New Gates case study explores how Denver’s Luminary Learning Network went from idea to reality – and op-eds share takeaways for school leaders, district leaders, and policymakers in Colorado and beyond.
New case study and Jan. 30 discussion to explore how the Luminary Learning Network went from idea to reality, highlights from its first year-and-a-half of operation, and takeaways for education leaders and policymakers in Colorado and beyond.
In Denver, we’re proud to have beat-the-odds schools that are helping children in underserved communities excel. These schools know what works, and it’s in…
A new report by The Bridgespan Group chronicles bold efforts to use “innovation zones” to improve student outcomes in five school districts nationwide — including Denver.
Mud kitchens, looping tricycle trails, vegetable gardens, shady reading nooks and dump truck construction zones will soon replace more traditional plastic or metal structures at 100 preschool and child care playgrounds across Colorado, thanks to a new initiative spearheaded by Gates grantee Qualistar Colorado.
The Gates Family Foundation’s Natural Resources portfolio is rooted in the Gates’ family legacy of land stewardship in the West. While the program’s priorities have long focused on protection of the lands and waters of Colorado, the program remains responsive and evolves to adapt to changing community priorities and external forces.
Balanced Water Management: Recognizing the value of Colorado’s Water Plan (launched in 2015), Gates Family Foundation modeled its water priorities after the state’s own framework, addressing water challenges including the water-land use nexus, water conservation, and achieving balance among the needs of multiple water users and nature.
Land Conservation: In a state known for its iconic scenery, stretching from the eastern grasslands to its numerous 14,000-foot peaks, the Foundation strives to find balance among growing rural communities, wildlife and its habitat, working landscapes, and the ecosystem services provided by Colorado’s land and water.
Forest Health and Watershed Restoration: Elevated to a priority after 2020—a year in which more than 625,000 acres burned across the state with the three largest recorded fires in Centennial State history occurring in a single season. The Foundation strives to address the scale of the forest health problem through both grassroots partnerships and systems-level change via the forest economy.
The Natural Resources team looks to strategically deploy all the tools the Foundation provides to meet partners’ needs. Beyond grant dollars, the team uses impact investing, capital funds from the Foundation’s responsive capital grants program, and convenings and collaborative efforts.
In 2025, the Natural Resources program awarded 25 grants totaling $2,842,800.
Resilience in a Year of Disruption
2025 marked one of the most disruptive periods Colorado communities have faced due to federal funding freezes, staffing cuts at key environmental agencies, and changes to policy. This period also demonstrated the resilient and steadfast nature of our partners in advancing their missions.
State efforts to enact laws and provide funding to protect working and natural lands as well as the waters of Colorado continue to move forward, despite shifts in federal priorities. The 2025 Colorado legislative session resulted in significant positive movement for water resilience in the state, despite a challenging budget outlook. Lawmakers approved a near-historic level of funding for water programs ($67 million), eliminated a tax break for free sports bets to increase revenue for programs that support water projects, and established a task force to explore future water funding mechanisms. In addition, the state implemented first-in-the-nation state level water and wetland protections legislation in reaction to the loss of federal Clean Water Act protections due to the 2023 United States Supreme Court Sackett v. EPA decision. Colorado’s legislation now serves as a model for other states across the West.
The summer of 2025 marked the worst fire season for the state since 2020. More than 200,000 acres of Colorado’s public and private lands burned, with the Lee Fire ranked as the fifth largest in the state’s history.
On November 11, 2025, the seven states reliant on the Colorado River—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—failed to meet a federal deadline to produce the outline of a joint agreement on managing the river’s dwindling water supply. This impasse occurs as the current operating guidelines, established in 2007, are set to expire in 2026, forcing a reckoning over the future of a water source for 40 million people, vast agricultural lands, and critical industries.
Strengthening Colorado’s Forests, Waters, and Working Lands
In 2025, the Natural Resources program supported a diverse portfolio of partners working to protect and restore Colorado’s forests, waters, and landscapes in the face of significant federal policy uncertainty and a more challenging conservation environment.
Investments in Forest Health and Watershed Restoration supported organizations working to reduce wildfire risk, advance forest management, and strengthen regional collaboration. Partners include the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (RESTORE Colorado), the Colorado Forest Health Collaboratives Network, Colorado Mass Timber Coalition, Dolores Watersheds Collaborative, and Yampa Valley Sustainability Council (now Western Resilience Center). These efforts connected locally led initiatives to statewide and regional goals and reflected a growing urgency as 2025 marked one of Colorado’s worst wildfire seasons since 2020.
Investments in Balanced Water Management addressed the pressing needs of Colorado’s rivers, aquifers, and communities. Partners including Colorado Water Trust, River Network, the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign, Ogallala Commons, the Salazar Center, the Water and Tribes Initiative, the Colorado Plateau Foundation, and the Sonoran Institute are working to advance sustainable water use, support tribal water rights, and build collaborative capacity across the state and region. These investments reflected the urgency of Colorado River post-2026 management negotiations and the need for equitable, durable solutions to water scarcity affecting millions of people.
Investments in Landscape Conservation and Land Trust Capacity Building supported partners advancing land protection, community-based stewardship, and conservation leadership. Keep It Colorado, Colorado West Land Trust, Montezuma Land Conservancy, Western Resource Advocates, Conservation Colorado Education Fund, the National Wildlife Foundation, RE:PUBLIC, and Keystone Policy Center contributed to a broad vision of conservation that is inclusive, durable, and responsive to shifting public and policy landscapes. Focus Landscape partners Palmer Land Conservancy and Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust continued to advance work launched under the program’s decade-long commitment in the southeastern grasslands and San Luis Valley.
Beyond grantmaking, staff contributed to several strategic initiatives. In partnership with Walton Family Foundation and Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, staff worked with Quantified Ventures to assess the design and feasibility of a pooled revolving loan fund to support conservation projects that integrate land protection, water resilience, and agricultural viability — advancing a buy-innovate-protect-sell model with significant potential for replication. This work informed an innovative collaboration between Colorado West Land Trust, several philanthropic organizations, and Great Outdoors Colorado to protect high-value agricultural properties and water rights in the Uncompahgre River Valley. Staff launched a new cohort of Colorado funders focused on Tribes and conservation to foster co-funding and learning regarding indigenous-led conservation efforts. Across all quarters, the program’s work aligned closely with its strategic goals and was strengthened by long-standing partnerships, collaborative grantmaking, and the resilience of partners navigating an uncertain and rapidly shifting national landscape.
Looking Ahead
One theme that emerged across Natural Resources proposals presented this year is the power and importance of strong collaborative organizations. For example, the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign provides strategic guidance and on-the-ground project coordination among seven nonprofits influencing local and national efforts to steward the Colorado River into the future. The Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network is a central hub connecting over fifty locally led organizations focused on science, policy, education, and each other to advance the sector. Everyone Outdoors (formerly Next 100 Colorado) is a statewide coalition of conservation-sector staff and entities concerned with removing barriers to leadership and ensuring access to the outdoors for all Coloradans. Collaborative efforts often produce impact that exceeds the sum of individual contributions, creating durable results.
Colorado state agencies are trending toward and increasingly embracing collaborative, action-oriented work to accelerate progress addressing Colorado’s most pressing conservation priorities. Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy is a collaborative, statewide framework launched in April 2025 to guide conservation, outdoor recreation, and climate resilience efforts in the face of population growth and climate change. The strategy uses data, mapping tools, and aligned funding to support local decision-making and regional efforts under three main goals: achieving climate-resilient conservation and restoration, ensuring exceptional and sustainable outdoor recreation, and promoting coordinated planning and funding.
Our Work in Action
Palmer Land Conservancy:
In June of 2021, the Foundation approved an agreement with Palmer Land Conservancy (Palmer) for a program-related investment (PRI) in the amount of $500,000. With the pending dry up of 3,000 acres of prime farmland in the Arkansas River Valley east of Pueblo, Palmer designed a tool to work with landowners to transfer water from less productive agricultural land parcels for use on the most productive farms on the Bessemer Ditch system. This dry-up on farms that are less productive will support fallowing that results in environmental benefits (restoration of riparian zones, for example) while supporting agricultural productivity on the most prime farmland.
In 2025, with support from the Foundation’s PRI, Palmer purchased a 620-acre farm on the Bessemer Ditch that would otherwise be dried up in 2039 if action was not taken. This farm provides an opportunity to keep agricultural water and land in agriculture for perpetuity.
For over two decades, Palmer and Gates have partnered using both traditional and innovative tools to protect working lands, communities, and water in southern Colorado. This long-standing relationship has provided the trust and commitment to finding long-term strategies, anchored in community-led solutions. The Foundation has used all its tools in partnership with Palmer: capital and initiated grants, impact investing dollars, and collaborative space to realize its vision.
“At Palmer Land Conservancy, durable land and water conservation centers around resilience, creativity, and flexibility. Success requires acknowledging the rapidly changing world around us. We set concrete goals based on community needs and also recognize that attaining on-the-ground impact demands graceful adaptability. With our farmland conservation work, we are charting pathways and creating new tools that create much-needed flexibility centered on longevity, so that rural communities thrive into an uncertain future with resilient people, economies, and ecosystems.” – Rebecca Jewett, President and CEO, Palmer Land Conservancy
RE:PUBLIC:
In 2025, the Natural Resources program made a strategic investment in RE:PUBLIC, recognizing the critical role of credible, nonprofit journalism in an increasingly uncertain policy environment. While support for a single‑issue news organization focused on public lands might not typically be prioritized in more stable times, staff viewed this investment as both timely and necessary.
The stewardship of public lands—and the principle of keeping public lands in public hands—remains one of the few issues with broad bipartisan support and strong resonance with the American public. At a moment of unprecedented threats to public land protections, RE:PUBLIC works to elevate these issues, ensuring that the value of public lands and the risks they face remain visible and accessible to decision‑makers, stakeholders, and the public alike.
Colorado West Land Trust:
The Colorado West Land Trust (CWLT) was founded in 1980 by a group of community leaders and agricultural families who recognized that western Colorado’s productive farmland, wildlife habitat, and scenic open spaces were at risk of fragmentation and development. Over the last 45 years, CWLT has grown into one of the most effective regional land trusts in Colorado, conserving 150,000 acres across Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Gunnison, Ouray, and San Miguel counties.
A 2025 commitment to provide a $1.25 million loan guarantee will help CWLT acquire and steward three irrigated farms in Montrose County. The project aims to pilot the Buy, Innovate, Protect, Sell (BIPS) approach, which could transform how Colorado land trusts secure water rights and farmland for future generations. The project’s primary goals are to safeguard senior water rights, restore riparian habitats, and sustain agriculture amid development pressures. The guarantee would leverage additional capital and serve as a model for future conservation efforts. Two additional complimentary grants aims to support the acquisition as well as the suite of activities required to conserve critical lands and waters, enhance habitat, protect local economies, facilitate access to nature, and maintain community identities and sense of place.
Whitney Johnson, Senior Program Officer, Natural Resources
Amanda Hill, Senior Program Officer, Natural Resources
INFORMED COMMUNITIES
The Gates Family Foundation Informed Communities program is dedicated to strengthening Colorado’s civic infrastructure by supporting local journalism, public media, and the information ecosystem. The program aims to ensure that all Coloradans—especially those in underserved and rural areas—have access to trustworthy, relevant, and inclusive news and information. Guided by the 2022-2026 Gates Family Foundation strategic plan, in 2025, the program focused on three strategic priorities:
Sustaining Local News Ecosystems: Supporting nonprofit and public media organizations with innovative business models.
Building Inclusive Leadership and Voices: Investing in diverse media outlets and collaborative reporting.
Strengthening Field Infrastructure: Supporting convening, capacity-building, and shared services through intermediaries like the Colorado Media Project (CMP).
During 2025, the Informed Communities program awarded and paid strategic grants to a diverse set of organizations working across public media, nonprofit journalism, legal advocacy, and community‑based information access. The portfolio reflected a deliberate balance between statewide intermediaries and mission‑critical field infrastructure, alongside targeted support for individual outlets serving priority communities. Latia Henderson has also joined the Foundation as a new program officer.
In 2025, the Informed Communities program awarded eight grants totaling $186,000.
Stabilizing and Coordinating Colorado’s Information Ecosystem
In 2025, the Informed Communities strategy operated in a moment of transformative change for Colorado’s local news and information ecosystem. What began as a period of innovation and experimentation accelerated into a year defined by stabilization, coordination, and collective defense of local journalism as civic infrastructure.
Against a backdrop of declining traditional outlets and expanding news deserts, 2025 marked a turning point with the elimination of federal funding for public media following the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which rescinded more than $1 billion in previously allocated support nationwide. In this context, the Foundation’s work focused on preserving core capacity, strengthening collaboration, and positioning Colorado’s information ecosystem for long‑term resilience.
Trustworthy local news remains essential to a functioning democracy, yet the conditions supporting it grew more fragile throughout 2025.
Financial strain intensified across the sector, particularly for rural, tribal, and community outlets. The loss of federal public media funding elevated local news, radio, and the information ecosystem from a “sector issue” to a statewide civic concern, underscoring the reality that access to reliable information is foundational to community resilience, accountability, and democratic participation.
At the same time, the field continued to innovate. Digital startups, nonprofit conversions, and public media organizations expanded reach and relevance, but often did so with limited reserves, uncertain business models, and minimal margin for disruption. These conditions reinforced a central lesson of the year: no single newsroom or organization can navigate this moment alone. Collaboration, shared infrastructure, and ecosystem‑level coordination emerged as the most viable paths forward.
