Partnerships & Investments

Here’s a sampling of some of the great partnerships the Dakota Foundation has accomplished.

2023

+ Advance, Aurora, CO

Advance’s mission is to provide pathways to recovery that create self-esteem, dignity, and independence for people experiencing homelessness. With self-sufficiency as the end goal, Advance helps individuals focus on recovery from harmful behaviors while gaining livable wage employment to move into independent housing. Advance is committed to compassionately producing results that are measured by metrics and empowering people to take responsibility for their own success. The Dakota Foundation granted Advance $25,000.00 in start-up funds to compensate the Executive Director while developing a detailed business plan and proposal for a $1.5 million implementation grant from the Daniels Fund, which was subsequently successfully awarded.

+ Benevolence Farm, Graham, NC

Benevolence Farm seeks to cultivate leadership, promote sustainable livelihoods, and reap structural change with individuals impacted by the criminal legal system in North Carolina. Upon leaving prison, the barriers women face finding safe housing, secure transportation, obtaining gainful employment, receiving medical and mental care, and reuniting with children are staggering. Benevolence Farm exists to ensure that women leaving incarceration have a fair shot at a second chance, providing services and resources that directly address these barriers. While residents at Benevolence Farm, women earn a living wage operating a 13 acre farm developing skills in sustainable farming and small business practices. Proceeds from the sale of produce, flowers, herbs, and natural body care products go back into the program. The Dakota Foundation awarded Benevolence farm a $80,000.00 grant as the Ian Helms award winner.

+ Catherine’s House, Belmont, NC

Catherine’s House’s mission is to love and empower women and children who are experiencing homelessness through safe housing and services that build self-sufficiency. Catherine’s House serves approximately 100 women and their children annually who would otherwise be homeless due circumstances such as domestic violence, unemployment/underemployment, affordable housing shortages, unexpected tragedies, and lack of a support network. While being provided safe housing, each woman participates in an individualized 4-6 month program that includes case management, individual and group counseling, emotional wellness therapy, and assistance with locating safe, permanent housing. Aftercare services are offered to women for twenty four months after they move on from the program. The Dakota Foundation awarded Catherine’s House $40,000.00 to assist in their aftercare mission.

+ CHAI FUND, DENVER, CO

The Colorado Housing Accelerator Initiative (“CHAI”) was founded in 2021 by Weave to simplify and scale the delivery of mission-driven capital to affordable housing projects statewide. They are a purpose-built rapid deployment fund created to provide funders and affordable housing developers with a frictionless, efficient pooled capital vehicle to deploy funds to fill housing gaps in Colorado. CHAI Debt Fund has an “impact first” mandate to maximize positive outcomes for low- and moderate-income residents by reducing their housing cost burden. The primary focus of the CHAI Debt Fund is workforce and mixed-income housing serving households earning 60% to 100% of AMI. The Dakota Foundation believes that access to affordable housing keeps people employed and supports family stability, things which are substantial social determinants of health, and thus proxies for self-sufficiency. With this in mind, the Dakota Foundation has invested another $100,000 PRI to assist CHAI in fulfilling their mission, our 2nd of 3 committed annual PRIs.

+ Change Please, Denver, CO

Change Please was founded in 2015 in the UK and formed a U.S. non-profit corporation in 2021. Change Please to date has supported almost 1,000 people into better lives through job training, employment at a Change Please retail coffee shop, long-term housing, wrap around support, and onward employment. In the spring of 2023, Change Please established its first US training center and cafe in Charlotte, NC. As Denver’s homeless population continues to rise and hospitality job vacancies continue to grow, Change Please plans to open a Denver location to connect graduates with hospitality partners. The Dakota Foundation awarded Change Please with a $100,000.00 PRI to aid in opening a Change Please Coffee training center and cafe in the Denver metro area to help individuals experiencing homelessness.

+ Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC), Grand Forks, ND

The mission of CVIC is to end violence in two generations. CVIC delivers vital safety and healing services throughout greater Grand Forks to adults and children experiencing domestic or sexual violence. The Dakota Foundation granted CVIC $25,000.00 to help develop a business plan to create a self-sustaining therapy center, by initiating billing to patient insurance and Medicaid, helping with their own sustainability and contributing to mental health within their community.

+ Fresh Start Fund, Denver, CO

The Fresh Start Fund seeks to accelerate the economic integration of refugees by offering low or no- cost consumer, auto and business loans in tandem with credit education and other asset-building services. Loans are made in partnership with refugee-serving organizations that have linguistic and cultural competence and established relationships with refugee communities. Every borrower participates in culturally and linguistically appropriate financial education and is connected to other wealth-building services delivered by local community-based organizations that specialize in serving refugees. Their model incentivizes newcomers to learn about the U.S. system and features flexible underwriting informed by on-the-ground partners, allowing them to responsibly deploy capital to borrowers that lack traditional qualifications. The Dakota Foundation approved a $100,000.00 PRI to support the growing migrant community in Denver.

+ Friends of the Children, Colorado Springs, CO

Friends of the Children impacts generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors over the course of 12+ years. Through their long-term, relationship-based model, they provide children and their families with intensive, individualized guidance from full-time, highly trained, salaried professional mentors (called Friends) beginning at age 4-6 and continuing through high school graduation. External evaluations have demonstrated the impact of their model in helping low-income, disadvantaged youth achieve significant long-term outcomes. The Dakota Foundation granted Friends of the Children – Colorado Springs $50,000.00 per year for up to 3 years to be used to support the launch of their chapter in Colorado Springs.

+ Goodwill of Colorado, Denver, CO

Goodwill of Colorado’s mission is to help people overcome barriers to economic and personal independence through education, training and job placement. They provide numerous programs designed to help individuals and families attain their highest potential, backed by its nonprofit thrift stores. Goodwill of Colorado has operated the Micro-Credentials Training Program since 2021 in Colorado Springs, and is planning to expand the program to Denver. The program seeks to serve individuals residing in the Pikes Peak region and the Denver metro area who are facing significant financial hardship and barriers to employment by offering opportunities to earn industry-recognized training and certifications in leading workforce industries. The program addresses staffing and skills gaps in these industries by offering certifications, job placement services, and career pathways. The Dakota Foundation approved an $100,000.00 PRI to support Goodwill of Colorado with the expansion of the micro-credentialing program to Denver.

+ GRID Alternatives, Denver, CO

Grid Alternatives is committed to the deployment of high-impact clean energy projects that create opportunities for workforce development, community ownership and long-term wealth building. GRID implements solar projects that exclusively benefit low-income households and tenants of affordable housing. Each of GRID's projects also incorporates hands-on experience that prepares job seekers for living-wage jobs in renewable energy. The Dakota Foundation awarded Grid Alternatives a $100,000.00 PRI into their Energy Resilience Fund to support the loan program which funds short-term bridge loans to nonprofits, affordable housing providers, tribal communities and mission-aligned clean energy project developers for solar installation projects. This in turn fuels their solar jobs training and opportunity for upward mobility within the industry, and increases the savings of low-income households, helping individuals and families meet other basic needs by allocating those dollars saved to other essentials such as rent, food, or transportation.

+ Opus Creative Industries, Colorado Springs, CO

Opus Creative Industries aims to develop Colorado’s creative workforce through apprenticeships in hospitality & culinary arts, creative technologies, and early childhood education enrichment training. Courtesy of American Rescue Plan Act Funds, the Pikes Peak Workforce Center awarded Opus Creative Industries an Innovation Grant of up to $1.8 million in reimbursable funds to be used towards the apprenticeships. There is a lag time between upfront costs and reimbursement, hampering the ability to enroll new students, purchase needed equipment, and pay staff. The Dakota Foundation awarded Creative Industries a $75,000.00 PRI loan to cover upfront costs until reimbursements can be received. Additionally, The Dakota Foundation granted Opus Creative Industries with a $7,500.00 grant as unrestricted general operating funds to support their overall mission. Opus Creative Industries has identified revenue producing opportunities in each program to ensure a sustainable business model into the future.

+ Pikes Peak State College (PPSC) Mitchell Promise, Colorado Springs, CO

PPSC’s mission is to enhance the capability of the college to educate and train its students by providing financial support for student scholarships and selected programs and projects. PPSC developed the place-based Promise Scholarship program offering a guarantee of tuition and fees for aspiring college students in low income and low performing Colorado Springs school districts. Building on the successes of prior Promise Scholarships, PPSC is collaborating with District 11 in Colorado Springs to bring the program to Mitchell High School. Qualifying students from Mitchell High School are provided tuition, fees, required books, coaching, and academic advising for up to three years or 60 credit hours, provided they remain in good academic standing at PPSC. To support these efforts, the Dakota Foundation granted Pikes Peak State College the sum of twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) per year for up to five (5) years (2023 - 2027) totaling one hundred twenty five thousand dollars ($125,000) to be used to fund the Mitchell Promise Scholarship program.

+ The Other Side Academy (TOSA), Denver, CO

TOSA’s mission is to provide repeat criminals and chronic substance abusers, many of whom experience homelessness, the ability to change their lives, free of charge, in a 2+ year, residential, non clinical, work-oriented environment. Students are taught skill sets needed to create and maintain healthy lifestyles long-term and secure economic self-sufficiency. Their comprehensive two-year residential program accompanied with a 6-month transitional program offers vocational training, education, peer counseling, mentoring/leadership training and transitional services. TOSA students participate in operating their two social enterprises: a moving company and a thrift boutique. The Dakota Foundation approved a $71,000 PRI loan to aid TOSA in the purchase of a box truck for The Other Side Movers, their social enterprise. The addition of the truck will provide additional vocational opportunities and earned revenue for programming.

