Gary Community Ventures

The path to building an early childhood industry capable of caring for all young children is rooted in relationships and collaboration. We were honored to support this year’s?Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference (RMECC), which brought together teachers, professionals, business leaders, policymakers, caregivers and other stakeholders from across the early childhood education ecosystem to connect, learn and inspire. Our own?Steffanie Clothier?joined?Shelby Mattingly, CEO of?Denver's Early Childhood Council, to share remarks emphasizing the growing strength of Colorado’s ECE community in uncertain times. Whether it's federal cuts, addressing Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) needs or finding ways to center families and providers, this community is coming together to solve tough challenges facing our state’s early childhood system. A special thank you to?Denver's Early Childhood Council?for creating this essential forum for innovation, knowledge-sharing and collaboration among ECE professionals and advocates.

The recent freeze on CCCAP applications across Colorado counties is a stark reminder: Our child care system is in crisis. And it’s not just about the 26,000 children who rely on CCCAP to access early childhood education programs, as reported on by The Colorado Sun, The Denver Post and others. As a state, we're now one of the most expensive places to raise a child, with families often dedicating 40% of their income to child care, according to a new report from Common Sense Institute Colorado. What’re more, our child care providers are not reaping the benefits of spiking tuition costs. Child care providers must carry large staff sizes to meet mandated student-to-teacher ratios. Pair that reality with increasing real estate, food and insurance costs, and most child care providers simply can't afford to pay their staff members more than $18.50 an hour, the current median salary for a lead teacher in Colorado's early childhood sector. It’s time for action. Alongside our partners at the Buell Foundation and the David + Laura Merage Foundation, our team at Gary is working toward a better system for children, families and providers. We must confront the true cost of quality child care, invest significantly in this broken marketplace and build a sustainable, long-term vision for early childhood education. This isn't just about today's challenges; it's about investing in Colorado's future. Read on: https://lnkd.in/gn7JtcX3

Colorado is unaffordable for far too many families. This was something we knew to be true before last November. But last year’s election cycle crystallized the message. Up and down the ballot, voters delivered messages clearly indicating that rising prices and stagnating wages are two of the biggest things keeping them up at night. Reilly Pharo Carter, Zach Martinez and our team at Gary Advocacy took that message to heart as they prepared for the 2025 legislative session. It's why the priority bills for our team this session focus on housing, maximizing public education investments and employee ownership. Click to learn more about those three priority bills as well as others that we're supporting: https://lnkd.in/gq-yzY_j

?? Colorado housing community -?Scholarships are still available for Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute's Annual Western Places | Western Spaces Conference! Don’t miss your chance to attend this great convening on the University of Denver campus and network with leaders at the vanguard of planning and land use law from Mar. 5-7. Click to learn more, select the ticket that best suits your needs and make sure to use the discount codes included in the image when you register: https://lnkd.in/gQe2s88t

We are excited to announce our 2025 Piton Fellowship Mid-Career Cohort of Denver Metro Leaders! Their commitment to leading initiatives that impact their community is unwavering and a testament to the dynamic systems leaders in Denver are creating. A focus of this year’s cohort will be showcasing the ways Piton Fellows lead sustainable change that impact their communities. We are excited to see their continued learning, growth, and development over the next 8 months. Akeem Kelley Alliss Hardy Ariana Flores Cecilia Sardi?a, MHA, CAPM Chris Motley Christina Galindo Garcia, MBA Deena Duwaik, MPA Elvis Rubio Dr. Jamal Bowen Jazmin Lopez, MSOL Jehan-Ara Khan Jerry Torrez Joanna Crosby John Perez Justin Teneyck Koli J. Leonardo Lopez Maria Sierra Michele Kilen Nelia Pe?a Nimita Weiss Samuel O. Tania Chairez Tomas Gallegos

We're thrilled that our own Aisha T. Weeks, MPA and Tiffany Roan, MPA will be speaking at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition - NCRC's Just Economy Conference next month! They'll be representing the Dearfield Fund For Black Wealth, and its work to offer downpayment assistance to first-time Black and African American homebuyers. More specifically, they'll be speaking about the legacy of O.T. Jackson and the town of Dearfield, CO, which continues to inspire their team's mission to empower Black Coloradans. The #JustEconomy Conference is one of the largest national gatherings of nonprofits, policymakers, government officials, small businesses, media and academics in the country, all of whom will come together in our nation's capitol from Mar. 26-27 to find bold new ways that we can work together to create a more just economy. Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/fsC8z9N

We partnered with A Moment of You, Amoofy recently to help our Piton Fellowship team better understand the fellowship experience as part of our ongoing effort to change the face of leadership in Metro Denver. Being able to quickly and meaningful capture the voices of fellows has helped our team analyze the impact we’re able to create through this program. Our next cohort of the fellowship kicks off next week, and we’re excited to use these insights to continue to improve the experiences we’re able to offer fellows!

Congrats to the team at Catalyze on the launch of their?GP Runway Fund, which we believe is a vital step towards the creation of a more inclusive investable landscape. Alongside Springpoint Partners and Blue Haven Initiative, we were proud to be anchor investors in this catalytic debt fund designed to bridge financing gaps for the next generation of investors as they build firms and drive capital to a broader network of founders. Congrats to Regina Green, Brendan Cosgrove, Maegan Moore and Michael Belles on the great work they've done thus far and the worthy, ambitious pathway they're charting. As part of our ongoing "Why We Invested" series, Catherine Toner and Emily Williams explain why, as a sunsetting foundation that will cease to exist in 2035, our team at Gary is increasingly focused on making investments that will have a lasting, scalable impact beyond our organization’s lifespan — and why we believe Catalyze's GP Runway Fund is one of those investments. Read on: https://lnkd.in/gtincCzi

Gary Community Ventures currently has a request for grant proposals in these areas: ?? Improving Family Benefit Utilization ?? Scaling Systems to Expand 9th Grade Success We look forward to partnering with individuals and organizations that have a focus in these areas and a commitment to advancing the promise and potential of kids and families who have traditionally not had access to opportunity. We highly encourage those new to Gary and those doing work aligned to the proposal focus areas to consider applying. Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/gNga6XHE

Our team at Gary, in partnership with a group of Colorado funders, is seeking a visionary Director to lead a multi-year statewide initiative aimed at making child care more affordable for low- and middle-income families in Colorado. This Director will be joining a broad and growing coalition of early childhood organizations, funders, advocates and champions across Colorado that has for decades been working to provide every child with the early care and learning opportunities needed for a successful start. We've made great strides, including full-day kindergarten, universal pre-k, the creation of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, all while creating support for providers as well as our child care workforce. And yet, affordable child care remains a significant pain point for families, ranking next to (and in some cases above) the cost of housing. The role of this Director will be to help us change that. Learn more about the position, and apply here: https://lnkd.in/gta8bzNh