Protecting What Communities Rely On
In response to these dynamics, philanthropic strategies across the country—and in Colorado—shifted in 2025. The emphasis moved away from pilots and experimentation toward general operating support and emergency stabilization. The information ecosystem increasingly came to be treated not as an innovation problem to solve, but as a public good to defend.
Within this context, the Informed Communities portfolio prioritized protecting trusted institutions, maintaining coverage in at‑risk communities, and supporting the legal, financial, and operational infrastructure that allows local journalism to function.
In 2025, this approach supported partners such as the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, which work to safeguard press freedom, government transparency, and public access to information across Colorado. Investments in organizations like Enterate Latino LLC helped expand access to trusted, culturally responsive local reporting—particularly for rural and historically underserved communities.
Looking Ahead
As the Foundation entered 2026, Informed Communities is at a strategic bridge point—between short‑term stabilization and longer‑term decisions about how to support durable local information infrastructure in Colorado. Emergency funding helped avert immediate service loss for some outlets, but the year made clear that lasting solutions will require coordinated, place‑based approaches, deeper collaboration, and potentially new public funding mechanisms.
Looking forward, success will mean reduced near‑term risk for at‑risk outlets, stronger statewide coordination among public and nonprofit media, and increased readiness to pursue sustainable, system‑level solutions. The lessons of 2025 affirmed the Foundation’s role not only as a grantmaker, but as a convener, partner, and steward of Colorado’s local information ecosystem—working to ensure all Coloradans can access trustworthy, high‑quality local news and information in the years ahead.
Our Work in Action
Colorado Media Project:
The Colorado Media Project (CMP) emerged as a central force in the state’s response to public media disruption. As the Foundation’s primary ecosystem‑level intermediary, CMP played a critical role in coordinating philanthropic resources, distributing stabilization funding, and convening funders and news organizations during a period of uncertainty.
In direct response to federal CPB funding cuts, CMP directed $1 million in general operating support in 2025 to 11 Colorado public media outlets, prioritizing rural stations and high‑need communities that rely heavily on public media for local news and information. These dollars provided both immediate stabilization and support with longer-term transformation efforts.
CMP’s work reflected a clear shift from individual newsroom support toward shared infrastructure, collaboration, and sustainability—positioning Colorado as a national test case for treating the information ecosystem as civic infrastructure rather than a collection of isolated enterprises.
“At a moment when Colorado’s news ecosystem was under real strain, the Colorado Media Project gave us a way to act at the scale of the challenge. CMP allowed funders to move beyond fragmented, short‑term responses and instead align around shared infrastructure, collaboration, and long‑term sustainability. By treating our information ecosystem as essential civic infrastructure, CMP helped stabilize the field while also pointing toward a more resilient future for local news in Colorado.”
— Kimberly Spencer, Executive Director, Colorado Media Project
CMP also began laying the groundwork for deeper system change, including shared services, strengthened partnerships among outlets, and early exploration of public funding pathways.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) strengthens the legal and safety infrastructure that enables journalists to serve the public. Through legal representation, training, and resources, RCFP helps news organizations navigate open records laws, defend First Amendment rights, and maintain public access to government information—especially in moments of heightened legal and political pressure.
In 2025, Informed Communities supported RCFP’s Colorado‑based media law attorney position, reinforcing the legal backbone that local journalism depends on to function effectively. This investment helped ensure that reporters across the state—particularly those with limited in‑house legal capacity—could access expert guidance and support as they pursued accountability reporting and public‑interest journalism.
Latia Henderson, Director of Strategic Communications and Informed Communities
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – 2025 YEAR IN REVIEW
The Gates Family Foundation’s Community Development program works to expand economic opportunities and strengthen the community assets that help Colorado residents thrive. In 2025, our grantmaking focused on two strategic priorities:
Economic Mobility, which supports pathways to quality jobs, entrepreneurship, and financial stability; and
Equitable Community Assets, which advances affordable housing, food access, community‑serving real estate, and neighborhood well‑
Together, these priorities reflect our belief that economic mobility is shaped not only by individual opportunity, but also by the strength of the community’s people call home.
This year, we were privileged to work alongside partners whose resilience, creativity, and deep connection to community guided our efforts. Their work unfolded during a period of significant external volatility, including rising construction costs, federal policy shifts, and statewide budget constraints.
Over the year, the Foundation awarded funding supporting organizations that are building more equitable systems and expanding opportunities across the state. In 2025, our team also hired and onboarded new Senior Program Officer, Helen Katich, and deepened relationships with partners.
In 2025, the Community Development program awarded 26 grants totaling $1.23 million.
Community Development Context: 2025
Colorado’s community development landscape continued to reflect both persistent challenges and emerging opportunities in 2025.
Housing affordability remains one of the most pressing issues facing the state. Tariffs on lumber, steel, and gypsum continued to drive construction costs, and many affordable housing developments struggled to complete their capital stacks. Proposition 123, now in its second year of implementation, funded more than 8,000 units statewide; however, many projects still faced financing gaps averaging approximately 15 percent. At the same time, state and local governments navigated new housing laws aimed at reducing barriers to increasing housing supply, with a particular focus on affordable options for low‑ to middle‑income Coloradans.
The year also included a prolonged federal government shutdown, which threatened SNAP benefits for more than 600,000 Coloradans and disrupted staffing at the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. Reductions and uncertainty across federal programs, including Medicaid and community development funding, created instability for families and organizations providing essential services. These disruptions were felt most acutely by partners working in food access, small business support, and community‑serving real estate. Workforce development systems continued to evolve as AI adoption accelerated across industries, reshaping entry‑level hiring and requiring training providers to adapt quickly. New statewide dashboards revealed wide variation in workforce program outcomes, underscoring the importance of data‑driven investment and highlighting organizations, such as ActivateWork, that consistently deliver strong earnings outcomes for participants. At the same time, the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem continued to grow and sharpen through technical assistance, and partnerships focused on expanding access to capital. Rural communities developed locally driven solutions to challenges related to housing, transit, and workforce development, reinforcing the importance of sustained, relationship‑based engagement.
Community‑Centered Investments in Housing, Food, and Place
In 2025, the Community Development program supported a wide range of partners advancing economic mobility and strengthening community assets across Colorado. Investments in Economic Mobility supported organizations working to expand workforce pathways, strengthen small business ecosystems, and build community capacity.
Partners such as Latino Leadership Institute, Mission Driven Finance, Small Capital, Community Builders, Startup Colorado, BEN Colorado, and ActivateWork played critical roles in helping Coloradans access meaningful work, build businesses, and pursue economic stability. Their efforts spanned urban and rural regions alike, reflecting the diverse needs and opportunities across the state. Investments in Equitable Community Assets advanced affordable housing, food access, community planning, and land stewardship. Partners including CAST, Enterprise Community Partners, Commún, Western Colorado Alliance, Nourish Colorado, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Hugo Housing worked to preserve and expand community‑serving spaces, strengthen local food systems, and support neighborhood‑driven development.
Beyond grantmaking, staff contributed to several strategic initiatives. The Foundation supported research into a Proposition 123 “side‑car fund” to complement public investments, participated in the development of a statewide one‑stop funding portal to streamline housing incentives, and convened food access organizations to prepare for upcoming SNAP changes. Staff also responded to time‑sensitive opportunities, including supporting a community benefits agreement for a new women’s soccer stadium and advancing a neighborhood needs assessments in Globeville‑Elyria‑Swansea. Across all quarters, the program’s work aligned closely with its strategic goals and was strengthened by the trust and collaboration of partners across the state.
Looking Ahead
The year offered important lessons about the resilience and ingenuity of Colorado’s community development ecosystem. The Foundation’s partners demonstrated adaptability in the face of policy volatility, economic uncertainty, and rising community needs. Their work reinforced the importance of flexible philanthropic capital, especially housing projects facing unpredictable costs and organizations navigating shifting federal and state landscapes. The year also underscored the value of data transparency in workforce development, the need for innovative financing mechanisms in affordable housing, and the importance of sustained engagement with rural and tribal communities.
As we look ahead, the Foundation is committed to deepening its focus on economic mobility, strengthening affordable housing finance, and expanding support for rural economic ecosystems. The Foundation is currently evaluating the impact of our work under the strategic plan completed in 2021 and using this assessment to update our strategies and approaches for the 2026–2028 period. Most importantly, we remain committed to working alongside partners whose strengths—creativity, persistence, and deep community connection—make progress possible.
Our Work in Action
Howdy Partners:
Howdy Partners is purpose‑built around a clear but often overlooked reality: while roughly 20 percent of Colorado’s population lives in rural communities, less than 1 percent of institutional venture capital reaches those places. The organization pairs institutional‑grade capital with deep, place‑based relationships to help close this gap and strengthen rural entrepreneurship.
“Rural communities are not innovation deserts—they are opportunity dense, capital light, and underestimated.”
— Marc Nager, Managing Partner, Howdy Partners
Howdy Partners combines local trust networks built over more than 15 years, institutional investing discipline, and narrative amplification to elevate rural founders as drivers of statewide innovation. Through partnerships with organizations such as Startup Colorado and locally rooted accelerators and lenders, Howdy Partners helps generate deal flow, strengthen founder readiness, and connect rural companies to capital markets that have historically overlooked them.
In 2025, the contraction of later‑stage venture capital disproportionately affected rural founders. Howdy Partners responded by making follow‑on investments focused on paths to profitability, expanding co‑investment syndication across regional funds, and convening partners to reframe rural Colorado as essential to the state’s innovation economy. The firm also adapted its approach as AI reshaped entrepreneurship, focusing more on founders and leadership while using AI to support business modeling and operational planning.
During the year, Howdy Partners hosted its annual Founder Summit for more than 30 portfolio companies, supported companies that hired over 60 people in Colorado, and helped nearly every company seeking outside capital raise it successfully. Beyond financing, founders reported increased access to customers, follow‑on investors, and strategic partnerships—often for the first time.
Howdy Partner’s impact is rooted in collaboration with local partners, economic development teams, community banks, and universities. As this work demonstrates, capital alone does not build rural ecosystems—trusted relationships, coordination, and disciplined execution do.
Startup Colorado:
“Gates Family Foundation’s partnership helps us do more than run programs—it helps us build durable infrastructure for rural entrepreneurs. When communities have a trusted pathway to training, peers, and capital, founders can move from idea to action faster, and that momentum strengthens the whole local economy.”
— Brittany Romano, Executive Director, Startup Colorado
Startup Colorado’s strength is its ability to turn “community” into real economic infrastructure. The organization operates as connective tissue across rural regions, linking founders to practical support, peers, mentors, and capital, while helping local partners align around shared, repeatable pathways for entrepreneurship. By working statewide and locally at the same time, Startup Colorado brings high‑quality programming into rural communities without overriding local leadership—creating a coordinated pipeline from ideas to businesses to strategic, sustainable growth.
In 2025, a tighter capital environment and shrinking resources—including funding, personnel, and programs—threatened to slow rural founders and the communities supporting them. Startup Colorado responded by systematizing supports so founders did not lose traction and communities could deploy ready‑made programs without needing to scale new investments into their ecosystems.
The organization tightened the pathway from ideation through growth by refining its Founder Coopetition Pre‑Accelerator and Accelerator programs, along with its Rural Operating System—a replicable, integrated system that moves a rural region from early ideation to capital connection. This work strengthened regional coordination and advanced durable capital infrastructure, alongside the early design of a rural angel investor network. Startup Colorado also collaborated with capital‑aligned partners, including Howdy Partners, to better connect rural momentum to broader market networks. Rural entrepreneurs—particularly early‑ and growth‑stage founders building outside metro networks—benefited most, along with local ecosystem partners who gained clearer pathways to refer and support founders.
2025 highlights include:
Startup Colorado supported nearly 3,000 founders across 30 rural counties and 32 industries, bringing resources directly into communities, with staff traveling more than 17,000 miles statewide.
Founders from Startup Colorado programs secured more than $1.5 million in follow‑on capital, accessed nearly $100,000 in direct capital through grants, Kiva loans, and in‑kind services, received more than $35,000 in scholarships awarded to 19 founders, and supported 16 founders to pitch live, resulting in $30,000 in cash awards and more than $20,000 in in‑kind prizes.
Collectively, these founders created 65 jobs, with many reporting that they were able to move full‑time into their ventures. In addition, the annual Startup Colorado‑led West Slope Startup Week drew more than 500 attendees from 78 cities and generated an estimated $571,164 in local economic impact.
Helen Katich, Senior Program Officer, Community Development
EDUCATION – 2025 IN REVIEW
The Gates Family Foundation’s education program works to improve K–12 outcomes for students and communities historically underserved by our education systems across Colorado. The Foundation’s 2025 grantmaking was organized around three strategic priorities:
supporting innovative learning environments,
building collaboration between school systems, and
strengthening the ecosystem that supports innovation.
Together, these priorities reflect a shared belief that lasting improvement in Colorado education depends on innovation at the classroom, system, and policy levels, supported by partners whose creativity, resilience, and connection to community drive meaningful impact.
In 2025, the Education program awarded 30 grants totaling $2,993,500.
Colorado’s Education Context in 2025
In 2025, Colorado’s public education system faced a mix of ongoing and emerging challenges:
Declining birthrates continue to reshape enrollment patterns statewide.
School finance reforms promise to boost overall education funding, but structural budget deficits threaten the speed and strength of implementation.
Federal education policy underwent dramatic disruption, with major cuts to staff at the U.S. Department of Education and frozen or canceled grants impacting schools and districts.