2022

+ Brink Literacy Project, Denver, CO

Brink Literacy Project (“Brink”) seeks to utilize the power of storytelling to positively affect the lives of people on the brink. Through their education, community, and publishing divisions, the nonprofit works worldwide to foster a love of literature, increase literacy rates, and use storytelling to empower underserved communities. Since 2017, Brink has run Frames Prison Program in women’s prisons in the US and UK. More recently, Brink created the F(r)iction in the Classroom program; a triannual literary journal carefully curated to evaluate an important cultural topic from vastly different perspectives. The Dakota Foundation granted $20,000 to Brink to fund two six month fellowship opportunities for Frames Prison Program and F(r)iction in the Classroom. These two dedicated fellows will allow the programs to continue to build strong foundations, create partnership networks, develop and focus the curriculum, and prepare each program to grow in the coming years.

+ CHAI Fund, Denver, CO

The Colorado Housing Accelerator Initiative (“CHAI”) was founded in 2021 by Weave to simplify and scale the delivery of mission-driven capital to affordable housing projects statewide. They are a purpose-built rapid deployment fund created to provide funders and affordable housing developers with a frictionless, efficient pooled capital vehicle to deploy funds to fill housing gaps in Colorado. CHAI Debt Fund has an “impact first” mandate to maximize positive outcomes for low- and moderate-income residents by reducing their housing cost burden. The primary focus of the CHAI Debt Fund is workforce and mixed-income housing serving households earning 60% to 100% of AMI. The Dakota Foundation believes that access to affordable housing keeps people employed and supports family stability, things which are substantial social determinants of health, and thus proxies for self-sufficiency. With this in mind, the Dakota Foundation has invested a $100,000 PRI to assist CHAI in fulfilling their mission.

+ Converge, Colorado Springs, CO

Converge Lecture Series (Converge) leverages the arts of writing and poetry to meet community needs. Converge programs include community poetry lectures, one year fellowships for high school students utilizing poetry to help students articulate wonder, and a 5-week therapy program (Take Five) for teens using poetry and solution focused brief therapy to generate meaningful mental health outcomes. Take-Five is a goal-focused, evidence-based approach that incorporates positive psychology principles and practices to help students construct solutions for their daily lives. The Dakota Foundation granted $35,000 to Converge to be used to fund expansion of the Take Five teen therapy program and comprehensive study of correlation between Converge therapeutic and education initiatives.

+ Dakota Promise Scholarship, Colorado Springs, CO

Continuing our collaboration with Pikes Peak State College and the Legacy Institute, The Dakota Foundation granted an additional $75,000 to the “Dakota Promise Scholarship” for D2 students in southeast Colorado Springs (78% of the district’s students qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch, 75% of students identify as people of color, and historically less than half of students enroll in college within one year of graduation) to attend Pikes Peak State College. Promise Scholarships have proven success in enrolling low-income, first-generation, students of color and women students into college within their first year of high school graduation, removing the barrier of cost in achieving higher education, guaranteeing a free education for economically disadvantaged members of the community.

+ Dakota Venture Group, Grand Forks, ND

DVG INC (dba “Dakota Venture Group”) was founded in Grand Forks, North Dakota, within the University of North Dakota’s Center for Innovation in September of 2006, with Bart Holaday as the founding contibutor. The organization is a venture capital firm comprised of University of North Dakota students and is the first completely student-run venture capital investment fund in the United States. Dakota Venture Group provides students representing a variety of academic disciplines and backgrounds the opportunity to conduct due diligence, make investment decisions, and negotiate deal term structure. In July 2009, Harvest Partners, LLC was organized as a new venture between Dakota Venture Group, Inc. and Evergreen Investment Management. Together this partnership managed the group’s second fund, Harvest Fund I, which began in 2012. As the successful Harvest Fund I capital becomes exhausted, group members are raising capital for Harvest Fund II to continue to provide opportunities for students. The Dakota Foundation has granted $50,000 to the Dakota Venture Group, allowing them to purchase shares of Harvest Fund II and become the General Manager of the fund while allowing for turnover of leadership and members. This fund will be focused on promoting venture growth in the Midwest, providing experiential learning opportunities, and return on investment.

+ Friends of the Children, Colorado Springs, CO

+ First Southwest Community Fund, Alamosa, CO

FSWCF programs provide loans, grants and technical assistance for rural entrepreneurs. They receive funding from multiple USDA programs and private foundations to offer a range of low-interest and accessible loan programs. The loans range in size from $5,000-200,000 and focus on providing flexible and accessible support to start-ups, small businesses and nonprofits. Through partnerships and collaborations, they also offer technical assistance, coaching, mentorship, and resources for entrepreneurs and small business owners to build the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem. Since 2015, FSWCF has lent nearly $3 million to rural businesses which has created 113 jobs and retained 227.5 in rural Colorado (2019 data, likely higher at this point). At the end of 2018, 46% of loans were made to businesses that meet the USDA criteria of under-represented groups (women-led, Hispanic, Native American, veterans). 18% of loans were made in Colorado’s persistent poverty counties, and 96% were made in rural Colorado. The Dakota Foundation approved a $90,000 PRI for FSWCF, in addition to a $10,000 general operations grant. The $90,000 PRI will be used to provide accessible loans to small businesses primarily in rural CO and NM.

+ indieDwell, Pueblo, CO

indieDwell is a modular home manufacturer whose multifaceted mission is to create healthy, affordable homes in a sustainable manner, and also employ and train people who have not been served well by the growing opportunity gap. indieDwell offers skilled and unskilled positions, on-the-job training, livable wages, and health and dental benefits to their employees, many of whom are returning citizens and people transitioning from homelessness. Their dignified homes are an innovative solution to the housing supply crisis, allowing developers to offer housing below market rate without using government subsidies. indieDwell intentionally locates their manufacturing facilities in distressed communities to augment regional economic revitalization, which is what led them to locate their first facility in Pueblo, CO. indieDwell is specifically hiring from the local rescue mission, community college, and (our partner!) CommunityWorks, among other nonprofit workforce development programs. The Dakota Foundation approved a $100,000 PRI to keep indieDwell in CO, training and employing the Pueblo workforce, and making a difference in our communities through affordable and attainable housing.

+ Mindfulness and Positivity Project, Colorado Springs, CO

Mindfulness and Positivity Project provides students and teachers the tools to understand and mitigate stress and anxiety by initially helping them understand how the brain and body respond to stress. Once students understand the science behind stress and anxiety, they learn skills needed to take control of their own mental health and well-being which builds confidence in the classroom, the workplace, and at home. Mindfulness and Positivity Project focuses their inclusive work in school districts with the highest rates of poverty and minority enrollment which often suffer from lack of funding for mental health education. A single teacher who can learn how to positively impact their own life will be given the tools to teach students for years to come. With funds from this grant, Mindfulness and Positivity Project will be able to expand programming into three additional high schools, helping with the cost of teacher training, student training, and an on-site school coordinator. The Dakota Foundation approves a $50,000 dollar grant to be used to fund the expansion of the program into three Colorado Springs, Colorado high schools.

+ Olympic City USA Free Soccer Iniative, Colorado Springs, CO

The Olympic City USA Taskforce (“OCUSA”) launched the Gold Medal Grants program, offering free soccer for grades K-2 through the City’s Parks and Recreation Office. This initiative is part of a multifaceted approach to combat the current youth mental health crisis, encouraging the long-lasting benefits of youth sports, including improved confidence and fitness, reduced obesity and depression, and learning lifelong skills such as teamwork and grit. The Dakota Foundation approved a $25,000 grant to fund Olympic City USA Taskforce’s Gold Medal Grants program to directly support kids in grades K-2 to play soccer for free, through Colorado Springs’ Parks and Recreation Office.

+ Peak Education, Colorado Springs, CO

Initially conceived as a scholarship-based incentive program, over more than two decades Peak Education has evolved into a mentoring and college access organization that provides long-term engagement with students and families. 100% of Peak Ed scholars graduated from high school in the past 3 years, they have 65 college graduates to date, nearly 100% went on to postsecondary education in the past 3 cohorts, and the past two classes have earned close to one million dollars each year in scholarships and financial aid. Over the last year, Peak Ed was approached by a company whose R&D team was looking at ways to enter the EdTech field. Initially helping this company with student focus groups, Peak Ed became a paid consultant, helping them to understand the college counseling world. With Peak Ed’s help, the company developed a web app connecting high school students to college and university students. During this initial pilot period, they reached 400 higher ed students on the platform, and a few thousand high school students, demonstrating some proof of concept, though they ultimately decided to discontinue the development of the app, offering it up to Peak Ed for purchase. Peak Ed recently purchased it for $15K with the intent to further develop the app as a viable earned revenue model. The Dakota Foundation approved a $60,000 PRI to cover the costs associated with the continued development of the app.

+ Project Diakonia, Colorado Springs, CO

Located in Colorado Springs, Project Diakonia’s mission is to provide needs-based programs and services to equip at-risk youth for a successful transition into adulthood. Their vision is to see young adults achieve their full potential and become healthy, productive members of their communities. Diakonia fulfills this mission by providing vocational training and career support services to youth aging out of foster care and those with a justice system background. Each year, the number of children involved in Colorado’s foster care system hovers around 5,500. While some return home, others "age out" and struggle into adulthood. These young adults tend to face the highest rates of unemployment and receive disproportionate levels of public assistance. Forty to fifty percent of foster children never complete high school, and 25 percent will end up in prison within two years of leaving the system. As for the justice system, as many as 73 percent of individuals in our prisons were involved in foster care at one time, revealing the overlap in systems-involvement. The Dakota Foundation has invested a $50,000 PRI to be used for capacity building to support Diakonia in hiring a Grants and Contracts Administrator and Operations Manager, laying the groundwork for a social enterprise.

