Table of Contents
Grantees
Converting Funding into Rippling Impact
In 2025, we awarded
$2M+
45 grants
to projects strengthening Colorado’s communities
alongside
$260K
in Catalyst Grants
(10 Leadership Catalyst & 35 Rural Catalyst)
Our grantmaking touched
35 counties & one tribal nation
across Colorado, elevating the impact of organizations and communities doing transformative work.
We completed
36 site visits
which have been highlighted by grantees as instrumental in building trust and explaining the nuances of grant requests.
To date, Boettcher’s historical philanthropic giving exceeds
$448M
Community Connection Grants
These grants support initiatives and infrastructure projects that foster stronger connections between individuals and organizations.
UNC College of Osteopathic Medicine
This grant investment created a ripple effect by helping catalyze the University of Northern Colorado’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, transforming a critical need into a sustainable pathway for addressing Colorado’s physician shortage. By strengthening rural clinical partnerships and expanding access to medical education, the impact extends far beyond the campus, increasing healthcare access, supporting underserved communities, and shaping future physicians committed to serving where they are needed most.
Food Bank of the Rockies
This grant empowers organizations working across Colorado’s food system in areas from emergency food distribution to long-term community food sovereignty. By expanding capacity, partnerships, and local leadership, the funding helps ensure more Coloradans can access nutritious food today while building resilient, community-driven food systems that reduce hunger and strengthen local economies over time.
Boys & Girls Club of the San Luis Valley Early Childhood Learning Center
The Early Childhood Learning Center is a bold effort to address two critical challenges in the Valley – childcare and substance abuse – through a 17,000-square-foot facility including ten classrooms, a kitchen, and a playground. The Boys & Girls Club of the San Luis Valley is partnering with Adams State and Trinidad State College to strengthen its employment pipeline and will use the space to offer internships and on-site licensure training, along with providing prevention programming in partnership with the Region 18 Opioid Abatement Council and Valley Wide Health.
Colorado State University’s Veterinary Health and Education Complex
This investment funded capital elements of Colorado State University’s Veterinary Health & Education Complex, most directly the Atrium Learning Wall (to be named for Trustee Dr. Tony Frank), a new
20-person classroom, and the south-facing plaza. This will expand education and clinical infrastructure. This investment deepens partnerships with rural clinics, builds hands-on training for future veterinarians, and strengthens animal health, public-health outcomes, and resilient, locally rooted veterinary services across Colorado.
City of Grand Junction – Community
Rec Center
The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in Colorado without a public recreation center or YMCA. This 83,000-sq-ft Community Recreation Center and Burkey Park is an all-ages hub with an aquatic complex, three indoor courts, walking track, fitness and childcare spaces, a senior lounge and physical-therapy center, plus a 250-person events hall that opens onto a pavilion, playground and turf field.
Advance – Aurora Regional Navigation Campus
Anchored in a repurposed hotel, this facility will bring 15+ partners together, offer 200+ medical-respite and short-term housing rooms, and serve 600+ people daily with the long-term goal of reducing Aurora’s homelessness by 50% in five years. This grant will fund facility upgrades including a real-time technology platform for partner coordination and outcome tracking, trauma-informed furnishings (private interview rooms, improved lighting), and flexible meeting and training space to support on-site partners.
LiftUp of Routt County
Serving roughly 2,300 people (≈10% of the county) each year, LiftUp meets basic human needs and promotes self sufficiency. The organization is expanding its facility by approximately 6,000 square feet to boost food-storage and distribution capacity, enlarge the Donation Center and Thrift Store (projected to double current revenue), and add meeting rooms, staff offices, and a conference/wellness room. These upgrades will improve dignity, capacity, and collaboration.