Emerging issues, from the spread of AI tools to debates over cell phones and private school choice, further complicate the work of educators and policymakers.
For students and communities historically underserved by our education systems, these conditions reinforce the urgency of advancing our work together.
Partner‑Led Progress Across Colorado
In 2025, our partners advanced work to strengthen the educator pipeline and expand high‑quality learning opportunities across Colorado. Here are a few highlights from the work of GFF partners in 2025 worth celebrating:
The Colorado Schools Fund helped create 2,650 high-quality seats for Colorado students and launched four new Legacy Fellows into the school planning process, seeding the next generation of school leaders who will build innovative learning environments across the state.
Teach Plus elevated the voice and experiences of Colorado teachers through a cohort of policy fellows, ensuring that the people closest to students have real influence over the decisions that shape their profession.
Public Education and Business Coalition’s New American Pathway provided support to future educators who bring cultural and linguistic assets to Colorado schools.
27J Schools (Brighton) launched INSIGHT, a new “grow-your-own” teacher preparation program that recruits and trains teachers from within the communities they will serve.
The Teaching Well tackled retention by building cultures of belonging and sustainability inside schools and education nonprofits.
Looking Ahead
As the Foundation looks ahead to 2026, its commitment to ensuring all students in Colorado have access to great teaching remains strong. The Gates Family Foundation seeks to develop and invest in initiatives that strengthen instructional coaching pipelines and infrastructure; advance the teaching profession by improving working conditions and expanding innovative staffing models; and bolster state leadership, policy, and governance to support and expand great teaching—particularly in high‑poverty elementary school settings. Funders, practitioners, and advocates who share a belief in Colorado’s students and the power of great teaching are invited to engage in this work.
Our Work In Action
ASU Next Education Workforce:
ASU Next Education Workforce partners with rural Colorado districts to reimagine how teaching teams are structured and supported. As a national leader in redesigning the educator role, ASU NEW works closely with schools in Montrose, Wiggins, and Cañon City to move beyond the traditional one‑teacher‑per‑classroom model toward more collaborative, sustainable approaches.
In 2025, this work responded to persistent challenges around teacher workload, burnout, and shortages by helping districts implement team‑based teaching models that strengthen support and job satisfaction. Early results from Montrose show increased teacher satisfaction and a stronger likelihood that educators will remain in the profession.
Teach For America Colorado (TFA Colorado):
TFA Colorado has partnered with the Pueblo community since 2014 to strengthen the local educator pipeline through a deeply community‑rooted approach. In 2025, the Pueblo program prioritized recruiting educators who already belong to the community, with 33 percent of new corps members recruited locally and half identifying as educators of color—bringing lived experience, cultural knowledge, and long‑term commitment into Pueblo classrooms.
TFA Colorado also expanded its alumni ecosystem, with thousands of alumni statewide serving as teachers, principals, mentors, and system leaders, creating sustained impact beyond any single cohort. In response to ongoing teacher shortages and retention challenges, TFA Colorado significantly increased investments in corps member wellbeing, leadership development, and financial supports, helping educators build sustainable careers in Pueblo schools while strengthening outcomes for students across the district.
Russell Ramsey, Vice President for Education
Ana Soler, Senior Program Officer, Education
INFORMED COMMUNITIES
The Gates Family Foundation Informed Communities program is dedicated to strengthening Colorado’s civic infrastructure by supporting local journalism, public media, and community-centered storytelling. The program aims to ensure that all Coloradans—especially those in underserved and rural areas—have access to trustworthy, relevant, and inclusive news and information. In 2024, the program focused on three strategic priorities:
Sustaining Local News Ecosystems: Supporting nonprofit and public media organizations with innovative business models.
Building Inclusive Leadership and Voices: Investing in diverse media outlets and collaborative reporting.
Strengthening Field Infrastructure: Supporting convening, capacity-building, and shared services through intermediaries like Colorado Media Project (CMP).
In 2024, the Informed Communities program awarded nine grants totaling $1.3 million.
The local news landscape in Colorado—like much of the nation—continues to face existential challenges: declining advertising revenue, journalist burnout, and the collapse of legacy media institutions. Local journalism, public media, and community-centered storytelling are essential pillars of a healthy society. These essential civic resources provide trusted information in an age of misinformation, ensure democratic accountability by covering local issues, and amplify diverse voices often overlooked by national outlets.
These forms of media foster community connection, resilience, and cultural identity, while also supporting local economies. As innovative models and digital tools expand access and inclusivity, their role in strengthening informed, engaged, and empathetic communities has never been more critical.
Navigating a Shifting Media Landscape
In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, adaptability, inclusion, and sustainability are essential for strengthening local journalism. The ability to respond quickly to financial instability underscores the importance of flexible, responsive grantmaking.
Investments in ethnic media, rural newsrooms, and collaborative models have shown that diversity not only promotes equity but also enhances resilience. To address burnout and financial precarity, continued support for revenue-generating roles, shared services, and business-side coaching is critical. Looking ahead, community-centered innovation will guide future investments, with a focus on meeting the needs of underserved and rural communities.
Our Work in Action
Rocky Mountain Public Media
In 2024, the Foundation awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant to Rocky Mountain Public Media (RMPM) to support its leadership in a statewide initiative aimed at strengthening civic engagement and rebuilding trust in local journalism. This commitment was the first multi-year grant awarded under the Foundation’s Informed Communities grantmaking area, reflecting a deeper commitment to long-term, systemic impact in Colorado’s local news ecosystem.
As the lead implementation partner, RMPM coordinates a coalition of newsrooms, community organizations, and academic institutions to create a more inclusive and responsive “public square” across the state. The initiative focuses on community-centered engagement—particularly in underserved and rural areas—and addresses critical gaps in newsroom capacity, trust, and representation. It emphasizes recruiting and training community ambassadors, supporting newsroom-led engagement efforts, and building a statewide feedback loop between residents and media outlets.
RMPM’s strong track record in inclusive storytelling, collaborative leadership, and ability to scale impact made it a compelling grantee. The Foundation’s support helped RMPM build infrastructure, expand its reach, and ensure that diverse voices were heard and reflected in civic discourse across all 64 Colorado counties.
Colorado Media Project
In 2024, the Foundation committed $1 million over three years to support Colorado Media Project (CMP), a cross-sector catalyst and advocate for local news in Colorado since 2018. CMP now serves as the local home of Press Forward Colorado, one of 17 regional chapters of Press Forward—a national initiative launched to revitalize local news and strengthen democracy. Through CMP, pooled funds are directed toward advancing equity, innovation, and accountability journalism across the state. CMP also received a $250,000 Press Forward Catalyst Grant.
Pooled funding offers a powerful and sustainable approach to supporting local journalism, public media, and community-centered storytelling. By combining resources from multiple funders, it provides greater financial stability, enabling long-term planning and investment in high-quality reporting. This collaborative model encourages innovation, promotes equity by directing funds to underrepresented communities and smaller outlets, and fosters efficiency and shared learning among funders and media organizations. Multi-year support for intermediaries like CMP has proven essential for field-wide coordination, pooled funding, and shared learning.
Looking Ahead
As 2024 concluded, the Informed Communities program stood at a pivotal moment—marked by both the transition of longtime staff member Melissa Milios Davis and the emergence of new opportunities such as a new leadership hire for the CMP. The year underscored the critical role of local journalism in sustaining civic life, while also revealing the fragility of the systems that support it. Through strategic investments, collaborative partnerships, and responsive grantmaking, the initiative has helped stabilize key institutions, elevate diverse voices, and strengthen the connective tissue of Colorado’s media ecosystem.
In 2025, the program will continue to evolve in response to the rapidly changing media landscape. Key areas of focus will include:
Deepening support for rural and ethnic media to ensure that all Coloradans—regardless of geography or background—have access to trusted, relevant information.
Investing in leadership and talent development to build a more inclusive, sustainable pipeline of journalists, editors, and media entrepreneurs.
Strengthening collaborative infrastructure through pooled funding, shared services, and field-wide coordination that promotes innovation and resilience.
Exploring new models of community engagement and storytelling that center residents’ voices and foster civic trust.
As national attention and philanthropic momentum with respect to local news continue to grow, the Gates Family Foundation is committed to ensuring that Colorado remains a leader in building a more equitable, informed, and connected civic infrastructure.
Latia Henderson, Director of Strategic Communications and Informed Communities
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – 2024 YEAR IN REVIEW
The Gates Family Foundation’s Community Development program focuses on supporting locally grounded, community-led efforts that advance equitable economic mobility while strengthening opportunities to build and preserve community-based assets. The strategy prioritizes local vision and leadership, aligning with statewide and local policy goals to unlock affordable housing development and promote employee-owned business models. Throughout 2024, the Community Development program remained committed to its strategic focus areas:
Economic Mobility for Families and Individuals: The program supported initiatives that foster a more just and inclusive economy—creating living-wage jobs, developing small businesses, and building wealth for low-income residents across Colorado. Investments were directed toward entrepreneurship, workforce development, and community wealth-building strategies.
Equitable Community Assets: The program invested in community assets that strengthen neighborhoods, create and preserve affordable housing, address displacement pressures, and support community-serving infrastructure. This body of work included funding for local capacity-building and data tools that empower communities to shape land use in ways that reflect local priorities and enhance affordability.
Program staff worked closely with partners and grantees to refine programmatic direction and guide investments toward systems-change opportunities and community-led initiatives.
In 2024, the Community Development program awarded 22 grants totaling $1 million.
Aligning Local Innovation with Systemic Change
Housing and Land Use Policy
Ongoing affordability pressures are driving innovative community development strategies and policy advancements across Colorado. The state legislature has passed landmark bills aimed at increasing the supply of affordable homes and enhancing housing stability. These measures include updates to land use legislation, funding for displacement mitigation strategies, support for housing near transit, and efforts to reduce barriers to the creation of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The Foundation actively participates in and supports inclusive processes that enable meaningful community engagement in shaping these policies.
Economic Mobility and Strategic Focus
Across Colorado, organizations continued pursuing strategies to increase economic mobility—ranging from employee ownership models to workforce development initiatives with anchor employers. The breadth of these approaches posed a challenge for the Gates Family Foundation’s strategic focus, prompting a period of reflection and refinement to better align interventions and partnerships with long-term economic mobility goals.
Federal Policy and Infrastructure Investments
The outcomes of the 2024 federal election marked the final phase of grants and investments made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Colorado received historic levels of funding to expand access to public transit, broadband, and workforce training programs in clean energy industries. Notable examples include broadband infrastructure investments for the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes in Southwest Colorado, and support for Denver’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line, currently under construction along Colfax Avenue.
Our Work in Action
Throughout 2024, the Community Development program invested in initiatives that catalyze inclusive economic models in both urban and rural communities. Grants supported organizations focused on building entrepreneurial capacity, developing workforce training models, and expanding employee ownership.
Key highlights include:
SistaBiz: Supported programming and capacity-building for under-resourced entrepreneurs.
Prodigy Ventures: Advanced workforce development pipelines and youth training while fostering social capital.
Denver Health: Created pathways to higher-wage jobs through targeted workforce initiatives.
Small Capital: Promoted market-driven models to grow community wealth through worker ownership.
Land use reform and equitable planning emerged as increasingly important themes in 2024 grantmaking. Several grants were awarded to strengthen local and statewide planning capacity and promote inclusive development.
Key highlights include:
Community Builders: Provided planning assistance to rural towns.
Sustainable Development Code & Housing Colorado (Zoning Atlas): Developed practical tools to support zoning reform.
Southwest Energy Efficiency Project: Advanced implementation of land use policy.
East Colfax Community Collaborative (EC3): Stabilized legacy small businesses and helped prevent displacement in a rapidly changing corridor.
RedLine Contemporary Arts Center & Denver Civic Ventures: Led inclusive activation and revitalization efforts in community spaces.
Looking Ahead
Following the transition of Laia Mitchell—Community Development’s talented and long-standing Senior Program Officer—the program will welcome new leadership and continues refining its strategy based on insights gained in 2024. Laia’s leadership played a pivotal role in shaping the program’s vision and deepening its impact across Colorado, and her departure marks both a moment of reflection and an opportunity for renewal.
With sweeping policy changes anticipated at the national level, the program will need to adapt to a significant reduction in federal investments and the resulting impacts on economic mobility and stability for marginalized communities. Despite these challenges, the state’s continued commitment to affordable housing and its growing support for economic mobility strategies provide a strong foundation to accelerate community momentum.
Key priorities for 2025 include:
Refining the Foundation’s strategy for economic mobility investments
Building capacity in under-resourced planning environments
Reaffirming the Foundation’s commitment to rural and place-based initiatives
We look forward to deepening our relationships across the state and focusing on solutions that advance economic mobility and affordability. We will continue to seek opportunities to support resident-led efforts to build and preserve community assets while fostering a just and inclusive economy in Colorado.
Helen Katich, Senior Program Officer, Community Development
NATURAL RESOURCES – 2024 YEAR IN REVIEW
The Gates Family Foundation’s Natural Resources program is focused on protecting Colorado’s land, water, and forests by:
Encouraging creative, practical solutions
Involving more people and communities in conservation
Using market-based tools such as mitigation banking, conservation easements, and other payments for ecosystem services
This approach emphasizes collaboration across the state and supports the next generation of conservation leaders—ensuring Colorado’s natural resources are effectively stewarded for years to come. The program has three core focus areas, each addressing some of Colorado’s most pressing environmental challenges:
Balanced Water Management: Supports innovative solutions to water scarcity, especially in rural and Tribal communities. Projects aim to balance the needs of people, agriculture, and ecosystems through statewide water planning, management for multiple objectives, and conservation.