+ Recidiviz, Nationwide - CO Launch

Recidiviz, Inc.’s mission is to build the technical infrastructure for a smaller, fairer criminal justice system by partnering with state criminal justice agencies to advance their use of data to safely reduce incarceration. A technology non-profit, Recidiviz plans to deploy data-driven decision-making tools to help Coloradans be sent home safely to begin to improve their and their children’s futures, directly impacting lives and communities. Reducing recidivism and prison populations changes lives by assisting people in achieving greater self-sufficiency for themselves and their families. As such, The Dakota Foundation granted $100,000, and successfully fundraised the remaining $400,000 through local funders, to round out the $500,000 needed for Recidiviz to launch in CO in partnership with the Colorado Department of Corrections.

+ Sistahbiz Global Network, Denver, CO (and Nationwide)

Sistahbiz initially launched as a non-profit, providing offline coaching and mentoring services to Black women entrepreneurs. Given the success of the model and feedback from its clients, the organization saw the opportunity to create a for-profit company that would scale the model through an online membership-based coaching and mentoring platform, the Sistahbiz Global Network. Sistahbiz is a coaching and mentoring platform for Black women who are looking to launch and grow their small businesses. The company does this through a membership-based online platform, where members can gain access to customized coaching, training, mentoring, and technical assistance to help them in successfully launching and growing a small or medium enterprise. The Sistahbiz membership platform was launched in late 2021, and it has already attracted 250+ paid members. Sistahbiz accelerates entrepreneurial success and wealth creation among Black women, whereby successfully launching and growing a small business can be a reliable wealth pathway for Black entrepreneurs. The Dakota Foundation redirected our original 2020 PRI loan into the Sistahbiz nonprofit as a $50,000 PRI SAFE (concessionary equity investment) into the Sistahbiz for-profit.

+ The Other Side Academy, Denver, CO

The 2022 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is The Other Side Academy. The Other Side Academy was founded in Orem, Utah in 2015. Using the same successful model, a Denver, Colorado location was established in 2019. The organization’s mission is to provide repeat criminals and chronic substance abusers, many of whom experience homelessness, the ability to change their lives, free of charge, in a 2+ year, residential, non clinical, work-oriented environment. Students are taught skill sets needed to create and maintain healthy lifestyles long-term and secure economic self-sufficiency. The Other Side Academy became self-sufficient in May of 2021 through revenues generated by the social ventures of its students. The $100,000 award, structured as a $25,000 PRI and $75,000 Grant, will be used to expand The Other Side Furniture Boutique, an already operational boutique furniture business in Denver, Colorado.

+ Three Sisters Kitchen, Albuquerque, NM

Three Sisters Kitchen (TSK) is a community foods education center in the heart of Albuquerque, NM using the power and love of local food to create economic opportunity, improve community health, and bring people together around the table. TSK’s unique integration of community foods education, healthy food access programs, and food-based social enterprise activities: 1) incubate and support the launch and expansion of viable local manufactured food businesses and create quality jobs; 2) create and sustain new markets for local food producers, strengthening the local food economy; and 3) increase healthy food access and nutrition education, creating opportunities for community members to take control of their nutritional health. The Dakota Foundation supports TSK’s efforts by investing a $50,000 PRI to enable TSK to purchase a refrigerated sprinter van to safely and efficiently transport prepared food and ingredients from the prep kitchen to the Café, and also by granting TSK $20,000 to fund the Three Sisters Kitchen Café at Explora, Albuquerque’s only children’s science center and museum.

+ Thrive Networks, Colorado Springs, CO

Thrive Networks aims to empower residents in the at-risk community of Southeast Colorado Springs to start their own small businesses to revitalize the community from the inside out. Thrive participants complete an intensive six-month training program broken into three program phases that focus on personal development, entrepreneurial mindset, networking, business planning, and connecting entrepreneurs to local resources. Thrive provides ongoing tools and resources for participants after the business is launched. As the Thrive program continues to have success and grow, there is a need to hire a full-time manager, as well as outside professionals such as curriculum writers, grant writers, and marketing professionals. Thrive also hopes to establish a business incubator in Colorado Springs dedicated to the ongoing support of newly launched businesses. The Dakota Foundation granted The Thrive Network $50,000 to be used to fund the aforementioned growth of the program.

+ We Fortify, Colorado Springs, CO

We Fortify/Working Fusion provides a clear path forward for young adults who have experienced economic challenges by providing dignified housing and accessible support services in a peer community. They fortify young adults experiencing economic and housing instability into lives of purpose, economic independence and social connectedness. They build small neighborhood communities that offer dignified housing coupled with services designed to enhance well-being and support potential. Residents receive two year’s access to a below-market rate tiny home, along with improved access to living wage employment, counseling, life skills education, and social connections. We Fortify is engaged in a capital campaign to fund the continued construction of an eighteen-unit tiny home community, called Working Fusion. The Dakota Foundation granted $83,000 to We Fortify for the construction of one home, as well as infrastructure costs, in the Working Fusion community.

2021

+ CoCua, Denver, CO

Alongside the Kenneth King Foundation and the AJL Foundation, the Dakota Foundation co-invested in a PRI to support low-income entrepreneurs from the refugee and immigrant communities in northeast Denver to build, launch and scale their microbusinesses in the food industry. The 501(c)3 Focus Points Family Resource Center is launching the Community Culinary Accelerator (CoCuA), in response to ample feedback from the individuals they serve about the need for an affordable and accessible commissary kitchen. CoCuA is a culinary microbusiness accelerator social enterprise serving the Cole, Five Points, and surrounding neighborhoods. It offers commissary space for small businesses while operating a café and retail space designed to accelerate businesses to successfully transition to their next stage of growth. The Dakota Foundation invested the $50,000 PRI to empower under-served individuals to be creative and entrepreneurial as they work to become economically self-sufficient, while also supporting a non-profit with diversifying new revenue streams.

+ Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Springs, CO

Blue Star Recyclers, a long-time partner of the Dakota Foundation, has a mission to create local jobs for people with disabilities through recycling. Blue Star is focused on mission expansion and replication, and has an agreement with U.K.-based charitable organization Triple A (“All About Autism”) to consult and train the organization on workforce development for people with disabilities, and to support new partnerships with local employers willing to hire Triple A’s clients with autism. The Dakota Foundation supported the endeavor with a matching grant of $35,000 which energized the local community to reach the goal needed to facilitate the project.

+ Community Impact Fund for Workforce Housing, Colorado Springs, CO

The Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation created the Community Impact Fund for Workforce Housing to pool investments from partner foundations into program related investments (PRIs) for new workforce housing projects utilizing a revolving loan fund. It is an experimental, collaborative opportunity to help Colorado Springs address the housing crisis. The idea, born from a study spearheaded by our PRI partner The QUAD, is to combine co-funding and City dollars to create a loan for Colorado Springs’ local nonprofit developers to qualify for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding. The Dakota Foundation recognizes housing as a major determinant of success in helping people live self-sufficient lives, while the creation of affordable housing also helps with job creation and retention in the local area, and thus supported the fund with a $25,000 grant.

+ Capital Good Fund, Colorado

The Capital Good Fund’s mission is to create pathways out of poverty and advance a green economy through inclusive financial services. Their clients are low-income, predominantly of color and female, and shut out of the financial mainstream due to issues related to income, race, gender, credit, and language barriers. They empower vulnerable families to save, build credit, invest in themselves, avoid high-interest debt, achieve their goals, and force predatory lenders to lower their rates—or close-up shop. And, CGF is one of the few nonprofit CDFIs nationwide that specializes in small-dollar personal loans, which were not provided by any Colorado-based CDFIs. The Dakota Foundation invested a $100,000 PRI to allow CGF to offer their capital products within the State of Colorado, including their Immigration Unity Loans, Crisis Relief Loans, and Credit Builder Loans, as well as a matching $15,000 grant to support their operations.

+ Community Investment Trust, Colorado Springs, CO

Solid Rock Community Development Corporation works to build a diverse Southeast Colorado Springs economy that emphasizes the importance of affordable housing, small business development and healthy community environments. Their goal is to address and dismantle concentrated poverty in the Southeast through leading and building strong partnerships that invest in projects that improve the Southeast economy and the quality of life for Southeast communities. One such project is to replicate within Southeast Colorado Springs a Portland-based Community Investment Trust (“CIT”) model originally developed by the non-profit organization Mercy Corps. The CIT Model is designed as an on-ramp to equitable financial inclusion, spurring community-based ownership via financial literacy and real estate investment. It is designed to help local residents, particularly those experiencing asset poverty, to invest in their own economic and community development, while providing financial literacy education through Mercy Corps’ licensed “Move from Owing to Owning” curriculum. The Dakota Foundation granted $20,000 to Solid Rock Community Development Corporation to be used to fund the Community Investment Trust in Southeast Colorado Springs.

+ Community Works, Colorado Springs, CO

CommunityWorks empowers the unemployed and those with barriers to employment to become self-supporting through job preparation and placement. Their goal is to improve community safety by helping underserved community members, especially formerly incarcerated people, find employment expeditiously and avoid future encounters with the justice system. The Dakota Foundation granted $60,000 to CommunityWorks, Inc. to fund the Community Anchor Academy Application, a new growth initiative to develop an employment agency and associated tech platform uniquely suited to serve the individuals in their programming and also the employers willing to hire such individuals. This web-based app will also enable CommunityWorks staff to stay engaged with the people their programs serve while simultaneously providing instant access to employers, job leads, support services, community resources and volunteering opportunities.