Community Economic Development of Sedgewick County Community Center
Sedgwick County is launching a community-driven initiative to renovate the old Julesburg High School into the county’s first community center. This multi-use facility is designed to bring together youth, families, seniors, nonprofit organizations, schools, and civic leaders under one roof and will house a variety of spaces to meet local needs. This includes a fitness and recreation area, a commercial kitchen, spaces for seniors, a dedicated classroom wing for early childhood care, a gymnasium for sports leagues, and multipurpose rooms to accommodate community events. With changing demographics and community needs, rural towns like Julesburg are creatively repurposing schools and other spaces to invest in their futures.
United Way of Pueblo County (UWPC) – Leadership, Empowerment, and Development (LEAD) Center
After leading a county-wide needs assessment, UWPC is renovating its office building to be the home of the LEAD Center. This facility will support Pueblo County nonprofits through below-market office rentals, shared meeting and training rooms, technical assistance, and ongoing capacity-building opportunities in one centralized location. The organization supports four pillars: Community Resilience, Economic Mobility & Opportunity, Nonprofit Capacity Development, and Youth Success, along with providing Community Investment Grants supporting mental health, housing, and senior services. This nonprofit resource hub will improve the operational sustainability of all partners involved and facilitate deeper collaboration.
Carbondale Clay Center (CCC)
CCC is the region’s only public art center offering clay work, pottery classes, and kilns. The organization is building a new 8,500-square-foot facility which will include adaptive classrooms, sensory-friendly and ADA-compliant studios, a professional gallery three times larger than the current space, and flexible communal gathering areas. These spaces will allow CCC to double its classroom capacity and serve at least 500 additional participants annually. Expanded programming will include bilingual instruction, therapeutic ceramics classes, intergenerational workshops, and an enhanced Artist Residency program with four slots instead of one. The new CCC facility will greatly expand capacity for programming and pivot the organization’s impact to that of a community arts hub with space for events, on-site partners, and galleries featuring work from local artists of all backgrounds.
Catalyst Grants
Leadership Practitioners
These funds provide capacity-building support to community nonprofits that participate in Boettcher’s Leadership Practitioners Collaborative, which unites program directors and leaders across the state with a goal to create a more inclusive and accessible leadership ecosystem in Colorado.
The Urban Leaders Fellowship (ULF)
This funding is helping to run an impact evaluation of ULF’s paid summer fellowship for professionals who come from various backgrounds, professions, ideologies and experiences. This program trains leaders to transform communities through people, partnership, and policy.
Colorado Young Leaders (CYL)
CYL develops a sense of purpose, passion and community in high school leaders across the state through leadership exploration, programming and service adventures. Grant support is helping CYL to develop a blueprint for Youth Leadership Expansion.
Asian Chamber Foundation of Colorado (ACFC)
This grant supports the launch of the ACFC’s inaugural program, supporting their mission of providing opportunities and resources for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community focused on higher education and career development.
Regional Institute for Health & Environmental Leadership (RIHEL)
RIHEL provides leadership training and strengthens the relationships among health professionals, environment professionals, the academic community, and the public and private sectors. The grant supported the completion of a feasibility study and program redesign effort.
Rural Catalyst Grants
These awards empower creative projects designed to meet the distinctive challenges of Colorado’s rural communities.
Tabor Opera House Preservation Foundation
This organization has led a multi-phase restoration effort to save and restore the Leadville opera house as a community and economic development opportunity.
Genoa Hugo School District
Teacher shortages–often due to a lack of available housing for educators–have posed an ongoing challenge for the school district. With support of several community partners, the school district purchased and is renovating a triplex that can be used for teacher housing. This catalyst grant will support some of the final renovations needed to make the triplex ready for occupancy.
We Hate Exercise (WHE)
WHE is a 12-week, science- based intervention based in Morgan County designed by a clinical psychologist to motivate people to move their bodies and connect with supportive others. This grant supports a pilot partnership with mental health organizations in a rural Colorado community. WHE will focus on reaching individuals who are often excluded from mainstream mental health services, while enhancing the experiences of those already engaged in care.
