Gates Frontiers Fund

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

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

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

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

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:

Wildflower Montessori Public Schools of Colorado expanded its reach to Grand Junction by launching five Montessori micro schools in a predominantly low-income, Latino community.

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

Melissa Milios Davis, Vice President, Informed Communities

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:

— $250,000 to the National Trust for Local News toward their purchase of a new community printing press to serve 23 Colorado Trust for Local News publications; in 2024 NTLN plans to offer mission-aligned printing services to dozens of other small publishers on the Front Range, who have faced double-digit cost increases in recent years;

— $62,000 to Hearken to 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 Project was 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

— A new external evaluation of CMP’s grantmaking and impact.

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!

2023 GRANTS AWARDED: INFORMED COMMUNITIES

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

— A total of $1.75 million to three new community development-focused Program-Related Investments (PRIs): First Southwest Bank ($1 million)​, Elevation Community Land Trust’s Developer Startup Investment fund ($550,000)​, Sober Apartment Living Colorado ($200,000)​. There were also new Mission Related Investments to Rose Affordable Housing Preservation VI, Lafayette Square Business Development Company, and the Mission Colorado Fund.

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.

Additional housing grant investments included support for policy work and capacity building by Enterprise Community Partners, a ‘get homeownership ready’ course by Boss Generation, expanding access to accessory dwelling units through the West Denver Renaissance Collaborative, and Justice for the People Legal Center to build capacity for mobile home ownership in the Westwood neighborhood of Denver. A grant to Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy & Research Organization (CLLARO), shared with the GFF Education program, will support research on Latino/Latina housing needs, education access, and more across the state.

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

Melissa Milios Davis, Vice President, Informed Communities

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 $1,110,956 committed 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!

2022 GRANTS AWARDED: INFORMED COMMUNITIES

Whitney Johnson, Senior Program Officer

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.

In 2021, the Gates Community Development program committed $530,000 in strategic grants to 13 organizations and $370,000 in responsive capital grants to eight organizations. There were five community development impact investments in 2021 totaling $2.15 million: IndieDwell ($250,000), Montbello Organizing Committee FreshLo Hub ($200,000), Telluride Foundation-Rural Homes for Sale for Locals ($200,000), First Southwest Community Fund ($500,000), Dearfield Fund for Black Wealth ($1,000,000)

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:

Gates Commits $250,000 to Statewide COVID-19 Response Fund (March 26)

Gates Announces Additional $610,000 in COVID-19 Rapid Response Grants (April 17)

Gates Commits and Leverages $14.8 Million to Support Small Businesses Impacted by COVID-19 (May 13)

Ten Trusted Community News Sources Awarded COVID-19 Informed Communities Grants (May 25)

34 Innovative Projects Receive Total of $335,000 from COVID-19 Education Fund (Sept. 1)

Gates Announces Third Round of 2020 COVID Response Grants (Sept. 18)

15 Teams Selected to Receive Planning and Design Support to Apply for RISE Education Fund (Oct. 29)

25 Colorado Newsrooms Selected for Matching Grants to Raise a Quarter-Million for Local Journalism (Nov. 6)

More than $300K Total Awarded to 34 Rural Theaters via Public-Private COVID Support Initiative (Jan. 6, 2021)

Gates Salutes 32 RISE Fund Grantees Sharing Over $40 Million to Innovate and Transform Public Education (Jan. 25, 2021)

2020 GRANTS AND IMPACT INVESTMENTS AWARDED: COVID-19 RESPONSE