+ Dakota Promise Scholarship at PPCC, Harrison School District 2, Colorado Springs, CO

Continuing our collaboration with Pikes Peak Community College and the Legacy Institute, The Dakota Foundation granted an additional $75,000 to the “Dakota Promise Scholarship” for D2 students in southeast Colorado Springs (78% of the district’s students qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch, 75% of students identify as people of color, and historically less than half of students enroll in college within one year of graduation) to attend Pikes Peak Community College. Promise Scholarships have proven success in enrolling low-income, first-generation, students of color and women students into college within their first year of high school graduation, removing the barrier of cost in achieving higher education, guaranteeing a free education for economically disadvantaged members of the community.

+ Goodwill Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

Goodwill of Colorado provides comprehensive training and employment opportunities to over 290,000 individuals in need each year and finds jobs for almost 3,000 annually. Goodwill provides services to at-risk youth, unemployed and underemployed families, seniors, individuals with developmental delays, and veterans. Goodwill utilizes education, employment, and empowerment to foster economic independence. The Dakota Foundation granted $71,200 to The Goodwill Academy, an arm within the broader organization, which seeks to address the skills gap in Colorado Springs by offering short-term training certificates to individuals living in poverty.

+ Kaleidos, Colorado Springs, CO

The Dakota Foundation Investment Committee approved a “mission-related investment” (or “MRI”) impact investment of $500,000 into the attainable multi-family housing development in southeast Colorado Springs called Kaleidos. Designed to support working families, the development is adjacent to one of Dakota’s funded partners, the charter school Atlas Prep, with rents held such that they’re accessible to families earning the area median income. As a mission-driven, attainable housing investment, Kaleidos is committed to holding rents despite the remarkable increases the area has seen in the last 5 years (45%), in many cases forcing families to be rent burdened, while still earning market rate returns to their investors.

+ Rural Homes by the Telluride Foundation, Southwest CO

The Telluride Foundation is a community foundation serving 3 ½ rural counties in southwest Colorado. They develop and support initiatives that enrich the quality of life of the workforce of the Telluride region. One ongoing challenge they have identified in recruiting and retaining the next generation of workforce is the lack of quality and affordable housing. To address this challenge the Telluride Foundation has created their “Rural Homes: For Sale, For Locals” initiative. The Dakota Foundation has invested a $100,000 PRI to provide funding to support the construction of 55 single family homes, spread across three of the communities served by the Telluride Foundation.

+ Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute, Rural Southwest Colorado

The 2021 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is the Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute. As a Community Development Financial Institution, Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute is a community-oriented, integrated education/mentorship/micro-financing non-profit that creates economic and social mobility through entrepreneurship. Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute has filled a gap serving under-resourced entrepreneurs who have both a feasible business idea and entrepreneurial spark but often lack the resources and support to transform that idea into an income-generating business. The organization’s mission is to create the space for communities and people of all backgrounds to realize their unique potential through the power of entrepreneurship, serving its entrepreneurs through both business development and lending services. Their unique model creates a $3.64 social return on every $1 invested in the form of measurable social and economic gains among entrepreneurs and the regional Denver Metro community. The $70,000 award will enable the Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute to expand their mission into the rural San Luis Valley of Colorado. This initial award may be followed by an additional $30,000 Program Related Investment.

+ Saranam, Albuquerque, NM

Saranam empowers families to end their homelessness and poverty through housing, education, and supportive communities. Saranam fulfills this mission by providing housing, education, and community support, and currently operates a 24-unit apartment complex. The Dakota Foundation granted $100,000 to Saranam to assist them in serving more families by funding their capital campaign expansion project to double their capacity by building 25 new small homes, as well as playgrounds, a community center, classrooms, and a community garden.

The seminal objective of the UP Fund is to provide a pathway to economic opportunity and prosperity for Americans that are trapped in the chronic cycle of under- and un-employment. Training models that build skills and advance participants into in-demand career pathways are emerging in greater numbers. However, despite the growth of these programs, the participation rate of low-income individuals remains low, often due to the prohibitive cost of tuition, lack of reasonable financing options, and limited supportive services to address other financial and personal obstacles. The Dakota Foundation invested a $100,000 PRI to assist UP Fund in directing capital to Career Impact Bonds to advance the economic mobility of low-income individuals – a student-centered form of an income share agreement (ISA) in which impact investors cover upfront program costs and critical supportive services. Once students gain meaningful employment, they make payments as a fixed percentage of their income, capped at a certain dollar amount and for a certain period of time. Student payments repay the impact investors and any remaining portion of the training provider’s program costs.

2020

+ Bloom Recovery Home, Colorado Springs, CO

The Bloom Recovery Home cultivates family units by providing new and expectant mothers experiencing homelessness and substance-use disorders with safe transitional housing and intensive support. Their purpose is to reduce the number of homeless mothers who become entangled in the child welfare system and who risk losing custody of their children. Parenting training and life skills classes serve to increase parental protective capabilities while enabling self-sufficient living. They create long term success by assisting with aftercare, cultivation of employment, community health resources, transitional housing services, and other outpatient programs. Bloom’s current capacity does not meet the community need, and the Dakota Foundation invested a $100,000 PRI into their site expansion and renovation efforts.

+ Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Springs, CO

Blue Star Recyclers is a long-term trusted partner of The Dakota Foundation, whose Colorado operations have now achieved a level of success that allows the organization to scale its mission by expanding into Buffalo Grove, Illinois through a partnership with Rotary International. The Dakota Foundation invested a $50,000 PRI for the purchase of a sprinter van with a branded wrap, that will provide pick up service of electronic items for Rotary Club residents in the Chicago/northwest suburbs. Blue Star provides ethical recycling of electronics and other materials as a way of creating and providing vocational opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities. The corporation’s operations reduce the amount of toxic waste entering the environment, provide meaningful employment for these individuals, assist them in becoming more independent, reduce the burden on government SSDI and educate the public on recycling electronics.

+ Brink Literacy Project, Denver, CO

The 2020 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is the Frames Prison Program by Brink Literacy Project in Denver, CO. Brink Literacy Project's mission is to utilize the power of storytelling to positively affect the lives of people on the brink. Through their education, community, and publishing divisions, their nonprofit works worldwide to foster a love of literature, increase literacy rates, and use storytelling to empower underserved communities. The award carries an initial $40,000 grant designated to support the non-profit’s work in local max-security women’s prison populations, and will follow with another $40,000 grant AND $15,000 PRI to support the revenue generating project of publishing stories from those within the Frames Prison Program. This creative initiative's goals are to increase literacy rates, decrease recidivism, and shift public perception of those with justice backgrounds.

+ Co-OP Dayton / Gem City Market, Dayton, OH

The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers West and Northwest Dayton to be a food desert – an area where low income residents lack access to full-service grocery options. To alleviate this problem, a cooperative was formed by the community, for the community, to: operate a full-service, multi-stakeholder, cooperative grocery store called the Gem City Market; engage in the business of selling fresh, high quality food and other products in a cooperative manner that is responsive to community needs; develop an attractive and successful business model for worker and community ownership in food retailing and local economic development; and create jobs that are secure, educational and that support the dignity of all workers of the Cooperative. The Dakota Foundation invested a $75,000 PRI to provide funds for startup expenses and working capital for the cooperative grocery store, supporting the employee-ownership model.

+ Dakota Promise Scholarship, Colorado Springs, CO

In collaboration with Pikes Peak Community College and the Legacy Institute, The Dakota Foundation launched the “Dakota Promise Scholarship” for D2 students in southeast Colorado Springs (78% of the district’s students qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch, 75% of students identify as people of color, and historically less than half of students enroll in college within one year of graduation) to attend Pikes Peak Community College. Promise Scholarships have proven success in enrolling low-income, first-generation, students of color and women students into college within their first year of high school graduation, removing the barrier of cost in achieving higher education, guaranteeing a free education for economically disadvantaged members of the community.

+ Family Independence Initiative, Colorado Springs, CO

Family Independence Initiative’s (“FII”) mission is to accelerate the exchange of financial and social capital in low-income communities across the nation, with a vision that all people in the United States are seen and invested in for their strengths and are able to build their social and financial assets. Their model is quite simple - placing trust and real funds into the hands of families themselves, so that they can determine and build their own community's resilience. The Dakota Foundation led a funder collaborative by giving $100,000 to launch an FII fund in southeast Colorado Springs’ District 2, where about 75% of students across this school district qualify for free and reduced lunch (“FRL”). COVID-19 has amplified needs throughout the community, and these cash payments to families are completely unrestricted, giving full agency to the recipients of the funds.

+ iLearn Collaborative, Colorado (Statewide)

iLearn Collaborative is one of our existing PRI partners, with a mission to create equity in education, whose services include support for districts and schools transitioning to remote learning. Equal access to quality education has been a consistent focus in attaining our mission to provide people with tools to help them achieve self-sufficiency. According to the CO Survey Report, the stated primary needs of our schools in response to COVID-19, which are most pronounced in rural districts, are tech supports for remote learning, and online instructional supports for teachers - both of which are addressed by iLearn. Our $25,000 COVID-response grant to iLearn put customizable, high quality curriculum into 10 rural and low socio-economic Colorado districts, thereby increasing the ability and likelihood of those students to thrive in a new educational context.

