Meet Our 2025 Women & Girls of Color Fund Grantees Leading the Way
On Reimagining: Lodgepole Pines & Finding Our Way Forward
Our 34 Women & Girls of Color Fund Grantee Partners are Reimagining & Building A Better World
Some of my fondest childhood memories are from exploring the Colorado wilderness with my family. My grandpa whittling willow by a creek just outside of Walsenburg, picking early raspberries on a hike up to Heart Lake, hunting for skipping rocks on the Poudre River. I was raised to understand the connectedness of all things through nature, and that nature can teach us a lot about humanity. I will never forget walking through a burn scar near Leadville and learning that what looked like a wasteland was actually about to explode with life. Lodgepole pinecones, it turns out, only release seeds their seeds when exposed to fire. Nature meets destruction with regeneration.
Make no mistake that destruction is the intent of the current administration – eliminating fundamental rights, attacking our most vulnerable communities, and defunding critical community work. The Women’s Foundation and our grantee partners are meeting this moment of destruction with a commitment to reimagining what our world can be.
What We’re Hearing
From the Southern Ute Reservation to the Eastern plains and North to the Wyoming border, our grantee partners continue to share their communities’ sky rocketing needs in the face of funding cuts and legal threats.
Immigrant-serving organizations are being targeted by executive orders that threaten to revoke their tax status and even bring civil penalties for their tireless work to ensure our immigrant neighbors’ safety and human rights. Organizations that serve the LGBTQ+ community remain steadfast in their missions to create a safer world while our nation’s highest office attempts to legislate hate for trans people. Corporate and private funders are pulling back millions of dollars from critical community service providers, at best to pause and evaluate their own legal risks and, at worst, acknowledging that their funding was always just for show.
Our basic social contracts, even the natural order of our world – ecosystem diversity, progress and evolution, mutualism – are under attack. And yet, our grantees continue to show up and fight for our communities. The Women’s Foundation is honored to follow their lead.
We’re Not Scaling Back
This spring, we renewed 33 Women & Girls of Color Fund grantees and added one additional partner. We were proud to increase our grantmaking by nearly 40%, bringing our 2025 Women & Girls of Color Fund investment to $1,135,000. This is the second-year of our two-year, unrestricted commitment.
We contacted our WINcome grantee partners around the same time to share that we were fully unrestricting their grants. Previously required to use at least 50% of their grant on providing cash assistance, grantees can now use WINcome grant funding however they need to support their communities and their teams.
We’re also lifting up urgent community needs to our donor-advised fundholders, sharing asks and hosting events to highlight how they can move money to make a difference. These problems are all too big to face on our own, but I believe that collectively, every action, big or small, will add up to a new, better world.
The World We’re Reimagining
As I look back on our 2024 Women & Girls of Color Fund announcement, I am even more clear now how important it is to invest in the visions of our community leaders. Leaders like Patience Kabwasa, executive director at Women & Girls of Color Fund grantee Food to Power. Based in the Hillside neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Food to Power imagines a world where communities heal and thrive in relationship with food, land, and each other.
Patience is not only imagining a better future—she is building it. Her lived experience is fueling bold and innovative solutions – from a no-cost community grocery program to youth leadership and Colorado Springs’ first residential compost pick-up program. As our government abandons programs that lift people out of poverty and divests from the proven power of diversity, Patience and her team are rising to meet community needs.
“I think about the fact that we started building [the Hillside Hub] during COVID after a six-year capital campaign. We made it through all kinds of shipment delays and increases in construction supplies that raised the cost of building by $500,000. The money that we needed did eventually come. I don’t say that unaware of the reality before us, but knowing that we are resilient. This is a time for organizing and mobilizing differently,” says Patience, who believes the Colorado Springs community will come together to take care of one another.
“My community’s spiritual lives are deeply connected to their commitment to service,” she says. “I love the fierceness of this community, whatever one’s religious practice is. We are rooted in tenets of giving and the connection to earth and each other.”
Amid Political Wildfires, These Leaders Are Sowing the Seeds of Our Future
Like Patience, all of our 2025 Women & Girls of Color Fund grantees envision a better future. Across Colorado, they are sowing the seeds of progress from which a forest of liberation will grow.
Applications for the Women & Girls of Color Fund will open again in 2026. The rural cycle is from January – March and the Front Range cycle begins mid-summer.
Action Is Safer
SHANNON ROBINSON
Headquarters: Mesa County
Serving: Mesa, Delta, Montrose, and Garfield counties
Action is Safer is a community organization committed to Harm Reduction and fighting systemic oppression. Founded by BIPoC and Queer women based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action.
Asian Girls Ignite
JOANNE LIU
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, and Jefferson counties
Asian Girls Ignite builds a strong community of Asian American and Pacific Islander girls and women to celebrate their individual and collective power through shared stories.
Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities (CHIC)
SADÉ COOPER
Headquarters: Arapahoe County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, and Denver counties
CHIC builds women’s economic, social, and cultural capital because powerful women build healthy families and thriving communities.
