts once again to ensure the Latino community received life-saving information.

It amazed me how he put community first every chance he had in 2020. He didn’t do it to win awards, or gain public praise — he did it because he loves Eagle County.

As an immigrant from Mexico, he has never felt like he fully belongs in either Mexican or American culture, but he belongs in Eagle County and is proud to call this place home. We’re darn happy you call this place home too, Eddie!

His experiences in 2020 made him see a need for bilingual and bicultural marketing and communications to bridge the Latino and Anglo communities in Eagle County. In the fall of 2020, he started his own consulting firm, Calle 98, focused on addressing this need.

I’m not sure if you remember what you were doing when you were 28, but I can say without a doubt, it was nothing close to what Eddie has done. He inspires me daily and has values that I can only aspire to have one day. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

He says it best.

“As the son of immigrants who knows the monumental sacrifices my parents made in securing my future, it is simply not who I am to give up or squander what they worked so hard for. I believe in pushing my limits every day. It is in my nature to persevere.”

Join me in celebrating an amazing young professional and drop Eddie a line of gratitude at ECampos@MountainRec.org.

Scott Robinson is the superintendent of business operations at Mountain Recreation. Email him at SRobinson@mountainrec.org


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