+ Jeremiah Program, Fargo, ND

The Jeremiah Program in Fargo, ND is an existing partner of The Dakota Foundation whose mission is to end the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. Their unique, two-generation approach promotes self-sufficiency for single mother families through career-track post-secondary education for moms, quality early childhood education for their children and holistic support for the whole family. The COVID-19 crisis impacted multiple levels of their programming, and Jeremiah Program experienced fiscal losses due to that impact, using their reserves to iterate on their services in order to adapt to the effects of COVID while meeting the needs of the families in their programs. The Dakota Foundation granted $30,000 to help Jeremiah Program offset the costs incurred for family coaching and empowerment adaptations.

+ LitLab/Kiddapolis, Dallas, TX

LitLab's mission creates connected and interactive learning environments and literacy opportunities for under-resourced children, by deploying books, digital content, and blended solutions for early learners, parents, and educators. Kidappolis Communities, their platform for community engagement and collective impact, provides parents who may not be highly educated or fluent in English with texts in their native language that enable them to actively participate in their child's academic skill development, while simultaneously connecting them with local resources for wellness and success. Kidappolis Communities is a highly personalized mobile platform that supports struggling families by connecting them with various community-based resources, so they can prioritize early learning and become their child’s first and most important teacher. LitLab tools spark and reinforce early learning and empowerment, while providing families with the stability and support to exit the poverty cycle. The Dakota Foundation invested a $50,000 PRI in LitLab to hire a part-time Executive Director for Kidappolis Communities Dallas to support program expansion and scale of their product.

+ Lost&Found, Sioux Falls, SD

Lost&Found facilitates comprehensive, data-driven, public health approaches to suicide prevention for young adults ages 15-34. Lost&Found envisions a world in which no young adults die by suicide, and to accomplish this vision, they connect young adults with the skills and community for lifelong resilience. In order to scale their mission, The Dakota Foundation granted $60,000 to increase Lost&Found's capacity to provide both revenue-earning and mission-centered mental health resources, training, and evaluation services to campuses, community organizations, and employers in SD, MN, ND, and IA. Their objective is to pilot and test new programs (Evaluation Services and Training & Development) within their current geography (SD, MN) and immediate expansion region (ND, IA) to assess intended and unintended outcomes and efficacy of earned revenue models. Such will increase their capacity to reach young adults ages 14-35 with mental health peer support, resources, and advocacy beyond college campuses, ultimately increasing resiliency in those communities.

+ NPX: CO Donor Impact Fund, Denver, CO

The Dakota Foundation joined a collaborative of funders with a $50,000 contribution to The Colorado Donor Impact Fund, which is a private pay-for-success donation fund for Economic Mobility in Colorado, led by NPX Advisors. The fund deploys performance-based donations to nonprofit organizations after impact has been achieved (pay-for-success). NPX, a company transforming how nonprofits are funded, launched the philanthropic fund to incentivize quantifiable, long-term impact for underserved communities struggling to stabilize in the wake of COVID-19. Thirteen Colorado foundations and philanthropists came together to pioneer this new funding model. Together with NPX, we selected four nonprofits to receive donations to drive upward economic mobility for over 600 people -- ActivateIT Powered by Per Scholas, Bridge House Ready to Work, CrossPurpose and LaMedichi Savings Clubs.

+ Sistahbiz Loan Fund, Denver, CO

Community Enterprise Development Services ("CEDS") is a Colorado based community development financial institution (CDFI), focused on providing assistance to refugees, immigrants, and those from underserved communities in the Denver Metro area who desire to own or strengthen businesses, develop wealth, and empower themselves financially. CEDS created the Sistahbiz Loan Fund (“SLF”) in collaboration with the Foundation for Black Entrepreneurship (“Sistahbiz"). Sistahbiz is a nonprofit business accelerator providing affordable options for coaching, training, and services to help Black women build scalable, sellable models and access the back-office support, cash flow, and social capital that they need. The SLF intends to provide financing for Black women entrepreneurs in a way that is culturally responsive and sustainable. Nationally female founders receive less than 3% of Venture Capital funding and just 0.2% goes to Black female founders. The SLF is meant to bridge that gap in access, and The Dakota Foundation invested a $50,000 PRI into the loan fund, as well as a $10,000 grant split between CEDS and Sistahbiz to cover administrative costs.

+ Survive & Thrive COS, Colorado Springs, CO

In response to COVID-19, The Dakota Foundation invested a $100,000 PRI into the Survive & Thrive COS fund, which provides recovery funding, mentoring and other resources to increase the sustainability and future growth of small businesses based in the Pikes Peak region. The initiative is a partnership between startup accelerator Exponential Impact and the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, which delivers significant, immediate investment to local small business owners and nonprofits, wherein 100% of contributions are provided to owners through recovery loans.

+ Veterans Yoga Project, Nationwide

Veterans Yoga Project is a long-term partner of The Dakota Foundation, whose mission is to support recovery and resilience among veterans, active duty military, their families, and communities through Mindful Resilience Yoga classes (“MRY”) and their Mindful Resilience for Compassion Fatigue program. Their vision is a future where veterans, their families and our communities have access to a full range of mind-body practices to facilitate recovery and resilience. The recent global COVID-19 crisis caused all in-person classes to be suspended, so they have moved all of their programs and fundraisers online, including their Annual Fund and Veterans Gratitude Week fundraisers, for which The Dakota Foundation funded incentive support in the form of an unrestricted matching $17,500 grant.

2019

+ Catherine’s House, Belmont, NC

The mission of Catherine’s House is to love and empower women and children who are homeless through safe housing and services that build self-sufficiency. Women staying at Catherine’s House are required to participate in a 4-6-month program, which is designed to empower them with the skills and confidence needed to sustain a healthy, productive, and self-sufficient life. The Dakota Foundation granted $55,000 in the pilot program to invest additional resources into the Wellness Coordinator/Counselor position. https://catherineshouseinc.org/

+ Colorado Lending Source, Denver, CO

Colorado Lending Source is a CDFI whose Colorado Main Street Loan Program provides friendly, affordable capital to under-served small business owners that are unable to access capital through traditional means. Their character-based Colorado Main Street Revolving Loan Fund is used to provide capital to these under-served entrepreneurs, allowing them to create new businesses and new jobs in our community. The Dakota Foundation invested a $50,000 PRI to be re-lent out to underserved small business owners that are unable to get conventional financing through a bank or credit union. https://www.coloradolendingsource.org/loans/colorado-main-street

+ Credit Builders Alliance, WASHINGTON, D.C

Credit Builders Alliance (“CBA”) offers nonprofit lenders, financial educators and asset builders the technical assistance, concrete solutions and interagency connections they need to effectively and efficiently help their low-income clients build credit and long-term financial capability. CBA guides nonprofits through the credit bureau credentialing processes in order to report loans and/or pull consumer credit reports for underwriting, financial education and outcome tracking purposes. It also supports nonprofit lenders through the ongoing transmission of loan repayment data to the major credit bureaus and with credit report dispute tracking. CBA leverages the expertise and experience of its vast community of nonprofit practitioners to identify and advance credit building program best practices across sectors and target markets through its signature Credit as an Asset training. The Dakota Foundation invested $75,000 with CBA to expand the Small Dollar Loan Technical Assistance and Loan Fund (“Loan Fund”), which we seeded in 2017. The Loan Fund offers CBA’s nonprofit lender members an opportunity to access the resources they need to offer Small Dollar Loan products to their clients. With this $75,000.00, CBA will create a second pilot project involving three to five well qualified non-profit lenders. These lenders will access funding from CBA in order to access capital needed to fund or secure the loans using CBA’s turnkey “Product-in-a-Box” toolkits. https://creditbuildersalliance.org/

+ Extended Hands of Hope, Denver, CO

Extended Hands of Hope’s social enterprise Simply Good Cakery is the 2019 winner of the Dakota Foundation’s Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Extended Hands of Hope’s mission is to offer safe housing and supportive services to sex trafficking survivors, empowering them to move forward with hope and dignity. The award carries an initial $50,000 grant designated to support the non-profit’s new Simply Good Cakery, a social enterprise, and will follow with another $50,000 PRI to support the ongoing growth of the program. This innovative initiative offers survivors of human trafficking practical pathways to freedom and self-sufficiency through paid employment and on-the-job economic empowerment training. In addition to employment and a path to self-sufficiency, this one-year empowerment program offers survivors training and education in Financial Literacy, Business Management, Cake Decorating and Baking, and Customer Service. The enterprise will also create a sustaining revenue source for Extended Hands of Hope. https://www.simplygoodcakery.com/

+ Face it Together at Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, CO

Face It Together (“FIT”) works with individuals battling drug and alcohol addiction through peer counseling. In particular, it recognizes the social, psychological, and economic benefits that accrue to families, communities, and employers when addiction is successfully overcome. In 2019 the Dakota Foundation engaged in our own social impact bond-like initiative in partnership with FIT and the Pikes Peak Community College (“PPCC”) of Colorado Springs. Using a $75,000 PRI between 2019 and 2020, FIT will offer their services to PPCC students; PPCC will track success rates of those students against a control group of students who do not utilize FIT’s services, and if those FIT-associated students perform the same and/or better than the control group, PPCC will sign a long term contract with FIT. https://www.wefaceittogether.org/colorado

+ Fostering Hope, Colorado Springs, CO

Fostering Hope’s mission is to affirm and support foster parents in their care of abused and neglected children by providing a network of practical and natural supports before and after leaving (foster) care. Fostering Hope applies existing and emerging social and neuroscience (trauma-informed care) to the practice of foster parenting in an attempt to improve the foster family experience and has established an effective model for reversing the abysmal statistics and outcomes for youth in foster care or transitioning from foster care into adulthood. Fostering Hope is embarking on a special project including an economic impact study, an external program evaluation, and an improved web platform that will 1) help them strengthen their fundraising capacity in order to achieve their short-, medium- and long-term goals for growth and 2) help them broaden the reach of this promising work to the regional and even national stage. The Dakota Foundation granted $50,000 to fund the project. https://www.fosteringhopefoundation.org/

