Naquetta Ricks

Representative Naquetta Ricks is a business leader, entrepreneur, and state legislator going into her fourth term, representing House District 40 at the State Capitol. She is the owner and operator of a small mortgage brokerage business and the founder and President of the African Chamber of Commerce Colorado, leading economic development for African and immigrant-owned businesses statewide. Having fled Liberia's civil war, she made history as the first African immigrant elected to the Colorado Legislature and the first Liberian woman to serve in any state legislature in the United States. She holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Metropolitan State University of Denver and an MBA from the University of Colorado Denver, and in 2023, she was selected to attend the Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Executives in State and Local Government program. Rep. Ricks extends her business acumen beyond the Chamber and the Capitol as President of the Liberian Surf Association, where she works to grow the sport of surfing among Liberian youth and provide them with mentorship and opportunity. During the 2026 legislative session, Representative Ricks carried some of the session's most consequential legislation, including HB26-1003, which aims to strengthen small business support.