Forest Health and Watershed Restoration: Promotes collaborative forest management to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest health, and protect water sources—recognizing the vital role healthy forests and watersheds play in community and ecosystem resilience.
Landscape Conservation and Land Trust Capacity Building: Focuses on protecting high-priority landscapes and strengthening land trusts to lead large-scale, collaborative conservation efforts across the state.
In 2024, the Natural Resources program awarded 18 grants totaling $1.7 million.
The Foundation’s current strategy responds to growing pressures from climate change and population growth. These trends have made conservation more urgent and complex. In response, the Foundation:
Adopted a tiered approach to focus staff time and funding for greater impact
Prioritized inclusive leadership and public engagement in conservation
Integrated market-based tools across all focus areas, moving away from siloed strategies
This more holistic, community-based approach supports both land protection and long-term resilience for the people and places involved.
Policy and People-Centered
Colorado River and Tribal Water Rights
The Colorado River, which supplies water to 40 million people and irrigates millions of acres of farmland, is under severe stress. Lakes Mead and Powell are at historic lows due to overuse and prolonged drought. With current river management rules expiring in 2026, multi-state negotiations are underway that will shape the future of water in the West. For the first time, Tribal nations—who hold rights to 25% of the river’s water—are being meaningfully included in these talks. Their participation marks a critical step toward more equitable and climate-informed water governance.
Key issues include:
Balancing federal and local authority
Fairly distributing water reductions between Upper and Lower Basin states
Incorporating climate change into long-term planning
Federal Funding, Policy Shifts, and State Innovation
In 2024, Colorado received significant federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, supporting clean energy, climate, water, and wildfire projects. Many Foundation grantees benefited from this influx of resources. However, the 2024 federal election introduced uncertainty regarding environmental protections and future funding. In response, Colorado has emerged as a national leader in environmental innovation:
HB24-1379: Created the first state-level program to protect wetlands and streams after federal Clean Water Act protections were rolled back.
Proposition JJ: Passed with 76% voter support, removing a cap on sports betting revenue and directing all proceeds to water projects.
The Colorado Mass Timber Coalition, supported by the Foundation, is another example of state-level innovation—bringing together diverse partners to promote sustainable building materials made from local timber, while sequestering carbon and improving forest and watershed health.
Our Work in Action
Balanced Water Management
The Foundation invested in the launch of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Tribal Water Institute, which will expand water law expertise in Indian Country, strengthen education, and advocate for Tribal water rights. The Foundation also supports the Water and Tribes Initiative, which connects 30 Tribes across the Colorado River Basin to build capacity, engage in water policy, and promote sustainable, collaborative water use.
Landscape Conservation and Land Trust Capacity
In 2024, the Foundation continued its commitment to private lands conservation in Southeast Colorado and the Rio Grande Headwaters. Partners like Palmer Land Conservancy and the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust advanced community outreach, water planning, and land protection.
The Foundation also gathered feedback from partners to assess future priorities and opportunities in the land conservation sector. The message was clear: there is a growing need for collaboration, multi-benefit projects, and innovative, inclusive approaches to Colorado’s landscape challenges.
Looking Ahead
The 2024 federal election has reshaped the conservation landscape. Where Foundation funding once complemented robust federal investment, it now plays a critical role in sustaining organizations and defending environmental protections. This shift has reinforced the importance of state and local leadership. From pioneering wetland protections to new water funding mechanisms, Colorado is showing that locally rooted, community-driven solutions can be nimbler and more effective in today’s environment. As we move forward, the Foundation remains committed to:
Supporting bold, locally rooted ideas
Building cross-sector partnerships
Investing in resilient strategies that can thrive regardless of federal policy shifts
The challenges are significant—but so are the opportunities to protect Colorado’s natural heritage in ways that are inclusive, durable, and built for the future.
Whitney Johnson, Senior Program Officer, Natural Resources
Amanda Hill, Senior Program Officer, Natural Resources
EDUCATION – 2024 IN REVIEW
The Gates Family Foundation’s Education Program is dedicated to expanding access to high-quality public education for all students in Colorado, with a particular emphasis on those from rural and historically underserved communities. The program focuses on three key areas, each addressing critical challenges within Colorado’s educational landscape:
Innovative School Models: Supporting the development and expansion of high-performing schools and innovative programs that support students historically underserved by educational systems.
School System Innovation: Enhancing the capacity of school systems to implement evidence-based practices, improve student outcomes, and foster more responsive learning environments.
Conditions that Support Innovation: Advocating for policies, practices, and community supports that enable educational innovation to thrive, while maintaining accountability for educational outcomes as a central priority.
In 2024, the Education program awarded 28 grants totaling $2.9 million.
Key Trends in Education
Residual Impacts of COVID on Academic Outcomes Persisted Colorado, like many other states, continued to experience elevated rates of chronic absenteeism and lower academic proficiency compared to 2019. However, both indicators showed positive movement. In 2024, statewide proficiency rates for students in grades three through eight ranged from 29 percent to 42 percent in math and from 42 percent to 47 percent in reading. While the year-over-year improvement in proficiency rates is encouraging, significant gaps between student subgroups remain unchanged, and there is considerable variation across districts.
Demographic Shifts and Declining Enrollment Created Financial Pressure on Districts Ongoing declines in public school enrollment continued to place financial and operational strain on school systems across Colorado. In November 2024, Denver Public Schools—Colorado’s largest district—approved the closure of seven schools, while Mesa County School District 51 closed two, and Jefferson County closed 17. Districts statewide grappled with how to repurpose vacant school buildings. Demographic projections indicate that this trend is likely to persist well into the future.
School Finance Reform After years of discussion, Colorado’s school finance formula was rewritten to direct more funding to rural schools and high-need students. This reform was a welcome development amid the expiration of COVID relief funds and a projected budget deficit heading into the 2025 legislative session.
Our Work in Action
Innovative School Models Colorado Schools Fund received a multi-year grant from the Foundation to support the creation and expansion of school models that improve academic outcomes for underserved populations across the state.
School System Innovation
LYRA Colorado collaborated with policymakers and districts statewide to develop and implement the Seal of Climate Literacy—a diploma endorsement recognizing students who have completed climate education coursework and experiential learning requirements. The first cohort of graduates with this endorsement received it in May, shortly after the legislation was signed into law.
In partnership with Gary Community Ventures the Foundation launched a project to support districts interested in exploring educator housing solutions. Five districts received technical assistance and small grants to collect data and analyze potential housing options tailored to their local contexts.
A grant to The Center for Excellence in Educational Leadership provided technical assistance to several rural school districts to address teacher pipeline challenges. This effort included partnerships between districts to enroll students in shared classrooms (both in-person and virtual), as well as piloting new staffing models that move beyond the traditional “one teacher, one classroom” approach.
Conditions that Support Innovation A grant to the Colorado Children’s Campaign supported efforts to improve Colorado’s school finance system, laying the groundwork for educational innovation. The organization advocated for a more equitable funding formula that better serves rural districts and high-need students through policy analysis, coalition-building, and public engagement. These efforts were especially timely as districts faced the end of federal COVID relief funds and looming budget constraints ahead of the 2025 legislative session.
Looking Ahead
Improving Academic Outcomes:Investing in state- and district-level strategies to improve academic outcomes at scale, with a particular focus on rural and historically underserved communities.
Adapting to a Changing Landscape: A new presidential administration brings a very different vision for the federal government’s role in K–12 education. Combined with the expiration of COVID relief funds, ongoing state budget constraints, and declining enrollment, Colorado’s educational ecosystem is likely to face significant disruption and change.
Community-Centered Solutions:Deepening partnerships with community-based organizations and advocates who understand local contexts and can help ensure that educational innovations are responsive to community needs and priorities.
Russell Ramsey, Vice President for Education
Ana Soler, Senior Program Officer, Education
EDUCATION – 2023 IN REVIEW
Ana Soler, Senior Program Officer
Gates Family Foundation is committed to advancing a Colorado where all children have access to educational opportunities that support their long-term success. We firmly believe that investing in solutions that support students who are most in need raises outcomes for all. The Foundation’s education strategies have historically been rooted in an effort to address inequities — and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) remains an important part of our current strategy. In 2023, we also continued to shape our work in education through a Foundation-wide commitment to be responsive to the impacts of climate change and the shifting conditions caused by the pandemic.
There is much work to be done to raise outcomes for all students in Colorado. In 2023, students in nearly every grade and subject had lower rates of grade-level proficiency than before the pandemic on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) standardized tests. Across the state, only 44 percent of students met or exceed expectations in English Language Arts, and only 33 percent did so in mathematics. Large proficiency gaps between student groups persist; a more than 30 percentage-point gap in proficiency exists between students who qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch and those who do not.
In 2023, Gates’ education program committed $3,865,600 to 31 organizations via 33 strategic grants and $1,200,000 in responsive capital grants to 25 organizations, guided by three strategies:
Learning Environment Innovation
This strategy includes investing in new learning models, informal out-of-system learning environments (like microschools); and investing in innovative new models or leaders who want to pilot new ideas during summer and out-of-school time. Below are a few of the organizations that the education team had the honor of supporting:
La Luz is a community partner-intensive micro school for middle school students in metro Denver. At La Luz, the school year is broken down into multi-week learning units based at community organizations. La Luz partners with community organizations, like the Denver Zoo, to co-create authentic learning experiences where students can develop skills through targeted instruction and feedback, practice and reflection, and real-world application. La Luz tracks academic and competency growth. The micro school supported 22 students in the 2023-2024 school year and plans to support more than 40 families next school year.
School System Innovation
This strategy includes supporting multi-district community and school district partnerships that are focused on climate change education and college and career pathways. The education staff had the honor of supporting:
A three-year grant totaling $1,750,000 from Gates to Lyra Colorado in 2023 will support five rural Colorado communities as they re-envision education and workforce opportunities for students and economies and also will support the ongoing development of three innovation zones in Denver Public Schools.
Conditions for Sustained Innovation
Ensuring a diverse teacher workforce in rural areas, retaining a diverse teacher workforce in urban areas, supporting advocacy that elevates student voice at the grassroots and grasstops levels, and launching and sustaining pooled funds and investments to support innovation and address new challenges in education are all strategies that strengthen conditions for sustained innovation. Below are a few of the organizations that the education staff had the honor of supporting in 2023:
Fort Lewis College (FLC) Foundation in Durango and the Southwest Indigenous Language Development Institute (SILDI). This three-year partnership between FLC’s School of Education and three Ute tribes (Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Northern Ute Tribe) is focused on regenerating the Ute Language, developing a Ute language curriculum, and certifying Ute language teachers. Before launching SILDI, only 32 fluent Ute speakers were living.
RootED plays a strong backbone role in supporting innovation in the Denver metro area. RootEd galvanizes its advocacy grantees in support of innovation zones and protects the autonomy of district schools. RootEd is a solid partner in the Organizing Educations in Colorado (OEC) Funder Collaborative which supports grassroots education advocacy. In 2023 RootED, Denver Families, City Fund, Lyra and others helped each new board member understand the importance of innovation schools and zones as an option within the Denver Public Schools portfolio.
Also in 2023, RootEd launched the Denver Education Explorer. The platform hosts two tools for exploring local school data:
— Denver School Insights is a free, public dashboard intended for use by elected officials, education organizations, and people who are interested in district academic outcomes at a citywide or regional level. The dashboard provides accessible, comprehensive, and transparent school information to highlight bright spots in academic growth; identify persistent challenges; understand where additional support for schools is needed, and hold district leaders accountable.
— The Mile High School Guide helps parents and caregivers choose a public school in Denver that best fits the needs of their child. The guide provides detailed information about each school, allowing users to view and compare academic information, student and teacher demographics, social-emotional supports, enrichment opportunities, and more
In addition to grantmaking, Foundation staff work to convening stakeholders and funding partners for collective action. Highlights from 2023 include:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Gates Family Foundation continuously examines how our organization fulfills its mission and how best to integrate DEI in all levels and aspects of our work. Gates’ education staff was part of the team that created an Equity in Action plan outlining steps to address DEI issues across the Foundation.
Education staff also joined a national DEI practitioners’ group that includes the Walton Family Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and others to share best practices, resources, and strategies to cultivate equity and belonging.
As a result of these efforts, the Foundation board and staff welcomed new members with diverse perspectives and backgrounds, included DEI goals in new board member training, increased program officer accessibility, and began the process of revising our grant applications to include a DEI lens.
Convening
In April 2023, in partnership with Caring for Colorado and Caring for Denver, Gates Family Foundation launched the Youth and Policy Impact Group. The group is focused on supporting efforts to capture and elevate youth voices to inform policy at the school, district, city, and state levels so that the entire education system can be more responsive to the needs of young people. The group has drafted a mission, outlined several strategies, and plans to increase funder participation in 2024.
Gates also continues to be a member of the Organizing for Education in Colorado (OEC) Funder Collaborative (formerly “CEO”). Other members in 2023 included Wend Collective, RootEd, and Rose Community Foundation. Together, the group pooled and distributed a total of $235,000 to nine organizations focused on implementing a community plan to advocate for a policy or practice change.
In 2023, an external evaluation of OEC was conducted by RootEd Growth. The methodology included 12 interviews with funders, and grantees, past and current, and two focus groups with young people who have been involved with OEC-funded initiatives. A key finding indicates that OEC reached its primary goal of increasing the voice and power of those least represented or heard in the educational system through its grantmaking efforts and processes. The study found that OEC’s strategic efforts contributed to a paradigm shift in Colorado’s educational system where organizing is now perceived to improve school systems. OEC participants will host a reception in 2024 to share results.