+ Jeremiah Program, Fargo, ND

Jeremiah Program’s mission is to end the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. Their unique, two-generation approach promotes self-sufficiency for single mother families through career-track post-secondary education for moms, quality early childhood education for their children and holistic support for the whole family. Jeremiah Program places the entire family at the center of their service model and ensures mothers and children have access to five key pillars of support: Empowerment & Life Skills Training; Individualized Support for Career-track College Education; Onsite High-Quality Early Childhood Education; Safe & Affordable Housing; and A Supportive Community. The Dakota Foundation granted $30,000 in support of their year-round programming for their Fargo campus. https://jeremiahprogram.org/fargo-moorhead/

+ Nusenda Foundation, Albuquerque, NM

The Nusenda Foundation was organized in 2015 to support Nusenda Credit Union’s new and existing philanthropic programs, financial and technical innovations, and educational initiatives. The foundation’s mission is to create stronger communities where members live and work through collaborative partnerships; and by investing in innovative solutions to improve education, health, social, and economic outcomes. In order to further this mission Nusenda Foundation created the Co-op Capital program, which is a relationship-based, micro-lending program that aims to widen access to affordable, appropriate, and culturally adept financial opportunities for lower-income individuals and entrepreneurs of color in New Mexico so that they can become economically self-sufficient. The partner organization, Nusenda Foundation, and third-party investors collectively collateralize loans for these individuals. Nusenda Foundation provides the origination, servicing, and credit reporting. Each partner organization decides whether to make the loan, based on the criteria and relationship the organization has with a prospective borrower. The Dakota Foundation invested a $50,000 PRI to increase the amount of collateral funding for the Co-op Capital program, thus allowing additional loans to be made to small business owners and low-income community members by the partner organizations. https://www.nusendafoundation.org/

+ QUAD of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO

Colorado College has served as fiduciary for the Quad Innovation Partnership since 2014. The Quad Innovation Partnership is a collaboration between four area institutions of higher learning that facilitates teams of interdisciplinary students advancing scope-based projects for area community partners. The Quad initiative generates revenue by charging fees for each project it facilitates. Quad’s two primary impact objectives are to achieve student impact by closing gaps between student preparedness and professional success, and to achieve community impact to improve access to collective capabilities of higher education. The Dakota Foundation invested a $50,000 PRI to grow staff capacity for the Quad initiative, supporting more student seats and therefore also more revenue. https://www.quadcos.org/

+ USAFA ENDOWMENT (STAMPS SCHOLARSHIP), USAFA, CO

The Dakota Foundation continued our partnership with USAFA by providing a $15,000 grant to support the Stamps Family Charitable Scholarship Program Fund. The Stamps Family Charitable Scholarship Program at the Air Force Academy exists to enhance the leadership development activities for cadets selected as Stamps Leader Scholars. The program fund supports activities such as study abroad, undergraduate research projects, internships, leadership training, and travel for academic and co-curricular conferences. https://www.stampsfoundation.org/brochure/StampsBrochure.pdf

+ TESSA, Colorado Springs, CO

TESSA is a multi-faceted agency providing services to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, which includes a confidential Safehouse, Victim Advocacy, Counseling and Children’s Programs, a 24/7 Safe Line, and Community Outreach and Education. TESSA acquired the WRA (now called Women’s Resource Center, or “WRC”), where the Dakota Foundation granted $20,000 to facilitate the Style It Forward pop-up store. The social impact of this project is that clients are trained in all aspects of retail, sales, and customer service, which leads to their empowerment, building self-esteem, and improving the skill sets for employ-ability and resumes. TESSA and WRC will also gain increased exposure and public awareness as a result of the store, and the leadership is using this as a learning experience for future social enterprise endeavors. https://www.tessacs.org/

+ Veteran’s Path

Veteran’s PATH builds a community of support for veterans, offering mindfulness, wellness and meditation tools. Their retreats offer practical tools of meditation and mindfulness, physical and outdoor experiences, and a community of camaraderie. The Dakota Foundation continued supporting the organization in 2019 with a $50,000 grant as leverage which ultimately led to $500,000 capital raised to expand the geography of their offerings and hire a new Executive Director. https://www.veteranspath.org/

The Veterans Coordinated Approach to Recovery and Employment (CARE) Project is a social impact bond organized and managed by Social Finance. The Project recognizes that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, from which up to 20% of returning veterans can suffer, can interfere greatly with a person’s ability to thrive economically and socially following their service. The CARE Project is the first social impact bond to target improved employment outcomes for returning veterans. Along with other non-profit and corporate investors, The Dakota Foundation contributed $76,814 to the bond in 2019. The funds enable local VAs to expand “Individual Placement and Support,” a promising approach to supportive employment, to 480 veterans over the next three years in New York City, Boston, and the state of Massachusetts. A consortium of federal, state, and local government partners, including the Veterans Administration, has committed to pay investors according to the measured success of the project. https://socialfinance.org/focus-areas/workforce/veterans-care-project/

2018

The Veterans Coordinated Approach to Recovery and Employment (CARE) Project is a social impact bond organized and managed by Social Finance. The Project recognizes that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, from which up to 20% of returning veterans can suffer, can interfere greatly with a person’s ability to thrive economically and socially following their service. The CARE Project is the first social impact bond to target improved employment outcomes for returning veterans. Along with other non-profit and corporate investors, The Dakota Foundation is contributing up to $93,680 to the bond. The funds will enable local VAs to expand “Individual Placement and Support,” a promising approach to supportive employment, to 480 veterans over the next three years in New York City, Boston, and the state of Massachusetts. A consortium of federal, state, and local government partners, including the Veterans Administration, has committed to pay investors according to the measured success of the project.

+ Face It Together, Denver, CO

Founded in 2009, Face It Together, Inc. of Denver, CO works with individuals battling drug and alcohol addiction. In particular, it recognizes the social, psychological, and economic benefits that accrue to families, communities, and employers when addiction is successfully overcome. In 2018, The Dakota Foundation invested a total of $100,000 to help defray real estate and technology costs incurred by the opening of their new Addiction Management Center in Denver.

+ Veteran’s Path, Mt. Juliet, TN

Veteran’s Path works with returning veterans to promote meaning, purpose, and joy through mindfulness and camaraderie. Activities are open to all veterans who have served since 1990, and include meditation, physical and outdoor experiences, and community building, thereby helping veterans rediscover peace, acceptance, and honor for their lives ahead. In 2018, The Dakota Foundation provided a $60,000 PRI to cover the carrying costs associated with its CenterPoint Retreat programs for women, which are retroactively funded by the US Veterans’ Administration.

+ Open Arms, Inc. (Bryan’s House), Dallas, TX

Bryan’s House provides care, education, and support to families and children in need in Dallas, TX. In 2018, The Dakota Foundation contributed $50,000 to support Open Arms, Inc., an affiliated organization that provides medically-managed child care; respite care; emergency services; and family-centered support services to low-income families with children through Bryan’s House. Medically intensive childcare for children with special medical needs is prohibitively expensive; by providing such services, Open Arms enables parents to continue education or pursue full-time employment.

+ USAFA Endowment (Stamps Scholarship), USAFA, CO

In 2018, the Dakota Foundation provided a grant of $30,000 to the United States Air Force Academy Endowment to support the Stamps Family Charitable Scholarship Program Fund. The Stamps Family Charitable Scholarship Program at the Air Force Academy exists to enhance the leadership development activities for cadets selected as Stamps Leader Scholars. The program fund supports activities such as study abroad, undergraduate research projects, internships, leadership training, and travel for academic and co-curricular conferences.

+ Veterans Yoga Project, Alameda, CA

The Veterans Yoga Project is dedicated to improving the health and resilience of military veterans and their families through yoga. Working with veterans, active-duty personnel, veterans' organizations, and other groups dedicated to the well-being of veterans, the Yoga Project aims to deliver a full range of complementary and alternative therapies to facilitate recovery and strength. In 2018, The Dakota Foundation granted $25,000 to support the expansion and revision of the Project’s Mindful Resilience Training program.

+Veteran’s Path, Mt. Juliet, TN

Veteran’s Path works with returning veterans to promote meaning, purpose, and joy through mindfulness and camaraderie. Activities are open to all veterans who have served since 1990, and include meditation, physical and outdoor experiences, and community building, thereby helping veterans rediscover peace, acceptance, and honor for their lives ahead. In 2018, The Dakota Foundation contributed $50,000 to fund a four-month anchor program for women veterans in Colorado as well as a follow-up program evaluation and research project through the University of Alaska.

+ iLearn Collaborative, Denver, CO

iLearn Collaborative, of Denver, CO, supports K-12 educators by helping them implement effective, student-centered learning in their classrooms and online. In 2018, The Dakota Foundation is investing $90,000 support the curation of dozens of full-length courses at the middle- and high-school levels in multiple subjects, to be compiled in the Collaborative’s Digital Content Warehouse. This project will help provide public school instructors across Colorado and beyond with valuable, customizable, and quality new curricula.

+ Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Springs, CO

Blue Star Recyclers provides suitable vocational opportunities to adults with developmental disabilities to ethically and profitably recycle electronics and other materials. This helps reduce the amount of toxic waste entering into the environment while engaging and empowering adults who might otherwise depend on charities or governmental assistance. Continuing our partnership in 2018, The Dakota Foundation invested another $20,000 to enable Blue Star to promote and educate others about its business model around the country.