Colorado Teacher of the Year
Each year, the Colorado Teacher of the Year program recognizes educators who go above and beyond to inspire, uplift, and empower their students. Janet Damon, the 2025 Colorado Teacher of the Year, is a Denver Public Schools graduate and has taught in DPS for more than 25 years. She currently teaches at DELTA High School. Janet has dedicated her work to disrupting book deserts, supporting teacher wellness, and creating communities where all voices matter.
Colorado Leadership Stories
Becoming an Anchor of Care
This Colorado Leadership Stories podcast episode features Janet Damon, the 2025 Colorado Teacher of the Year, discussing how educators can champion wellness. Damon shares her journey of supporting students, disrupting book deserts, and fostering inclusive communities, reminding listeners of the power educators have to lead with care.
Voices from the Classroom
Great teachers like Janet Damon (featured above) do more than instruct — they inspire. Each year, the Colorado Teacher of the Year program recognizes educators who go above and beyond for their students and communities. In partnership with the Colorado Department of Education, Boettcher proudly sponsors this award, which includes a financial gift to support their school communities.
Hear from all eight of the 2025 finalists to gain a better sense of their passion for teaching, their deep connections to their communities, and their plans for further impact.
2025 Grantmaking Reach
Community Connection & Catalyst Grant Grantees
Grantees Map
Click on a county to learn about which Catalyst Grants were received.
Lake
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Community Builders
- Tabor Opera House - Capital Campaign feasibility
- City of Leadville - Leadville Community Center DOLA Match for Planning Grant
Montrose
Community Connections Grantees:
- Center for Independence - Montrose Building and Community Room
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Unify Montrose - Housing and Homlessness Convenings
- San Miguel Resource Center - Mental Health
- Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club – Capacity Building for Planning and Leadership
- Unify Montrose - Places to Just Be: Middle School Youth Initiative
Costilla
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Town of San Luis - Community Center planning
Morgan
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- We Hate Exercise - Mental/Physical Wellbeing Rural Pilot
- United Way Morgan County - Strategic Planning for Collaborative Child & Youth Initiative
- The Block Commissary Kitchen & Events - Strategic Planning and Outreach
San Miguel
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Telluride Institute - Env Center Planning
- San Miguel Resource Center - Mental Health
Garfield
Community Connection Grantees:
- Ascendigo Autism Services - Community Center
- Carbondale Clay Center
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- The Meeting Place - Tech Upgrades
- Youth Zone - Strategic Planning
Alamosa
Community Connections Grantees:
- Boys & Girls Clubs of San Luis Valley - Early Childhood Learning Center
- Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation - Tierra Azul Community center
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust - Water Mgmt Convenings in SLV
Yuma
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- The Space - Fundraising/grants consultant
- Yuma County Economic Development - Economic Leadership Council (Yuma County as a fiscal sponsor)
Delta
Community Connections Grantees:
- North Fork Senior Connections - Senior Center Renovation
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Friends of Youth and Nature - Collaborative Van Share (Hotchkiss)
Logan
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Hope House NE Colorado - Hope for Homes Regional Transitional Housing Plan (Sterling)
Routt
Community Connection Grantees:
- LiftUp of Routt County
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Routt County Human Services - Catalyst for Child Care Sustainability - Ready Routt Task Force (Steamboat Springs)
- Integrated Community - Culturally Affirming Mental Health Initiative (Steamboat)
- True North Incorporated - Merger and Strategic Planning (Steamboat Springs)
- United Way of the Yampa Valley - Human Resource Coalition (Steamboat Springs)
- Yampa Valley Autism - Strategic and Scenario Planning (Hayden)
Mesa
Community Connection Grantees:
- Community Food Bank of GJ - 7th Street Café