2023 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: EDUCATION
As Colorado emerges from the pandemic years, our communities are being challenged by divisive national rhetoric, digital disinformation campaigns, and social isolation. Within this context, Gates Family Foundation firmly believes that Colorado’s trusted sources of local news have a unique and important role to play in helping local communities reimagine and rebuild Colorado’s public square,both online and in person.
In 2023, our Informed Communities program continued to make grants, convene partners, and pool funds with local and national foundations to help ensure that all Coloradans have access to reliable local news and information they need to participate in a healthy democracy and make well-informed decisions about a wide range of issues that are important to the future of our state.
To support informed communities, Gates focuses attention and resources on three strategies:
In 2023, Gates’ Informed Communities program awarded a total of $403,000 to five grantees:
— $62,000 to Hearkento support the 2023 Colorado Engaged Elections Fellowship, where 13 newsrooms had the opportunity to collaborate, learn from industry experts including including Hearken co-founder Jennifer Brandel, and share best practices for engaged journalism — raising the bar for election reporting and civic participation and setting the stage for 2024’s statewide Voter Voices initiative. Each Engaged Elections Fellowship newsroom also received a $1,000 stipend to support their engagement strategy;
— $35,000 to Colorado Public Radio to help support a major upgrade of the Denverite website and share learning with other newsrooms;
— $31,000 to Aurora Media Group to support the sustainability of Sentinel Colorado, which provides daily local news coverage for Aurora’s diverse, growing, and vibrant communities; and
— $25,000 to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to support a Colorado-based media law attorney who represents Colorado newsrooms and journalists on important matters related to freedom of information and public accountability.
In addition, in 2023 Gates’ Education program awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant to Chalkbeat Colorado, to support its efforts to engage more Spanish-speakers in public education conversations and coverage. Our Capital Grants program also awarded a $20,000 grant to the Denver Press Club, to support upgrades to its historic building.
Finally, also in 2023 a total of $410,956 previously committed by Gates to the Colorado Media Projectwas combined with a total of $854,045 from other Colorado and national donors to provide:
— $302,640 total to 25 grantees through the second round of CMP’s Advancing Equity in Local News Fund, which aims to increase diversity and inclusion within Colorado newsrooms, strengthen connections between Colorado newsrooms and the communities they serve, and support newsroom leaders of color;
— $140,000 to 28 newsrooms in the 2023 #newsCOneeds initiative, providing them with $5,000 in matching funds plus technical support to plan and execute year-end giving campaigns to increase revenue from local individuals;
— A total of $300,000 to the Colorado News Collaborative and Colorado Press Association to support industry-led working groups, newsroom analysis and coaching, and pilot projects to address big issues facing the field — including digital conversion, the future of printing, and development of an ethnic media advertising network;
— The 2023 Colorado Media Project Summit, which brought together more than 130 leaders from Colorado journalism, nonprofits, government, philanthropy and business to develop a five-year vision for the future of local news in our state; and
As we look to the future, the Foundation is actively seeking ways to advance equity in local news, promote diverse ownership and voices in local news, increase collaboration and efficiencies in the local news ecosystem, and support the development of new revenue streams for local newsrooms. Please reach out to me with your ideas and insights!
Laia Mitchell, Senior Program Officer, Community Development
In 2023, increased inflation put pressure on low- and moderate-income households in Colorado and across the country. A corresponding rise in interest rates has been challenging for community development partners. The cost of capital has been detrimental to low-to-moderate income households looking for homeownership, for small business owners looking for growth capital, and for developers building affordable housing and community facilities. The 2023 legislative session sparked a statewide conversation about land use decisions. While the 2023 bill did not pass, the debates on land use, zoning, and the state’s appropriate role in determining community growth patterns and density continued into the 2024 session, where lawmakers passed six major bills to address housing affordability.
Implementation of Proposition 123, passed by Colorado voters in 2022 to establish a statewide affordable housing fund to increase housing supply, began in 2023. By the end of 2023, many Colorado communities had opted in to participate in the housing program. Grants for land banking, modular construction, and housing construction loans (debt program) have all launched through the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority and the Colorado Division of Housing, bringing the promise of expanded housing opportunities across the state.
Also in 2023, an unprecedented number of newly arrived residents, primarily from Venezuela, have come to Colorado, fleeing persecution and economic turmoil in search of new opportunity. Denver and other local communities have the opportunity to be the most welcoming version of themselves, seeking creative solutions to meet basic needs, create work access pipelines, and address short-and long-term housing.
At the Foundation, Community Development staff continue to invest in solutions that advance economic mobility and create access to equitable community assets in Colorado. Addressing structural inequities and advancing climate solutions are two Foundation-wide priorities as well, touching all of our strategic focus areas.
In 2023, the Gates Community Development program committed:
— $1,873,000 in strategic grants to 31 organizations and $1,647,750 in responsive capital grants to 19 organizations
The Foundation continued to elevate its focus on affordable and accessible housing in Colorado. The Foundation has supported the Community Land Trust model as an important way to increase opportunities for homeownership in Colorado. In 2024, GFF made a large five-year capacity grant to Elevation Community Land Trust (ECLT) in conjunction with the Capital Grants program and a program related investment commitment to ECLT for predevelopment financing. Gates supported and attended the inaugural Colorado Community Land Trust convening, hosted by the Chaffee Housing Trust, and made a capital grant commitment to the GES Coalition for land acquisition.
This year, the Gates Community Development program supported economic mobility with expanded investment in workforce development (both policy and data sharing through the Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative, and practice through support of Activate Work’s workforce expansion in the tech sector). GFF supported building a more inclusive economy through community wealth building strategies (Center for Community Wealth Building), and entrepreneurship with a three-year grant to Startup Colorado, to support rural regions of the state.
Gates also helped commission a report on the state of Colorado Commercial Real Estate Ownership, to increase access to ownership for nonprofits, small businesses, and BIPOC- and women-owned businesses in Colorado.
The Foundation advanced equity and climate-focused work with a grant to Denver Urban Gardens to increase green spaces in west Denver, and to the Climate Strong Initiative-a cohort of climate-focused Entrepreneurs of Color. A three-year grant to Denver Streets Partnership will build greener and more affordable transportation options beyond private vehicles.
As we look to 2024 and beyond, the Foundation continues to listen, learn, and look for ways to advance economic mobility, promote community wealth building strategies, increase housing access and affordability, and support the development of community-serving assets. Please reach out with your ideas and insights! You can submit ideas here, or contact me directly here.
2023 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Whitney Johnson, Senior Program Officer Amanda Hill, Program Officer
With impacts to Colorado’s rivers and working and natural lands continuing to mount in the face of climate change, we are acutely aware of both the sense of urgency and the scale that we have to operate. Colorado State University recently released its third edition report on climate change in Colorado, which confirms what we see on our lands and in our rivers; our climate has become much warmer and further warming is expected. These warming trends are impacting Colorado’s snowpack, stream flows, soil moisture, natural and working lands, and the places we live, recreate, and protect.
Supporting Coloradans who are most impacted by climate change and least involved in decision-making drove our Natural Resources team to look for opportunities and build new relationships. Woven throughout each of the following Natural Resources focus areas, our investments centered equity and leadership development, policy support, and capacity:
The Natural Resources team used every tool in the Foundation’s toolbox to support our partners across these three priority areas. To help catalyze new ideas and sustain promising efforts, we leveraged both initiated and capital grant dollars, program-related investment dollars, the power of convening, and a commitment to long-term funding through our Focus Landscapes initiative.
In 2023, the Natural Resources program awarded:
— $30,0000 in a responsive capital grant to Eagle Valley Land Trust for its conservation center
— A $250,000 program-related investment (PRI) commitment to the National Forest Foundation for its wetland mitigation efforts
— A total of $1,335,000 to support land conservation and stewardship in Southeast Colorado and the San Luis Valley, as part of our Focus Landscapes initiative
— A total of $700,000 over two years to further Gates leadership in advancing the mass timber industry
— An additional total of $533,000 in strategic grants to 13 organizations, some which are highlighted below
Balanced Water Management
Climate change continues to severely impact Colorado’s water systems, and researchers predict that rivers may shrink by as much as 30 percent by 2050. In 2023, Gates Family Foundation supported the Lincoln Institute’s Water & Tribes Initiative, which was established in 2017 to serve as connective tissue for Tribal Nations to increase their own capacity and collaboration in developing water resource and policy decisions for the Colorado River Basin. The Sangre de Cristo Acequia Association represents 73 acequias in the San Luis Valley; these community-operated water management systems are a longstanding model of water sharing for over 300 families throughout the Valley.
Forest Health and Watershed Restoration
Forest health and watershed health are closely linked, with a majority of Colorado’s water supply coming from forested watersheds. Due to drought, wildfires, overly-dense stands, and disease Colorado’s forests actually emit more carbon than is stored. In 2023, Gates Family Foundation continued our collaborative funding approach with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, and other state, federal, and private partners to support the RESTORE Colorado Program. This initiative advances land restoration efforts on river corridors, riparian areas, wetlands and forestland, and prioritizes cross-jurisdictional projects at scale.
With help from a number of partners and industry leaders, in 2023 Gates Family Foundation also assembled a broad coalition of public and private institutions to form the Colorado Mass Timber Coalition (CMTC). CMTC’s mission is to accelerate the use of mass timber products and technology in the next generation of buildings in Colorado, and to create a future where mass timber products can be made here using timber harvested locally, including timber resulting from efforts to improve forest and watershed health. The Coalition is anchored at the National Forest Foundation.
Landscape Conservation and Land Trust Capacity Building
Landscape-scale conservation persists as a priority for the Foundation. In 2023 we supported a major land conservation project in the San Luis Valley in collaboration with Western Rivers Conservancy and continued our support of Keep It Colorado’s programming and problem-solving projects. We have also sustained our commitment to focused landscapes in Southeast Colorado and the San Luis Valley. 2023 marked our ninth year of support to partner organizations Palmer Land Conservancy and the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust, two community-based organizations implementing and developing conservation tools and thoughtful approaches to ensure land protection and water management and provide long-term conservation solutions to these regions. A total of $1,335,000 of funding was distributed in 2023 to support work in Southeast Colorado and the San Luis Valley through the focus landscapes program.
We continue to be inspired by our partners and the work they’re doing to conserve our unique landscapes and waterways and support the communities that live and access these places. In 2024, Gates remains committed to tackling challenges and finding opportunities through collaboration, listening, and championing ideas both big and small.
2023 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: NATURAL RESOURCES
Mary Seawell, Senior Vice President Ana Soler, Senior Program Officer
The K-12 education program continues to be driven by the vision that all children in Colorado have access to educational opportunities that support their long-term success. The Foundation’s education strategies have historically been rooted in an effort to address inequities. The 2022 strategies retained that focus and added 1) being responsive to the shifting conditions caused by the pandemic and 2) the impact of climate change.
In 2022, the education team at Gates focused on the launch of the strategic plan that refined some strategies and expanded others. Based on learning from the last five years of grantmaking and community conversations, the Foundation believes supporting innovation within learning environments, supporting the conditions that support innovation, and supporting school system change is the best lever to meaningfully impact educational inequity in Colorado.
In 2022, Gates’ education program paid out $2,739,000 in strategic grants and $485,000 in responsive capital grants.
The Foundation supports the staff to function in roles beyond grantmaking and this includes convening stakeholders and funding partners for collective action. In 2022, the education team was involved in the following activities:
In response to the need for more equity in the philanthropic field for funding that meets community needs and amplifies youth voices in philanthropy, Ana provided ongoing strategic support to YouthRoots for the GIV Fellowship, a philanthropic and nonprofit fellowship program.
The education team facilitated a process to open lines of communication and cooperation and that resulted in more equitable access to education for families in the Roaring Fork area. To share lessons learned, in 2022 the Foundation released a case study, We are One Community, and 50 people attended a webinar to discuss the process and the outcomes with local leaders.
In the realm of climate change, Gates’ close partner and grantee Lyra Colorado continued to help partners in rural communities across the state to develop and expand initiatives that address climate change. Climatarium helps school districts, higher education institutions, and nonprofit partners identify existing and new resources for developing local and regional academic, career, and student leadership pathways for students.
2022 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: EDUCATION
Laia Mitchell, Senior Program Officer, Community Development
For Colorado communities, 2022 was a time of both economic uncertainty and unprecedented federal investment, creating big challenges and opportunities for Colorado communities. Rising inflation and supply chain pains were felt in our homes and in staff rooms. Rising interest rates have added complexity for our nonprofit and community partners looking to find a permanent location or build affordable housing and community assets. At the same time, a huge influx of federal funds is bringing incredible opportunities for state and local governments. The passage of Proposition 123 in 2022 established a statewide affordable housing fund, which promises to increase access to housing supply at a time when our state desperately needs new affordable homes.
At the Foundation, Community Development staff worked to apply the new strategic plan, investing in solutions that advance Economic Mobility and create access to Equitable Community Assets in Colorado. Across the Foundation, staff worked to address structural inequity and invest in climate solutions.
In 2022, the Gates Community Development program committed $1,980,000 in strategic grants to 24 organizations and $743,000 in responsive capital grants to 15 organizations. There were two new community development related Program Related Investments in 2022 totaling $1.55 million: Colorado Housing Accelerator Initiative Fund ($1 million), and Elevation Community Land Trust for the Chestnut Lofts project ($550,000). There were also two Mission Related Investment commitments: to the Greater Colorado Venture Fund II and the Avesta Colorado Fund.