2017

+ Bayaud Enterprises, Denver, CO

Bayaud Enterprises provides job training, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation to people with mental, emotional, and physical challenges in Denver, CO. Understanding that meaningful work and economic independence are central to happiness, Bayaud's mission is to create hope and opportunity by empowering people with disabilities and other barriers to employment to participate more fully in mainstream life and achieve self-sufficiency. In 2017 The Dakota Foundation made a PRI of $50,000 to help Bayaud pay down its existing mortgage and redirect its resources to its social mission.

+ Dayton Sewing Collaborative, Dayton, OH

The Dayton Sewing Collaborative uses sewing to encourage economic, creative, and civic opportunities in and around Dayton, OH, with an emphasis on assisting refugees and immigrants. Recognizing the role that sewing has historically played in the development of local economies and the economic empowerment of women, the Workforce Training Program imparts students with useful sewing skills and, if needed, training in English and standard workplace practices, all of which they might use to acquire secure employment in industry or otherwise put to profitable entrepreneurial use. In this way, the Collaborative supports economic growth in Dayton by providing practical education and valuable skills to those who can benefit the most from them. In 2017, The Dakota Foundation awarded a grant of $10,000 to help support the Workforce Training Program.

+ Bryan's House, Dallas, TX

Bryan's House provides material and emotional support services to low-income families with children, including medically managed child care, respite care, and family counseling. In 2017 The Dakota Foundation provided a grant of $50,000 to help offset the operating costs of the Family Supportive Services Program at Bryan's House. The Family Supportive Services Program provides career counseling, financial assistance, housing assistance, and childcare to parents to enable them to continue education or employment with the ultimate goal of financial stability and independence.

+ Stamps Family Charitable Scholarship Program Fund, United States Air Force Academy

In 2017 The Dakota Foundation provided a grant of $30,000 to the United States Air Force Academy Endowment to support the Stamps Family Charitable Scholarship Program Fund. The Stamps Family Charitable Scholarship Program at the Air Force Academy exists to enhance the leadership development activities for cadets selected as Stamps Leader Scholars. The program fund supports activities such as study abroad, undergraduate research projects, internships, leadership training, and travel for academic and co-curricular conferences.

+ Center for Innovation Foundation, University of North Dakota

The UND Center for Innovation Foundation at the University of North Dakota supports innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers who aim to launch new ventures, commercialize new technologies, and raise capital to realize their ideas. The Foundation also provides internships for UND students and supports the UND School for Entrepreneurship. In 2017 The Dakota Foundation provided $50,000 to help build the recently created Bruce Gjovig Endowment for Students and Startups at the Center for Innovation, named in honor of its founder and long-time director and CEO. The Gjovig Endowment will support entrepreneurial training programs while also providing venture development assistance to budding entrepreneurs and their startups.

+ Center for Innovation, University of North Dakota

In 2017 The Dakota Foundation provided a grant of $50,000 to the Center for Innovation to help support the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program at the University of North Dakota's Center for Innovation. The Veterans' Entrepreneurship Program provides "boot camps" consisting of entrepreneurial education and assistance for distinguished and service disabled veterans who are interested in launching new ventures or strengthening their already existing businesses.

+ Veteran's Path, Mt. Juliet, TN

Veteran's Path works with returning veterans to promote meaning, purpose, and joy through mindfulness and camaraderie. Activities are open to all veterans who have served since 1990, and include meditation, physical and outdoor experiences, and community building, thereby helping veterans rediscover peace, acceptance, and honor for their lives ahead. In 2017 The Dakota Foundation granted $50,000 to Veteran's Path to help fund curriculum formalization, capacity building, and plans for expansion.

+ Veterans Yoga Project, Alameda, CA

The Veterans Yoga Project is dedicated to improving the health and resilience of military veterans and their families through yoga. Working with veterans, active-duty personnel, veterans' organizations, and other groups dedicated to the well-being of veterans, the Yoga Project aims to deliver a full range of complementary and alternative therapies to facilitate recovery and strength. In 2017 The Dakota Foundation granted $47,570 to support a home study program for professionals and paraprofessionals who work with veterans, to expand development programs, and help fund existing classes.

+ Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Springs, CO

Blue Star Recyclers provides suitable vocational opportunities to adults with developmental disabilities to ethically and profitably recycle electronics and other materials. This helps reduce the amount of toxic waste entering into the environment while engaging and empowering adults who might otherwise depend on charities or governmental assistance. Continuing our partnership in 2017, the Foundation made another two PRIs totaling $100,000 in enable Blue Star to promote and educate others about its business model around the country.

+ Credit Builders' Alliance, Washington, DC

The Credit Builders' Alliance aims to help low-income clients build credit as a means of achieving long-term financial stability and independence. Focusing on helping nonprofit lenders navigate credit bureau credentialing processes, its services include financial education, technical support, credit-building training, and referrals. In 2017 The Dakota Foundation made a PRI of $50,000 in the Credit Builders' Alliance to seed a Small Dollar Loan Technical Assistance and Loan Fund, intended to assist the Alliance's nonprofit affiliates in offering microloans to their clients. The PRI will enable a demonstration project touting the possibilities of the fund.

2016

+ Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Springs, CO

Blue Star Recyclers provides suitable vocational opportunities to adults with developmental disabilities to ethically and profitably recycle electronics and other materials. This helps reduce the amount of toxic waste entering into the environment while engaging and empowering adults who might otherwise depend on charities or governmental assistance. In 2016 The Dakota Foundation made two PRIs totaling $59,000, enabling Blue Star to purchase equipment necessary for expanding its operations.

+ Discover Goodwill of Southern and Western Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO

Discover Goodwill provides numerous programs designed to help individuals and families attain their highest potential, backed by its nonprofit thrift stores. Since 2015, The Dakota Foundation has partnered with Discover Goodwill to provide numerous PRIs to help strengthen and consolidate many of its most innovative and beneficial programs. The Fresh Start Commercial Laundry employs dozens of people, many of whom have disabilities, and provides them with job coaching, transportation, and benefits. In 2015, The Dakota Foundation provided a PRI of $145,000 to help purchase a more efficient and versatile washing machine. The nonprofit thrift store, which also employs disadvantaged adults, is essential to the financial stability of the Discover Goodwill's array of programs. Due to real estate market pressures, the previous thrift store in Woodland Park, CO, was small and uncompetitive with the region's for-profit thrift store chains. In 2015 and 2016, The Dakota Foundation made a PRI in two installments totaling $500,000 to help Discover Goodwill build a new, better, and much larger store.

+ Women's Bean Project, Denver, CO

The Women's Bean Project addresses the root causes of chronic poverty and unemployment by way of on-the-job training and personalized intervention and support services. Disadvantaged women are hired to work for six to twelve months in a safe, accepting environment to profitably produce gourmet soups, gift baskets, and other food products, thereby gaining financial stability, professional experience, soft skills, and self-esteem, and encouraging a future of economic and personal independence. In 2016 The Dakota Foundation directed a PRI of $50,000 to help support the Bean Project's Seed to Sprout Growth Initiative, designed to build resources by which to expand its operations and reach more women in need.

+ Exeter College – Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Internship, Oxford, UK

As a past investor in and partner with both Exeter College at Oxford University (UK) and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, in 2016 The Dakota Foundation was proud to announce support for a pilot program to implement a summer internship at the Fine Arts Center by a student from Exeter. During the summer of 2016 Exeter student Charanpreet Khaira will reside in Colorado Springs and intern at the Fine Arts Center, contributing her own skills and knowledge while gaining real-life experience with the operation and management of a non-profit organization.

+ Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, University of North Dakota Center for Innovation, Grand Forks, ND

The Center for Innovation’s Veterans’ Entrepreneurship Program provides an entrepreneurial learning and development opportunity for service disabled veterans and those who have uniquely distinguished themselves in the military, an at-risk population. The program (modeled on other successful programs at other universities) is an “entrepreneur’s bootcamp” designed for veterans who are interested in starting a venture as a means to financial independence or that have an existing business that they would like to grow. In 2016 The Dakota Foundation committed $25,000 to help support the startup and operation costs of the program and attract additional donors. The grant will help provide training to 30-45 veterans a year.

+ Aldo Leopold Entrepreneurship Program, Silver City, NM

With a challenging curriculum emphasizing direct experience, inquiry learning, intellectual and creative stimulation, community involvement, and environmental stewardship, the Aldo Leopold Charter School’s mission aligns closely with that of The Dakota Foundation. In 2015, The Dakota Foundation awarded ALCS a $25,000 grant to help cover costs associated with its participation in the Grant County Youth Entrepreneur Program, a program offering opportunities for middle and high school students to study and learn about entrepreneurship, such as developing a product for sale, marketing it, and managing finances. As of April 2016, there were 131 students from grades six through twelve participating in the program, some of whom have even begun to earn profits from their own local business ventures, such as a student-run smoothie bar. In recognition of its continued success at teaching the value of entrepreneurship and business discipline within at-risk communities, the Dakota Foundation elected to repeat its investment in 2016 with a grant of another $25,000 to support its costs through the next academic year.

2015

Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado—a member of the Feeding America network of food banks—is a regional hub for food acquisition and distribution in the fight against hunger. The organization connects nutritious food resources to those who are at risk of hunger, by supplying food to over 300 Southern Colorado partner agencies: community-based pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters. Last year, Care and Share distributed 19 million pounds of food, the equivalent over 15.8 million meals, to 108,000 people. Care and Share is forming GoalZero, a Colorado Springs-based waste-diversion social enterprise that will increase the rate of waste diversion in the region along with the nonprofit’s food and monetary resources. The Dakota Foundation has committed a $50,000 Program-Related Investment (PRI) to support GoalZero on its path toward a viable business. The Dakota Foundation is proud to partner with Care and Share in leveraging a business approach to improving their core mission, achieve greater efficiency, and minimize waste.

