Ann Marks Getches grew up in the San Fernando Valley. She was a graduate of Occidental College where most notably she met her husband, David. In 1971, she moved to the foothills of Boulder, Colorado, with David and son Matthew. Also in 1971, at Native American Rights Fund, she met Charles Wilkinson. She received a master’s degree from the CU School of Education in 1976, shortly after the birth of her daughters Catherine and Elizabeth. She later taught for Boulder Valley Schools. In 1980, she became managing partner of Centro, a group that invested and developed commercial real estate in Boulder. She retired in 2011.
Activities in Boulder have included serving on the boards of Thistle Community Housing, Downtown Business Improvement District, Downtown Management Commission. She is currently on the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless board and the Getches-Wilkinson Center Advisory Board. She enjoys holding salon dinners at her home discussing current affairs, which she has done for 20 years. She has four grandchildren, Harrison, Benjamin, Owen, and David, and enjoys spending time at the family cabin David and she built outside of Boulder.