With a new strategic focus on affordable and accessible housing in Colorado, the Foundation made five grants and one PRI and dedicated additional staff time to participating in the sector. Housing grantees in 2022 included 9to5 Colorado to support housing justice efforts for mobile home communities, planning efforts to increase workforce housing in La Junta Colorado, pre-development support for an emerging community land trust — Home Trust of Ouray County — and support for developments led by Urban Land Conservancy and the ArtSpace Space to Create initiative.
This year, the Gates Community Development program supported economic mobility with expanded investment in workforce development, with grant investments in policy through the Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative, and investment in practice through ActivateWork. Gates made two notable investments in community wealth building strategies by supporting the Center for Community Wealth Building for collaborative work on access and ownership of commercial property and the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center for its work in rural communities. The Foundation also continued its support of entrepreneurship strategies with 2022 grants to the Latino Leadership Institute’s Latino Entrepreneur Access Program, AYA Foundation and the Black Business Initiative, and First Southwest Community Fund for its work supporting rural entrepreneurs in the San Luis Valley and beyond.
Staff at Gates have observed the need for earlier support to nonprofits and community-serving development efforts as a strategy to increase equitable community assets. In today’s fast-paced and challenging real estate and construction markets, support for planning and design of community-serving assets can make a significant difference in what projects actually get built. In conjunction with the Capital grants program, Gates provided pre-development support to community-driven and BIPOC-led development efforts in 2022, including a GES Coalition-driven site in Globeville, Commún in Loretto Heights, Elevate Athletics in northeast Denver, and Cultivando in Adams County. As we move forward in 2023, we continue to ask the question: Who owns the city? How do we shift ownership of real estate to community-led and community-service projects?
The Foundation also advanced climate-focused work in Community Development with a three-year commitment to support advocacy and policy efforts to shift the transportation sector in Colorado; a Black-led greening initiative in the historic Five Points neighborhood, and two rural agricultural grants.
As we look to 2023 and beyond, the Foundation continues to listen, learn, and look for ways to advance economic mobility, promote community wealth building strategies, increase housing access and affordability, and support the development of community-serving assets. Please reach out with your ideas and insights! You can submit ideas here, or contact me directly here.
2022 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Whitney Johnson, Senior Program Officer Amanda Hill, Program Officer
In 2022, the Natural Resources team enthusiastically implemented our first year of the Foundation’s 2022-2027 strategic plan. Lessons learned during its development have since serve to guide our team on the most impactful and intentional use of time and resources in the coming years — in both grantmaking and in strategic conversations and convenings. We know that tactical partnership is valued by our communities, so we are seeking ways to anticipate needs and be proactive in catalyzing these conversations and efforts.
New federal funding will provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move the needle for communities and partners working in many of the Foundation’s priority areas. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes billions of dollars for western water infrastructure projects and for climate resilience strategies such as restoring wetland and riparian areas. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act promises even more for investing in domestic energy production while promoting clean energy.
All of these opportunities are closely aligned with goals of the Natural Resources program:
Colorado communities and economies require dependable and clean water supplies, healthy forests and watersheds, and lands that support agricultural production, wildlife habitat, and a way for people in every corner of the state to access the benefits of being outdoors. We have had the opportunity to sustain commitments on some of these fronts and to foster new growth in others.
In 2022, the Natural Resources program awarded:
$2,526,500 in strategic grants to 18 organizations
$130,0000 in responsive capital grants to three organizations
The Foundation also made a $200,000 MRI commitment to the Future of Water Fund
Balanced Water Management: The aridification of the West and water shortages across the region highlight the urgency of new and collaborative cross-sector solutions.
Staff participated in meetings hosted by the Water Foundation’s Water Table throughout the year. This learning opportunity provides insights both wide and deep into the serious challenges we face across the West in supporting natural habitats, agricultural resources and communities, recreational use, and municipalities and industry with the water quality and quantities required for each use. That learning supported or encouraged our commitments to funding nature-based solutions with Quantified Ventures as a solution in climate change adaptation and building resilience in landscapes and communities and partnering with the Colorado Water Trust to pioneer the tools and research needed to address river flows to benefit the environment and communities. Investments in the San Luis Valley continue to grow in light of water export threats, climate change, and groundwater depletion. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, American Rivers, the Salazar Center, and Colorado Open Lands are all working to advance solutions in this part of the state.
Forest Health and Watershed Restoration: Forest health and watershed health are closely linked, with a majority of Colorado’s water supply coming from forested watersheds.
In 2022 we continued our collaborative funding approach with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, and other state, federal, and private partners to support the RESTORE Colorado Program. This initiative advances land restoration efforts on river corridors, riparian areas and wetlands and forestland projects and prioritizes cross-jurisdictional projects at scale. Peaks to People is working to proactively treat fire risk in key watersheds in Northern Colorado, proving forest stewardship is an indispensable approach in achieving water security.
Landscape Conservation and Land Trust Capacity Building: We have sustained our commitment to our focused landscapes in Southeast Colorado and the San Luis Valley. Partner organizations Palmer Land Conservancy and the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust are collaborating with partners on innovative conservation tools and thoughtful approaches to ensure that the work done is resilient, community-based, and provides long-term solutions. A total of $1,185,000 of funding was distributed in 2022 in support of work in southeast Colorado and the San Luis Valley.
Multi-year commitments to land trust organizations Keep It Colorado and Montezuma Land Conservancy will sustain and grow the land trust community’s ability to advance policy in accordance with land conservation needs and opportunities while highlighting the history of land conservation and the challenges of creating a future that is equitable and invites all communities to engage with land and conservation in Colorado.
Our strategic plan calls for thoughtful advancement on climate and diversity, equity, and inclusion work across all our programs. These two pillars, which are inextricably intertwined, guide us both internally and externally to encourage critical thinking, to identify new voices and perspectives, and to be accessible to all communities working toward natural resources solutions in our state. We take seriously the opportunity to better elevate underrepresented voices and advance community-driven solutions to these challenges.
2022 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: NATURAL RESOURCES
Gates Family Foundation has a long history of viewing local news and information as vital civic infrastructure, connected to all of our issue areas. Since 1967, we’ve provided program and project support for public media. Since 2010 we’ve supported new nonprofit news startups, new beats, watchdog journalism and documentary projects. And in 2019, we made a catalytic, three-year commitment to launch the Colorado Media Project as a special initiative — thanks to funding carved out from Gates’ education, natural resources, community development and capital grantmaking programs.
But not until 2022 did Gates create a designated pot of funds to support a fourth strategic focus area: Informed Communities. Extensive landscape research, surveys, and partner conversations have guided our new five-year strategic plan, including the Foundation’s newest grantmaking program. Through this work, we aim to help ensure that all Coloradans can access, trust, and engage with reliable local news and information they need to participate in a healthy democracy and make well-informed decisions about issues important to the future of our state.
To support informed communities, we focus our attention and resources on three strategies:
In 2022, Gates’ Informed Communities program committed a total of $1,342,956 to nine grantees, including:
A total of $1,110,956committed to the Colorado Media Project over the next three years, of which $410,956 was released in 2022 and combined with funds from five other Colorado and national foundations to support:
— The second round of CMP’s Advancing Equity in Local News grant program, which provided 27 new grants totaling $352,640 to support efforts to increase diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in Colorado newsrooms; build trust between Colorado newsrooms and the diverse communities they serve; and/or support more diverse and inclusive civic news leadership, entrepreneurship, ownership and narratives,
— The fifth year of CMP’s #newsCOneeds initiative that provided 32 Colorado newsrooms with $5,000 in matching funds plus technical support to plan and execute their year-end giving campaigns — which collectively raised more than $832,700 in total from local individuals,
— Seeding and launch of CMP’s Community News and Innovation Fund, which supports ecosystem builders including the Colorado Press Association, the Colorado News Collaborative, and the Public News Company as they help local newsrooms explore and pilot innovative solutions to business, digital and revenue challenges that they are facing right now, in communities across the state, and
— External evaluation of CMP’s grantmaking and impact.
A two-year, $112,000 commitment to the National Trust for Local News, to add operational capacity to the Colorado News Conservancy and Colorado Community Media, in support of a $750,000 impact investment from Gates awarded in 2021
A $50,000 grant to The Colorado Sun, to help drive reader revenue through marketing and membership, in support of an eight-year, $1.5 million impact investment from Gates awarded in 2020
Five other grants to advance various initiatives including a pilot project with the League of Women Voters in Larimer County, a summer photojournalism camp for rural teens on the Western Slope, and a two-year commitment to the Denver Democracy Summit.
As we look to the future, the Foundation is actively seeking ways to advance equity in local news, promote diverse ownership and voices in local news, increase collaboration and efficiencies in the local news ecosystem, and support the development of new revenue streams for local newsrooms. Please reach out to me with your ideas and insights!
During the past year, the Natural Resources team had the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time and energy reflecting on what was learned over the last five years implementing the Foundation’s 2016-21 strategic plan and looking forward to the next five years. In order to develop and shape a new strategic plan that reflects the realities of the moment and encompasses a wider array of views, staff conducted research, sought input from grantees, community leaders, and thought partners, and reflected on the lessons learned in pursuing the objectives and strategies identified in the previous plan.
Part of what we heard is that our ability to act as a strategic partner — coupling financial support with intellectual engagement and roll-up-the-sleeves determination — has resulted in catalytic efforts and built trust among an increasingly diverse set of allies. Progress against the ambitious objectives commonly held for Colorado’s natural resources requires a hunger for seeding and supporting innovation, an abiding passion for cooperative solutions, and a redoubled commitment to thoughtful leadership on behalf of future generations. Our team understands that in order to find solutions or make progress on complex issues, this work must be inclusive, innovative, and opportunistic.
In 2021 and beyond, relevance and results at scale demand the type of entrepreneurial and investment-based approaches that are a hallmark of Gates’ initiated programs, and climate change in particular presents an opportunity to lead. Our communities and economies depend upon a reliable snowpack and water supplies, healthy forests and watersheds, and the conservation of lands that protect and sustain wildlife, habitat, food production, and rural communities. After a year of planning, the Natural Resources program is committed to advancing ideas and solutions focused on: Balanced Water Management, Forest Health and Watershed Restoration, and Landscape Conservation. In addition, we are increasing our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sector.
The Natural Resources annual report letter in 2020 noted that year as the worst year for Colorado wildfires on record. At the time that letter was written, the Marshall Fire had yet to sweep through suburban neighborhoods in Boulder County. This fire quickly became the most destructive wildfire in Colorado’s history, destroying more than 1,000 homes and displacing more than 30,000 people. As increasing populations lead to an expanded wildland-urban interface and climate change continues to exacerbate the challenges associated with unhealthy forests, the Natural Resources’ Forest Health program is investing in large-scale collaborative efforts like the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative as well as tools and technology like Salo Sciences to address the ”new normal” of destructive wildfires in the West.
As river flows decrease and demand increases, Gates continues to deepen its commitment to solutions that advance conservation efforts, and management policies and practices that promote Balanced Water Management. A grant to the Sonoran Institute is helping advance key Colorado Water Plan implementation priorities while supporting community-based planning and prioritization.
In the face of a rapidly changing climate and both contracting and exploding communities in rural Colorado, the need for scaled Landscape Conservation is increasingly urgent. Acknowledging the significant gap that remains in the financial resources needed to achieve landscape-scale conservation solutions, Gates invested in the Trust for Public Land and its work in advancing conservation finance measures to address this gap and generate resources dedicated to addressing significant, long-term conservation goals.
Underlying the work of Gates Family Foundation and the Natural Resources program is a recognition that those most impacted by climate change are communities least represented in many of the organizations the Natural Resources program has supported. The strategic planning process provided an opportunity for intentional outreach, listening, and dialog regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. That work has just begun. A grant to the Next 100 Colorado is a strategic step in supporting policies, leadership development, and community-based efforts that center equity in the conservation work of Colorado.
We welcome ongoing dialog and collaboration as the Gates Family Foundation continues to work alongside its partners to foster an inclusive and resilient Colorado.
2021 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: NATURAL RESOURCES
Laia Mitchell, Senior Program Officer, Community Development
The year 2021 was both a time of reflection, with a robust strategic planning process, and a year of action, as Gates staff worked to respond to the evolving impacts of the COVID pandemic, income inequality, and a growing affordable housing crisis in Colorado. Increasing drought, wildfires, and a transitioning energy economy are also bringing uncertainty to Colorado communities.
Over the course of the year, the Foundation developed a new five-year strategic plan. Staff conducted research and outreach to inform our strategic direction, and ultimately established two focus areas for advancing equitable community development:
The Foundation is also integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into its operations and decision making to ensure that community development funding advances a more equitable and inclusive Colorado.
Geographically, the Foundation looks for opportunities to invest in both rural and urban communities, including connection between rural and urban areas, such as support for the Rocky Mountain High Plains Food Chain Collaborative, which works with agricultural producers to promote regenerative practices, social justice, and climate change mitigation. Additional agriculture and food systems grants included statewide policy and procurement work by Nourish Colorado and a planning grant for a future grocery store and food hub under development by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
In Metro Denver, Gates supported economic opportunity in the East Colfax neighborhood and in the surrounding communities of east Denver and west Aurora through support of Mile High Connects, the ACT 303 Coalition (which included Enterprise Community Partners, Mi Casa Resource Center, The Fax Partnership, and others). An investment in the former Johnson & Wales Campus by Urban Land Conservancy also included support to BuCu West and the Kitchen Network as it expands its commissary kitchen services to east Denver. A commitment to Montbello Organizing Committee is helping support the community-driven FreshLo Hub development providing access to healthy food and affordable housing in the Montbello neighborhood of northeast Denver.