+ Discover Goodwill, Colorado Springs, CO

For decades, Discover Goodwill and its operations have empowered at-risk individuals to live independent and purpose-filled lives. In 2014, the Dakota Foundation committed $100,000 to Goodwill’s Veterans Vehicle Maintenance Program, a new initiative in conjunction with Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs to provide valuable mechanic skills to unemployed and underemployed individuals, particularly veterans. With the Dakota Foundation’s seed money, Goodwill was able to raise sufficient funds to launch the program, and the program has proven effective to date. Inspired by this initial success, the Dakota Foundation decided to make several PRIs in support of Discover Goodwill. The first two will fund a new retail facility, while a third will help purchase a new washer for Goodwill’s commercial laundry operation in Colorado Springs. Both investments will therefore enable new revenues and employment opportunities. The Dakota Foundation’s investments recognize Discover Goodwill’s contributions to promoting self-sufficiency in Colorado Springs by providing training and employment opportunities to disadvantaged individuals in the area, many of them veterans or the disabled. Such opportunities provide them with the knowledge and experience necessary to succeed in the workforce and safeguard their independence.

+ Aldo Leopold Charter School, Silver City, NM

Aldo Leopold Charter School was founded in 2005 by a group of concerned parents and experienced teachers to provide an alternative high school education to students in Silver City, NM. With a challenging curriculum emphasizing direct experience, inquiry learning, intellectual and creative stimulation, community involvement, and environmental stewardship, the school has been recognized nationally, and has expanded to include grades 6-12. In 2015, The Dakota Foundation awarded ALCS a $25,000 grant to help cover costs associated with its participation in the Grant County Youth Business Incubator, a program offering opportunities for middle and high school students to study and learn about entrepreneurship. Students contribute to an “entrepreneurship learning laboratory,” in which they acquire entrepreneurial skills and successful business habits by owning, managing, and operating real, dollar-generating physical and virtual businesses. By directly providing entrepreneurship experience to Silver City youth, the project aligns with The Dakota Foundation’s mission to support education and boost entrepreneurship as a means of social progress.

+ Nexus Recovery Program, Dallas, TX

The Nexus Recovery Program is a non-profit organization in Dallas that provides support to women struggling with addiction. Nexus provides a safe haven and recovery services to women living with addiction or abuse. Importantly, they are one of the few programs in Texas that allow women to bring children with them, and they are the only program in the Dallas area that is equipped to serve pregnant teens and teen mothers, thus boosting the success rate of the program. In line with The Dakota Foundation’s commitment to supporting mass education as one of the most important avenues to economic independence, in 2015 the board committed $50,000 to help cover costs associated with its adolescent care programs.

+ Student Venture Capital Summit by DVG, Grand Forks, ND

The Dakota Venture Group (DVG) at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks is the nation’s first student-run for-profit venture capital investment fund, established in 2006 with the support of The Dakota Foundation. It provides opportunities for students to experience and learn the ways of venture capital by investigating and investing in promising new enterprises, thereby fostering economic growth while preparing the next generation of angel investors. In 2015, the Dakota Foundation contributed $15,000 to help sponsor the DVG’s first student-led capital summit, the Student Venture Capital Summit . The Summit will be held Nov 8-10 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Grand Forks, ND.

The Summit will attract young entrepreneurs from all over the nation to interact, share ideas, and learn of new investment opportunities. Attendees will experience a fast-paced hands-on experiential learning opportunity to better understand venture capital. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with professional venture capitalists, screen a company, complete a due diligence, network with like-minded students, and experience North Dakota. The goal for this Student Venture Capital Summit is to educate students on Venture Capital opportunities and foster personal growth.

Please see the DVG website for further information.

+ Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO

The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center is a private, non-profit institution consisting of a museum, a live-performance theater, and an arts school. For nearly a century it has lain at the heart of the region’s cultural and artistic development. By promoting the fine arts and the aesthetics of the Rocky Mountains, it supports local artists, the business climate of downtown Colorado Springs, and the cultural literacy of the broader population. To facilitate the growth and sustainability of the Fine Arts Center, in 2015 The Dakota Foundation committed up to $50,000 to match one-to-one any profits generated by new or expanded commercial activities, including a museum shop and regular public events for local artists and patrons. It also provided $15,000 in the form of a PRI to help provide inventory for the shop, and is committed to supplement support from new donors through the spring of 2016 on a one-for-two basis. The Dakota Foundation’s support has helped revive fundraising activities at the Fine Arts Center, including new donor outreach in the form of galas and other events. Gift shop revenue has increased dramatically, as are contributions from new donors.

2014

+ Atlas Preparatory School, Colorado Springs, CO

Atlas Preparatory School is a fledgling charter school that provides high-quality education to children living in poverty, with an emphasis on intensive character and community development. Its curriculum promotes the cultivation independent and self-reliant citizens not only through academics, but also athletics, the arts, ethics, good health, and community service. Recognizing its role in encouraging self-reliance, in 2014 The Dakota Foundation committed $50,000 to Atlas’s capital campaign to erect new high school facilities, including classrooms, offices, and recreational and athletic spaces.

+ Saranam, Albuquerque, NM

Founded in 2004, Saranam is a 2-year housing and education program in Albuquerque assisting families in transitioning beyond homelessness. Its unique model has proven successful by targeting not just the alleviation of immediate suffering, but also the underlying causes of homelessness by providing housing, vocational training and education, and life skills within a supportive community of peers and volunteers. Recognizing Saranam’s efforts to promote self-reliance and independence, in 2014 The Dakota Foundation seeded an endowment with $50,000, the proceeds of which will support Saranam’s vocational and educational programs.

+ Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC), Grand Forks, ND

For 35 years, the Community Violence Intervention Center in Grand Forks has worked with local organizations and individuals to end cycles of violence by providing services, training, and new ideas to people in need. In 2014 The Dakota Foundation committed $50,000 to an endowment to support the CVIC’s Education Fund. In line with The Dakota Foundation’s commitment to promoting self-sufficiency, the Education Fund will provide short-term scholarships to women trapped in abusive relationships due to economic deprivation and a lack of skills. The scholarships will provide for vocational training, childcare, and other living expenses, thereby empowering the recipients and their children to escape dependency and the abusive situations that often accompany it.

Partnerships & Investments

Here’s a sampling of some of the great partnerships the Dakota Foundation has accomplished.

2023

+ Advance, Aurora, CO

+ Benevolence Farm, Graham, NC

+ Catherine’s House, Belmont, NC

+ CHAI FUND, DENVER, CO

+ Change Please, Denver, CO

+ Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC), Grand Forks, ND

+ Fresh Start Fund, Denver, CO

+ Friends of the Children, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Goodwill of Colorado, Denver, CO

+ GRID Alternatives, Denver, CO

+ Opus Creative Industries, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Pikes Peak State College (PPSC) Mitchell Promise, Colorado Springs, CO

+ The Other Side Academy (TOSA), Denver, CO

2022

+ Brink Literacy Project, Denver, CO

+ CHAI Fund, Denver, CO

+ Converge, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Dakota Promise Scholarship, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Dakota Venture Group, Grand Forks, ND

+ Friends of the Children, Colorado Springs, CO

+ First Southwest Community Fund, Alamosa, CO

+ indieDwell, Pueblo, CO

+ Mindfulness and Positivity Project, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Olympic City USA Free Soccer Iniative, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Peak Education, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Project Diakonia, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Recidiviz, Nationwide - CO Launch

+ Sistahbiz Global Network, Denver, CO (and Nationwide)

+ The Other Side Academy, Denver, CO

+ Three Sisters Kitchen, Albuquerque, NM

+ Thrive Networks, Colorado Springs, CO

+ We Fortify, Colorado Springs, CO

2021

+ CoCua, Denver, CO

+ Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Community Impact Fund for Workforce Housing, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Capital Good Fund, Colorado

+ Community Investment Trust, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Community Works, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Dakota Promise Scholarship at PPCC, Harrison School District 2, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Goodwill Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Kaleidos, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Rural Homes by the Telluride Foundation, Southwest CO

+ Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute, Rural Southwest Colorado

+ Saranam, Albuquerque, NM

+ Social Finance's Up Fund, Nationwide

2020

+ Bloom Recovery Home, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Brink Literacy Project, Denver, CO

+ Co-OP Dayton / Gem City Market, Dayton, OH

+ Dakota Promise Scholarship, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Family Independence Initiative, Colorado Springs, CO

+ iLearn Collaborative, Colorado (Statewide)

+ Jeremiah Program, Fargo, ND

+ LitLab/Kiddapolis, Dallas, TX

+ Lost&Found, Sioux Falls, SD

+ NPX: CO Donor Impact Fund, Denver, CO

+ Sistahbiz Loan Fund, Denver, CO

+ Survive & Thrive COS, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Veterans Yoga Project, Nationwide

2019

+ Catherine’s House, Belmont, NC

+ Colorado Lending Source, Denver, CO

+ Credit Builders Alliance, WASHINGTON, D.C

+ Extended Hands of Hope, Denver, CO

+ Face it Together at Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Fostering Hope, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Jeremiah Program, Fargo, ND

+ Nusenda Foundation, Albuquerque, NM

+ QUAD of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO

+ USAFA ENDOWMENT (STAMPS SCHOLARSHIP), USAFA, CO

+ TESSA, Colorado Springs, CO

+ Veteran’s Path

+ Veterans CARE PROJECT (SOCIAL FINANCE), BOSTON, MA

2018

+ Veterans CARE Project (Social Finance), Boston, MA