- City of Grand Junction - Community Rec Center
- Hilltop Community Resources - New Facility and Community Collaboration Room
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Loving Beyond Understanding - Statewide Rural LGBTQ+ Coalition & Leadership Capacity (Grand Junction)
- Gunnison County Juvenile Services - Community and Regional Strategic Planning
Saguache
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Cottonwood Restoration - Collaborative Restoration Pilot for Youth Wellness
Eagle
Community Connections Grantees:
- Vail Valley Foundation - Avon Childcare Center
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Family Learning Center - Marketing Support for FLC Relocation and Capital Campaign (Edwards)
- Education Foundation Eagle County - Strategic Planning Between Multiple Youth serving organizations
Phillips
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Phillips County Fmaily Education Services - Launch of Immigrant Resource Hub (Holyoke)
Las Animas
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Las Animas County - Countywide Study of Public Communications (Trinidad)
Denver
Community Connection Grantees:
- Denver Museum of Nature & Science - Science & Technology Fellowship Pilot
- WeeCycle
- Denver Film - CO 150 Film Festival (statewide)
- Sims-Fayola Foundation My Brother's Keeper Backbone Infrastructure
- Community College of Denver Foundation
- Commún Denver Inc. - Loretto Commons
- Downtown Denver Partnership - Activating the Downtown Area Plan
- Colorado Cattlemen's Foundation - Livestock Exchange Building
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Upstream Education - Mental Health Changemakers (statewide)
- Ednium – Evaluating Program Impact for Alumni
- Downtown Denver Partnership – DDP Leadership Program Impact Evaluation
- RIHEL – Feasibility Study and Program Redesign
- Colorado Changemakers Collective – Executive Leadership Development
- Asian Chamber Foundation of Colorado – Inaugural Program Launch
El Paso
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation – The Adelante Leadership Institute
- The Urban Leaders Fellowship – ULF Impact Evaluation
- Women's Community Leadership Initiative – Program Evaluation
La Plata
Community Connections Grantees:
- Community Connections Inc - Community Care Hub for Southwest Colorado
- Discovery Museum at the Powerhouse
- Good Food Collective (a project of Onward! A Legacy Foundation)
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Boys & Girls Club La Plata County
Custer
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Custer County Tourism Board - Feasibility for a Ag Marketplace
Lincoln
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Genoa Hugo School District - Triplex housing upgrades
Arapahoe
Community Connections Grantees:
- Littleton Town Hall Arts Center
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Colorado Young Leaders – Blueprint for Youth Leadership Expansion
Adams
Community Connections Grantees:
- Advance - Aurora Regional Navigation Campus
- Project Worthmore
Catalyst Grant Grantees:
- Rocky Mountain Partnership – Civic Influencer Fellowship Enhancements
Larimer
Community Connections Grantees:
- Colorado State University - VHEC
- Crossroads Safehouse - Navigation Center
- Grace Village - Community Services Center of Wellington
- Estes Valley Library - Renovation
- Community Foundation of Northern Colorado - Regional Engagement programs
Teller
Community Connections Grantees:
- Community of Caring Foundation - Early Childhood Center
Weld
Community Connections Grantees:
- Greeley Creative District - Creative Commons
Fremont
Community Connections Grantees:
- Loaves & Fishes Ministries - Food Warehouse and Resource Center
Pueblo
Community Connections Grantees:
- Pueblo Zoo - Woods of Wonder
- United Way of Pueblo County - LEAD Center and Community Hub
- Colorado State Fair Foundation - Sam Brown Family Livestock Pavilion
Douglas
Community Connections Grantees:
- Tall Tales Ranch
Jefferson
Community Connections Grantees:
- The Action Center - The Commons at Emory
- Chanda Center for Health
Sedgwick
Community Connections Grantees:
- Sedgwick County - Julesburg Community Center
Montezuma
Community Connections Grantees:
- Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (fiscal agent CROPS)
Boulder
Community Connections Grantees:
- Boulder Chamber Foundation - Community Room
- TLC Learning Center
Park
Community Connections Grantees:
- Mountain Area Land Trust
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