In southwest Denver, the Foundation supported community-serving projects through capital and programmatic grants. Grantees included El Laboratorio and the River Sisters Partnership (working to advance parks in the region that lift up the importance of Colorado’s rivers and its Latino, Hispanic, and Chicano heritage, as well as the work of Lifespan Local to create a community-serving campus in Westwood.
Housing is becoming a greater focus for the Foundation as the strain to find affordable housing worsens across the state. Relevant grants in 2021 included Enterprise Community Partner’s statewide policy and implementation work, and Radian’s work to advance accessory dwelling units as a strategy to increase housing in Denver. In addition, an investment in the Rural Homes for Sale for Locals effort will support housing development underway for the communities of Nucla, Norwood, Ridgway, and Ouray in southwest Colorado.
As we look to the future, the Foundation is actively seeking ways to advance economic mobility, promote community wealth building strategies, increase housing access and affordability, and support the development of other community-serving assets. Please reach out with your ideas and insights!
2021 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Mary Seawell, Senior Vice President Ana Soler, Senior Program Officer
In 2021, Gates Family Foundation embarked on a foundation-wide strategic planning process. The education team at Gates took an aligned but distinct approach that involved lots of listening to stakeholders, including school leaders, teachers, and students. We learned significant lessons during the pandemic, notably that education was undergoing a once-in-a-generation shift — and as funders, we need to think differently about how we do grantmaking. While our new strategic direction did not fully go into effect until 2022, our 2021 grants and initiated work began to reflect our evolving direction:
Gates Family Foundation’s K-12 education program continues to be driven by the vision that all children in Colorado have access to educational opportunities that support their long-term success. To advance this, in 2021 we focused our resources to seed innovation and support effective and diverse autonomous public school models; pursue system-level reforms that create the conditions necessary to sustain effective schools; support community-based programs in rural areas; develop more robust human capital pipelines across the state; and sustain media, advocacy, research, and engagement efforts that strengthen the education ecosystem.
In 2021, Gates’ education program paid out $2,227,000 in strategic grants to 29 organizations and $420,000 in responsive capital grants.
In response to national and local conversations and challenges around racial equity, the Gates education and communication staff initiated and organized a youth and teacher webinar with a focus on racial justice and mental health. Organizing partners included Chalkbeat, Colorado Youth Congress, Young Americans Aspiring for Social and Political Action (YAASPA), and the Colorado Education Initiative. The event was youth-led and Chalkbeat facilitated. Close to 100 people attended the webinar.
Gates’ close partner and grantee Lyra Colorado continued to advance Climatarium to rural communities throughout the state. Specifically, Gates gave a grant to River Science to expand its college and career credentialed hydrology pathway beyond Cañon City High School to all three school districts in the Fremont County Collaborative. Lyra and Gates staff also helped to launch a new regional collaborative with four Yampa Valley school districts to explore interest in collaborating to develop a climate change education pathway for students. And Lyra’s Environmental Science & Climate Institute (ESCI) engages students interested in environmental sciences and climate change through a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach. After successfully launching ESCI in 2020, Lyra found a strong partner in Fort Lewis College, which hosted the 2021 ESCI Summer Institute with 24 students from the five-district region.
2021 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: EDUCATION
Throughout 2020, Gates Family Foundation staff and board members worked alongside the state’s nonprofit, foundation, government, and education leaders to leverage all of the Foundation’s resources in response to the evolving COVID crisis.
In the stories below, you can read about Gates’ responsive grantmaking, impact investments, and funding partnerships developed in 2020 to support Colorado communities’ response to the COVID pandemic:
Laia Mitchell, Senior Program Officer, Community Development Whitney Johnson, Program Officer, Community Development Lisa Rucker, Senior Program Officer, Capital Grants Melissa Milios Davis, Vice President, Informed Communities
The year of 2020 was a devastating time for Colorado communities. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and the economy created uncertainty and loss across the state. Unemployment rates rose sharply, food insecurity and housing instability increased, and many small businesses shuttered or struggled to find ways to operate in a changed world. Local governments and nonprofits worked to meet the basic needs of their communities with less revenue and while working to protect staff in a time of uncertainty.
COVID-19 also exacerbated and revealed existing community disparities and structural inequity. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) have been harder hit by both the virus and the economic impacts from it. Concurrently, repeated incidents of police brutality against BIPOC have led to a broader discourse about systemic racial injustice in America, including access to capital, housing, jobs, education, transit, parks, public space, and many other components of community development. In 2020, Gates’ Community Development program shifted staff time and resources toward COVID response with a focus on equity, including identification and support of organizations addressing food insecurity, housing insecurity, and support to small businesses left out of federal response programs.
In addition to COVID response grants, the Gates Community Development program committed $495,000 in strategic grants to eight organizations in 2020, and $1,335,000 in responsive capital grants to 12 organizations. In 2020, the Foundation approved two (non-COVID) community development impact investments, including a deposit in Native American Bank (fixed income, $240,000), and the Metro Denver Impact Facility (debt, $1.25M).
Access to Economic Opportunity was the most robust strategy area in 2020, and the Foundation continues to advance community wealth building strategies, such as the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center to advance co-op conversions around Colorado; Mi Casa Resource Center and the ACT303 effort to support small businesses and community planning in East Colfax; and the NPX effort to catalyze economic mobility through large investments in select nonprofits.
Within the Informed Communities program area, Gates staff continued to support the Colorado Media Project as a multi-funder, community-led initiative to strengthen and transform Colorado’s local journalism ecosystem. CMP priorities in 2020 included working with partners to launch the Colorado News Collaborative, which in June hired veteran journalist Laura Frank as its first executive director; developing and awarding a pool of funds to ensure diverse and multi-lingual communities have access vital COVID news and information; and convening journalists and community members for frank conversations on journalism’s role in systemic racism. CMP also supported 25 Colorado newsrooms with $5,000 challenge grants for the year-end #newsCOneeds campaign, which resulted in more than $580,000 raised for the cohort in the month of December. Apart from CMP, program officers from all of Gates’ focus areas continued to provide direct grants to newsrooms covering important issues, including Chalkbeat Colorado, Colorado Public Radio, High Country News, and Rocky Mountain PBS. Gates also made an impact investment in The Colorado Sun, bolstering its ability to scale as a member-supported statewide newsroom.
Additional grantee highlights include:
MILE HIGH CONNECTS: In 2020, Gates re-committed support to the Mile High Connects collaborative table. MHC was quick to respond to COVID and launched a mini-grants program and additional supports. MHC has been participating as a selected site in the national Strong Prosperous and Resilient Communities Challenge, bringing national funding and capital pipelines for equitable development to the metro area. MHC member and previous GFF grantee Enterprise Community Partners worked on eviction prevention and COVID-related housing policy and received support in 2020 through Gates’ COVID Response Fund.
SAN LUIS VALLEY LOCAL FOODS COALITION: The SLVLFC is a long-time Gates grantee and partner, and a 2020 grant to the organization helped the organization continue the Valley Roots Food Hub and serve as a key player in regional and statewide food system efforts. Through the Gates’ COVID Response Fund, the Foundation also supported the Colorado Farm and Food Systems Respond and Rebuild Fund, which launched in April 2020 with philanthropic support, and was awarded an additional $1 million from the Colorado Department of Agriculture to expand the work.
COMMUNITY BUILDERS: In 2020, Gates also recommitted support to long-time partner Community Builders to guide planning processes that advance economic opportunity and smart growth in Colorado towns and communities.
2020 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
Russ Schnitzer, Senior Program Officer Whitney Johnson, Program Officer
Daring to look back, the unprecedented challenges of 2020 have profoundly impacted life locally and globally. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous year in Colorado brought into sharper focus some of the themes about which Gates’ Natural Resources program staff have been exploring and learning.
A forest health crisis that began building nearly 20 years ago intersected with a rapidly intensifying climate crisis and, in 2020, materialized into the worst year for Colorado wildfires on record. In a single season, more than 665,000 acres burned at a cost of more than $266 million for suppression alone. A total of 1,152 homes were destroyed; two lives were lost. The conditions that led to these catastrophic fires persist, and landscape-scale solutions to forest management are urgently needed to create greater resilience for people and nature.
The state’s water supply and demand gap – the difference between how much water is provided by snowpack and how much water is needed for consumptive uses – is worsening. Today, that gap poses perhaps an even greater threat to Colorado’s economy and ways of life than ever before. The winter snowpack of 2020-2021 did little to provide relief to Colorado’s watersheds, as evidenced by almost non-existent spring runoff. With no relief in sight, Colorado must provide leadership for the hard work necessary to invest in resilience and adapt to this “new normal.”
A slowly-building crisis of relevance is also evident in Colorado’s conservation field. Values of diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t reflected often enough in the management of natural resources, the protection of landscapes, or in the voices advocating for the same at every level. Efforts to make conservation more inclusive and diverse will take time; this is a Gates Family Foundation priority now and into the future.
Other program priorities of Gates’ Natural Resources remain critically important:
Agricultural land is still being converted by residential and industrial development at an alarming rate, as an aging cohort of farmers and ranchers face increasingly challenging social and economic pressures.
Critical wildlife populations and habitats are at even greater risk from an expanded set of perils that includes a changing climate, loss of agricultural stewardship, and management mandates by popular vote.
Recreational use patterns and intensity have spiked throughout Colorado, as pandemic-weary residents seek refuge and release in the outdoors – creating more challenges for budget-starved public land managers.
We are responding to these challenges. The issues described above have directly informed our efforts to develop the Foundation’s next five-year strategic plan, the process for which began in 2020 and will continue through the end of 2021. We look forward to sharing this new strategy with partners and grantees, including the many new relationships that will be required to make progress. We know that we must double down on listening, bringing diverse stakeholders together, and finding common ground.
Supporting the conservation of Colorado’s natural resources is a unique privilege, and it is a role that our staff and board carry out with honor and humility. Our work is only as strong as our grantees and funding partners. Thank you for the opportunity.
2020 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: NATURAL RESOURCES
Mary Seawell, Senior Vice President Abby Schaller, Senior Program Officer
Ana Soler, Senior Program Officer
The mission of Gates Family Foundation’s K-12 education program is to ensure that all children in Colorado have access to education opportunities that support their long-term success. To advance this mission, we focus our resources to seed innovation and support effective and diverse autonomous public school models; pursue system-level reforms that create the conditions necessary to sustain effective schools; support community-based programs in rural areas; develop more robust human capital pipelines across the state; and sustain media, advocacy, research, and engagement efforts that strengthen the education ecosystem.
In 2020, Gates’ education program awarded $1,185,000 in strategic grants to 15 organizations and $525,000 in responsive capital grants to 12 organizations. This past year was characterized by unprecedented disruptions to student learning. The education program adapted grantmaking and approaches to respond quickly and flexibly to the changing realities of K-12 education in Colorado.
COVID Response
In the weeks after the March COVID-19 shutdowns, Gates staff gathered information from district partners on food distribution activities and needs. The Foundation rapidly deployed $22,500 in food security grants to key district partners.
Gates, Lyra Colorado, and a coalition of partners (RESCHOOL Colorado, Empower Schools, Donnell-Kay Foundation, Colorado Succeeds, RootED Denver, and Daniels Fund) launched the Education Innovation Fund – a K-12 initiative to support nimble and creative responses to meet students needs in the wake of COVID-19. The fund awarded 34 promising projects $320,000 in grants. Gates and partners captured lessons learned from the effort through video, virtual convenings, and surveys.
Gates staff also provided support to the Governor’s Office and the RISE Selection Committee with analysis, tools, and facilitation throughout the RISE review process. In total, the RISE fund awarded $41 million to 22 innovative efforts across the state.
Southwest Environment and Climate Institute
Lyra Colorado and Gates continue to partner on education projects statewide. Gates is a supporter of Lyra both through financial and staff time support. Gates and Lyra partnered with six southwest Colorado school districts and Fort Lewis College to launch the Colorado Environment and Climate Institute (ECI), a program that supports students with unique and shared climate change-focused curriculum, project-based learning, and career exploration. In August of 2020, students from all participating districts convened in Durango for a three-day kick-off Summer Institute. Gatherings were held outdoors, and the event strictly adhered to all public health guidelines. Students, teachers, and administrators who participated in the Institute left feeling energized about ECI and the year ahead.
Efforts to elevate student voice
There were several Gates-led efforts to include students in decision making.
Gates staff co-hosted a webinar with Chalkbeat Colorado and the Colorado Education Initiative to elevate student voices during the pandemic. Ten students from across the state shared their experiences of COVID-19 related impacts on school and home life, opinions and recommendations on remote learning, and their engagement with current events, including the racial justice movement. More than 170 parents, teachers, and community leaders logged in to hear from the panel.
In partnership with YouthRoots, Gates created a remote Philanthropy Fellowship for youth 18-24 who are interested in learning more about the work of foundations and nonprofits. Eleven foundations signed up to host two fellows each for the fall of 2021. The Growing Insight and Voice (GIV) Fellowship will provide opportunities for youth to discover and explore potential careers in the philanthropic and nonprofit fields; improve the ability of the philanthropic sector to meet community needs by including youth voice, expertise, and wisdom in foundation strategies; and develop a pipeline for youth from communities underrepresented in philanthropy to enter the field.
