Meet Our First Rural Women & Girls of Color Fund Grantees
We’re Investing $192,000 in Women and Girls of Color Across 23 Counties
Last July, we first shared our intent to deepen our investments in and collaboration with women of color, girls of color, and nonbinary people of color through a new Women & Girls of Color Fund. Since then, we’ve engaged hundreds of community members, nonprofit leaders, grassroots advocates, and philanthropic experts to create an equitable framework to advance economic security and build the economic power of women and girls of color. We’ve convened an advisory council made up of 20 incredible women and nonbinary people of color from across Colorado and crafted a set of transformative funding priorities to direct resources where they are needed most.
We are proud to announce that our advisory council will distribute $192,000 in general operating support to 12 rural initiatives serving 23 Colorado counties in our first round of funding for the Women & Girls of Color Fund. Our first group of Women & Girls of Color Fund grantee partners create meaningful change through a breadth of strategies to advance economic security and build the economic power of Black, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, and Latinx women and girls – from violence prevention and harm reduction to environmental preservation and youth leadership/organizing to education justice.
The advisory council members discussed proposals, strategized their grantmaking decisions, and prioritized organizations with:
- An explicit commitment to women & girls of color
- Transformational/liberatory missions
- Less funding/smaller budgets
- Deep community connections
- Commitment to collaborations
In addition to funding, we look forward to partnering with our grantees to learn from their leadership, share their stories, make connections to other funders and partners, and more. We invite you to join us in supporting their important work.
Are you a funder interested in rural Colorado? We would love to share information about our grantees and unfunded applications with you. Please reach out to Camisha Lashbrook, donor relations manager, at camishal@wfco.org.
Meet Our Grantee Partners
When we asked the community what you would like to see from this fund, we heard loud and clear how critical it is to support women, girls, and nonbinary people of color leaders. Our investment in these grantees is also an investment in their powerful, inspiring, and visionary leaders. We’re excited to introduce you to them.
Action Is Safer, Mesa County
Shannon Robinson, Founder/Director
Service Area: Delta, Mesa, and Montrose counties
Mission: Our organization exists to provide grassroots advocacy, mutual aid for Black, indigenous, and queer women, and to build organizing capacity. We help to build leadership skills and work skills by encouraging BIPoC and queer women to claim their seat at the table.
Colorado Mountain College School of Transitional Education, Garfield County
A. Yvette Myrick, Program Director
Service Area: Garfield and Summit counties
Mission: Colorado Mountain College (CMC)’s unit focused on transitional education/preparatory education exists to help individuals from under-privileged backgrounds get prepared for post-secondary degrees. This program directly supports those individuals through English as a Second Language (ESL) training, high school equivalency training (GED), and Career and Technical Education (CTE) readiness.
County Collective, Inc., Weld County
Hermine Ngnomire, Founder and President
Service Area: Adams, Boulder, and Weld counties
Mission: Empowering historically marginalized groups to positively lead and mobilize community transformation through youth-centered leadership, knowledge, and opportunities for action.
El Movimiento Sigue, Pueblo County
Theresa M. Trujillo, Interim Board Chair
Service area: Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Otero, and Pueblo counties
Mission: We exist as a means of continued organizing, direct service, and systems change work with folks impacted by marginalization and historic neglect – primarily Chicanx, indigenous, and immigrant people in Pueblo County and throughout this area of the state. EMS ensures past efforts are recognized and present work is supported.
Growing Together, Summit County
Milena Quiros, Director
Service Area: Summit County
Mission: Growing Together breaks down barriers by providing culturally appropriate tools and opportunities to engage, empower, value, and integrate immigrants and their children into the community.
Herbal Gardens Wellness, Custer County
Nancy Rae Kochis-Clark, Founder
Service Area: Statewide
Mission: To create together one community of intersections of native cultural diversity, equitable health and wellness access including environmental preservation for current and future generations.
Integrated Community, Routt County
Nelly Navarro, Executive Director
Service Area: Moffat and Routt counties
Mission: To proactively promote and support successful integration of immigrant and local community members in Northwest Colorado through education, intercultural exchange, and collaboration to build a more united community where its members can communicate, participate, and contribute.
Justice Heritage Academy, Conejos County
Michele Trujillo, Executive Director
Service Area: Conejos County
Mission: The Justice and Heritage Academy serves youth from 1st-8th grades in Conejos County. In August 2017, we began as a Home School Cooperative program that is rooted in justice education (social justice, food justice, environmental justice). We are currently observing how justice oriented education and transformative teaching/learning cycles impact student achievement.
The Learning Council, Delta County
Alicia Michelsen, Executive Director
Service Area: Delta County
Mission: The Learning Council is a community organization supporting lifelong learning and education as a resource for everyone. The Learning Council provides complimentary educational opportunities, celebrating the arts and agriculture, stimulating creativity, enriching local culture, and bolstering community health and vitality. We believe in lifelong learning and education as a resource for everyone.
OneMorgan County, Morgan County
Susana Guardado, Executive Director
Service Area: Morgan County
Mission: OneMorgan County fosters relationships among diverse people and organizations to strengthen the well-being, safety, and cohesive nature of our community.
PeaceWorks, Inc., Park County
Lori Cuno, Executive Director
Service Area: Clear Creek, Jefferson, and Park counties
Mission: PeaceWorks’ mission is to advocate for ALL survivors, their children and companion animals, of intimate partner violence/abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking, teen dating violence and stalking. PeaceWorks’ provides inclusive services for ALL, including crisis intervention, emergency shelter, culturally responsive and trauma informed advocacy, and local prevention and education to create social change.
Tu Casa, Inc., Alamosa County
Theresa Ortega, Executive Director
Service Area: Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties
Mission: To support healthy, violence-free lives and relationships for all children and adults in the San Luis Valley by providing crisis intervention, shelter services, and advocacy to victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and their non-offending family members/caregivers; empowering the community to affect sustainable social change through awareness building, prevention education, and coordinating professional efforts to respond to interpersonal violence in a victim-centered manner.
Future Funding Opportunities
The next Women & Girls of Color Fund grant cycle will open in July. Organizations based in the Front Range interested in applying can visit our website to learn more, read our FAQ, and submit their information in our interest form to stay in touch.
Thanks & How to Support
Thank you to The Colorado Health Foundation, Chambers Initiative, Xcel Energy, Margulf Foundation, Dawn and Andrew Marshall, and additional individual donors who have made this fund possible as well our incredible Women & Girls of Color Fund advisory council!
Thanks to Ford Foundation’s generous $50,000 matching grant, your gift of $5, $50, or $100 goes even farther to increase philanthropic investments in women and girls of color.