Gates worked in partnership with Lyra to recruit, train, and support youth advisors to inform all stages of planning, curriculum, and development for the Colorado Environmental Science and Climate Institute and to support grant review for the Governor’s RISE Fund.
Investments
Since 2018, Gates staff have investigated a number of edtech funds. Investments in 2020 include Reach Capital and Owl Ventures.
Reach Capital invests in people and solutions that broaden access to quality education. Edtech products in Reach’s portfolio are grounded in strong pedagogy, research-driven, and support students with limited educational opportunities due to their socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and geography.
Owl Ventures is at the forefront of the education technology wave and is recognized as the leader in the sector. As barriers that once impeded technological innovation in K-12 classrooms are rapidly removed, the opportunity grows to support transformative edtech companies that reshape learning and increase access for all students.
Collaboratives
In addition to grantmaking, the Gates education team also worked closely with strategic partners on some existing and some exciting new initiatives in 2020:
Colorado Education Organizing Funder Collaborative (CEO) – Gates staff has participated in this collaborative for six years, committing funding and staff time to support CEO’s mission to reduce the achievement and opportunity gaps for low-income public school students of color in the Denver metro area. CEO harnesses support for community organizing that educates, builds leadership among, and engages low-income parents and young people to advocate for effective education reform solutions. Over the years, CEO has increased collaborative efforts among grantees, has developed and implemented grantee self-assessment surveys of organizational strength and core organizing competencies, has provided responsive technical assistance to grantees based on survey results and shared learning, and has enhanced grantee operational and organizing capacity. Over the past six years Gates’ commitment of $375,000 to support the collaborative effort was joined by $1,744,000 in commitments from other foundations.
In 2020, Gates and Lyra Colorado staff initiated a meeting with multiple partners, including school districts in Fremont County (Cañon City Schools RE-1, Fremont School District RE-2, and Cotopaxi School District RE-3) and Pueblo Community College. These participants went on to form a multi-district collaborative, The Fremont Multidistrict Initiative, to reinvent how a region can cooperatively utilize resources and sustainably provide an outstanding educational experience for rural students by expanding opportunities and offering access to robust college and career pathways, regardless of the district they attend. To accomplish this work, the initiative established a steering committee composed of the superintendents from each district, as well as the dean of the Fremont campus of Pueblo Community College. Two of Gates’ grantees, Empower Schools and Trendlines, supported the initiative.
Through all of this work, the education team at Gates strives to be thoughtful partners and to listen to all participants in the education community, in order to make progress in advancing educational equity and access to opportunity for all students in Colorado. We are grateful to all of the organizations and communities with whom we have been honored to partner with over the course of this most extraordinary year.
2020 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: EDUCATIONAL EQUITY
Laia Mitchell, Senior Program Officer
Whitney Johnson, Program Officer
Colorado’s rapidly changing rural and urban communities are both an opportunity and a challenge in ensuring stronger, more resilient communities for all. In 2019, Gates Family Foundation advanced vibrant communities through our Community Development, Informed Communities, Capital Grants and Impact Investing programs by supporting projects that built upon each other to create leverage and integrate cross-sector solutions.
In a thriving and inclusive ecosystem, entrepreneurship and community wealth-building empowers individuals, improves standards of living, and creates jobs, prosperity, and innovation in the economy. While the Denver Metro Area continued to experience unprecedented growth in 2019, small business ownership is in danger of drifting further from the hands of local entrepreneurs, especially with the economic upheaval in 2020. Very little capital flows to entrepreneurs who are women, people of color, or living in rural Colorado. Gates is working strategically to help weave together an entrepreneurial ecosystem that bridges market gaps through its partnerships with organizations that reach extremely marginalized entrepreneurs who are poised for growth.
Transportation plays a huge role in the lives of individuals, our communities, and the way communities grow. With increasing population growth and limited funding, Colorado’s aging transportation system is outdated and insufficient, and fossil fuel vehicle emissions continue to be a significant contributor to climate change. In 2019 we prioritized supporting organizations focused on engaging communities in re-envisioning transportation and mobility options, creatively solving problems, and holding government leaders accountable for setting and achieving ambitious goals.
Gates also has served an important role in catalyzing a growing network of food hubs here in Colorado. The aggregation and distribution of local food products are an essential component of scaling up local food systems, and food hubs have the potential to be financially viable businesses that demonstrate a significant commitment to place while building a strong local economy.
In 2019, the Community Development program committed $932,500 in strategic grants to 13 organizations and $465,000 in responsive capital grants to 12 organizations. New impact investments supporting vibrant communities in 2019 included a $500,000 MRI to Greater Colorado Venture Fund to support entrepreneurs in rural Colorado, a $500,000 PRI to DreamSpring to support its Small Business Impact Fund, and a $3 million MRI to Rose Affordable Housing Fund V to provide safe, energy efficient and affordable housing as a stable base for families and seniors and to connect residents with a range of health, educational, and social services.
A few additional highlights include:
ELEVATION COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: Joined with six foundations and Urban Land Conservancy to launch a new public-private partnership to acquire or develop 700 permanently affordable homes and serve 2,000 residents in five years in Front Range communities from Ft. Collins to the Denver metro area.
EAST COLFAX / SUN VALLEY REDEVELOPMENT: Helped catalyze the Federal and Colfax cloverleaf redevelopment project, which received major investment from Colorado Department of Transportation and the City and County of Denver in 2019.
COLORADO MEDIA PROJECT: Committed $1.125 million over three years to launch the Colorado Media Project with the University of Denver and national and local funders. The goal of the initiative is to strengthen public-service journalism across Colorado through collaboration, business innovation, and community engagement.
2019 Grants and Impact Investments Awarded: Vibrant Communities
2019 marked a year of continued evolution within the Gates Family Foundation’s Natural Resources program. Most notably, we welcomed Whitney Johnson as a new program officer. Whitney’s role is shared between Community Development and Natural Resources, which will help these programs further define complementary priorities, such as rural economic development and sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
The program awarded a total of more than $1.3 million in strategic grants to 15 organizations and $255,000 in responsive grants from our capital program went to five organizations in 2019. In addition, we made several significant new natural resources impact investments, including $3 million in an industrial impact fund focused on resource efficiencies in energy, transportation, and the built environment and $1 million in a fund focused on mitigation banking and carbon sequestration.
Our Focus Landscapes initiative, a key element of our Natural Resources program, underwent a comprehensive review, revision, and re-launch in 2019. This initiative was launched in 2011 to help Colorado achieve landscape-scale conservation through the protection of private lands in specific geographies. A great deal of progress was made in North Park, southeast Colorado, and the San Luis Valley, resulting in more than 200,000 acres of farm and ranch lands conserved, along with their associated ecological values. The strategic review process was done in close partnership with the land trust organizations representing those geographies, providing lessons-learned and an exploration of emerging opportunities. The revised Focus Landscapes initiative will first focus on two geographies: southeast Colorado and the San Luis Valley. Our five-year commitment to these landscapes is also more ambitious in scope, working with the partner organizations, Palmer Land Trust and Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust, to implement a more comprehensive conservation strategy with outcomes that emphasize organizational sustainability, collaboration, community, and innovation that extends well beyond traditional private land conservation easements.
2019 also highlighted the significance of other Natural Resources program priorities, to address challenges exacerbated by a changing climate and continued population growth – trends very likely to persist well into the future. Such variables also continue to shape how the Foundation invests in strategic priorities. Increasingly, Natural Resources investments are being made collaboratively with other foundations and public funding partners. The scale of these challenges is staggering, but the opportunities for private philanthropy to work together toward common objectives are increasingly evident.
Continuing to leverage the entrepreneurial and collaborative approach that has come to define the Natural Resources program, significant achievements made in 2019 include:
The development and successful launch of the RESTORE Colorado Fund in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The fund’s first round of awards totaled approximately $2.7 million to eleven different large-scale habitat restoration and enhancement projects across the state.
The launch of the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative (RMRI), led by Gates grantee the National Wild Turkey Federation and in close partnership with the United States Forest Service. The RMRI is focused on large-scale implementation of forest health and watershed restoration beginning in southwest Colorado, helping to break down jurisdictional barriers to forest health treatments and creating a 10-year collaborative watershed restoration strategy.
Continued work to advance key water sustainability objectives, including the identification of new durable sources of funding for the full implementation of Colorado’s Water Plan.
The conservation of Trinidad’s iconic Fisher’s Peak, formerly known as Crazy French Ranch, which in June 2020 become Colorado’s newest and second-largest state park with more than 19,000 acres of wilderness to explore, which is also expected to drive economic growth in southern Colorado.
Finally, the Foundation’s commitment to Colorado’s land trusts remains steadfast. 2019 was the first full year for Keep It Colorado, the hub organization co-launched by Gates and Great Outdoors Colorado to serve the state’s diverse land trust community. In the past year, Keep It Colorado has hired additional staff, implemented policy, communications, and fundraising strategies, and engaged land trust leaders statewide with learning and organizational development opportunities. While much work remains to ensure the long-term sustainability of Colorado’s land trust community, Keep It Colorado continues to serve as a shining example of conservation leadership and collaboration, even in trying times.
Supporting the conservation and stewardship of Colorado’s natural resources is an exercise in continual learning and adaptation. It is also a humbling privilege to contribute to the Foundation’s long-standing conservation legacy. Our work is only as strong as our grantees and funding partners, and that strength is growing. As we look ahead, I am confident that the relationships we continue to build at every level will result in great progress and keep us on the leading edge of conservation in Colorado.
2019 Grants and Impact Investments Awarded: Natural Resources
The mission of Gates Family Foundation’s K-12 education program is to ensure that all children in Colorado have access to education opportunities that support their long-term success.
To advance this mission, we focus our resources to seed innovation and support effective and diverse autonomous public school models; pursue system-level reforms that create the conditions necessary to sustain effective schools; support community-based programs in rural areas; develop more robust human capital pipelines across the state; and sustain media, advocacy, research, and engagement efforts that strengthen the education ecosystem.
In 2019, the education program awarded $2,745,750 in strategic grants to 23 organizations and $214,765 in responsive capital grants to seven organizations. These commitments are detailed in the list below, and we’d like to spotlight just a few of the organizations that are changing lives:
RISE Colorado is training principals and school leaders and increasing their knowledge and capacity regarding best practices relating to family engagement, educational equity, systemic racism, and how power and privilege impacts education and school systems.
Keystone Policy Center is working with Ute Mountain Ute tribal leaders to design a new tribal school to be located on the reservation. Financial and technical support from Gates has helped the tribe-led team explore the concept and feasibility of such a school, and then define the pathway to execution and operation.
Climb Higher Colorado is providing a fellowship for education leaders to gain skills, develop a network, and construct and implement strategies necessary to address systemic educational challenges facing students and families.
Colorado Future Farmers is providing professional development and mentoring to agriculture teachers across Colorado in an effort to increase embedded support and retention.
In addition to grantmaking, the Gates education team also worked closely with strategic partners on some exciting new initiatives in 2019:
We joined with local and national partners to launch Lyra Colorado, an independent nonprofit dedicated to supporting educator and community empowerment by creating more responsive education systems and structures. Lyra works with the three Denver Public Schools Innovation Zones to ensure their long-term sustainability and advance their mission to create systems that support and elevate educators. Lyra also supported the creation of a regional partnership in southwest Colorado to help five school districts partner and two higher education institutions to create more opportunities for students. Gates long-time partner Empower Schools is leading that work with financial support from Lyra.
We wrapped up a multi-year process with the Roaring Fork School District and regional charter schools that resulted in a District-Charter Collaboration Compact of shared, formal agreements that benefit students and families. The Gates team continues to provide implementation support to the district and schools to ensure they are meeting their shared goals of achieving equity and equal access to public education in the Roaring Fork Valley.
We worked with three rural communities – Cañon City, Durango, and Alamosa – to advance local initiatives in K-12 education. The effort was a partnership with Wend Collective to harness the creative capacity of rural communities to solve problems within their own education systems. With The Civic Canopy as an implementation partner, Gates and Wend supported local groups in each geography with targeted facilitation, analysis, and strategy development to advance big ideas for their schools, students, and communities. Gates published a case study on the effort to share learning on the initiative.
Through all of this work, the education team at Gates strives to leverage all of the Foundation’s resources – dollars, people, relationships, credibility, access, convening capability, and physical space – to make progress in advancing educational equity and access to opportunity for all children in Colorado. We are grateful for the opportunity to work and learn alongside our partners, and we celebrate their successes.
2019 Grants and Impact Investments Awarded: Educational Equity
Finally, also in 2023 a total of $410,956 previously committed by Gates to the 
A total of $1,110,956 committed to the 
In 2019, the Community Development program committed $932,500 in strategic grants to 13 organizations and $465,000 in responsive capital grants to 12 organizations. New impact investments supporting vibrant communities in 2019 included a $500,000 MRI to 
Our Focus Landscapes initiative, a key element of our Natural Resources program, underwent a comprehensive review, revision, and re-launch in 2019. This initiative was launched in 2011 to help Colorado achieve landscape-scale conservation through the protection of private lands in specific geographies. A great deal of progress was made in North Park, southeast Colorado, and the San Luis Valley, resulting in more than 200,000 acres of farm and ranch lands conserved, along with their associated ecological values. The strategic review process was done in close partnership with the land trust organizations representing those geographies, providing lessons-learned and an exploration of emerging opportunities. The revised Focus Landscapes initiative will first focus on two geographies: 