Colorado Circles for Change
ANGELL PÉREZ
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties
To create a pathway for our youth to discover sacred relationships with self, family, and community, to reduce violence and incarceration so that youth can reach their full potential.
Colorado Jobs with Justice
SOFIA SOLANO
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, and Denver counties
Colorado Jobs with Justice is a long-term, formal coalition of labor, community, faith, and student and youth organizations that come together to advance workers’ rights and social justice through building sustained relationships and taking direct action to create concrete change in the lives of working families.
Colorado River Valley Team
ESMERELDA ZUNIGA
Headquarters: Garfield County
Serving: Garfield County
The Colorado River Valley Team works together to improve the well-being and progress of low-income families in the Colorado River Valley by developing leadership, education, and rights in communities.
Construyendo
WENDOLYNE OMAÑA
Headquarters: La Plata County
Serving: La Plata, Montezuma, and San Juan counties
Construyendo supports resilience practices to heal ourselves and our children through ancestral methods of healing, professional massage therapy, herbalism, acupuncture, yoga therapy, zumba for people with different conditions, workshops with Latinx mental health professionals; among other services related to health and wellness.
First Generation Near Peer Mentoring Program
MAIRA OLIVA HERNANDEZ
Headquarters: Larimer County
Serving: Larimer, Morgan, and Weld counties
First Generation Near Peer Mentoring PROJECT fosters a cycle of academic and socioemotional support for Spanish-speaking students in local K-12 schools by pairing 55+ mentors and mentees who share similar experiences and backgrounds in partnership with the Colorado State University Access Center.
Food to Power
PATIENCE KABWASA
Headquarters: El Paso County
Serving: El Paso County
Food to Power cultivates a healthy and equitable food system in Colorado Springs. FTP envisions a world in which communities heal and thrive in relationship with food, land, and each other.
Fortaleza Familiar
MIMI MADRID
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, and Jefferson counties
Fortaleza Familiar is dedicated to the wellness of Indigenous Chicanx Latinx Lesbian Gay Bi Queer Trans Two-Spirit young people and their families in Colorado.
Haseya Advocate Program
MONYCKA SNOWBIRD
Headquarters: El Paso County
Serving: El Paso County
Haseya works to ensure Native survivors of domestic and sexual violence have access to everything they need to live healthy, safe, and peaceful lives.
Ignacio Out & Equal Alliance
TRENNIE BURCH
Headquarters: La Plata County
Service Area: La Plata, Archuleta, Conejos, and Montezuma counties
Ignacio Out & Equal Alliance supports, empowers, educates and advocates for the Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ community members, their families and allies in the Southwest, including the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Reservations. They aim to create a safe, equitable, and inclusive environment where BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and 2SLGBTQ+ people can thrive.
IDEA Stages (IDEAs)
Headquarters: Boulder County
Service Area: Statewide
IDEAs galvanizes theater makers to take demonstrable action toward inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.
Ladies First
ARIEL RUEMPOLHAMER
Headquarters: Denver County
Service Area: Denver County
Ladies First establishes an engaging and intellectual community where young Black women of all cultural backgrounds can come together and raise awareness of the many facets of young Black women’s experiences in high school; including popular culture, politics, history, and relating these topics back to diasporic roots.
Lamar Unidos
NANCY DIAZ
Headquarters: Prowers
Serving: Prowers, Baca, Bent, and Otero counties
Lamar Unidos works with the community to tackle issues that are most pressing such as education, economic justice, immigration, financial and tax help, physical health and civic engagement.
Latina SafeHouse
ANGELA CESEÑA
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties
Latina SafeHouse provides bilingual and culturally sensitive services to Latiné survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault through a compassionate, multi-generational approach.
Liberation is Local
CORI WONG
Headquarters: Larimer County
Serving: Larimer County
Liberation is Local creates containers for learning liberation in and with our local Northern Colorado community through intimate and experimental ways. Our goal is to emphasize values and practices of intimacy, connectedness, reflection, learning, playfulness, humor, and what it is like to actively be in a transformative process for collective liberation on a local level.
Light Carrier
CANDICE BAILEY
Headquarters: Arapahoe County
Serving: Statewide
Light Carrier brings hope to families through empowerment, education, economics, and advocacy.
Mama Bird Doula Services
BIRDIE JOHNSON
Headquarters: Arapahoe County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, and Jefferson counties
Mama Bird Doula Services improves the outcomes for Black maternal health and their babies in our community by ensuring that all birthing persons and their families feel Safe, Seen, and Heard through high-quality, compassionate, and culturally responsive care.
Promotores De Esperanza
RICA RODRIGUEZ-HERNANDEZ
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties
Promotores De Esperanza strives to promote racial/ethnic health equity through the provision of culturally and linguistically competent services designed to minimize barriers for people of color in our communities.
QueenShipp
TANAKA SHIPP
Headquarters: Arapahoe County
Serving: Arapahoe and Denver counties
QueenShipp empowers all young people – including queer, trans, and non-binary students – through a holistic approach that includes leadership development, mentorship and community engagement to develop emotionally intelligent and civically minded leaders who contribute to their families and greater communities.
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center (Seeding Ancestral Community Relationships Education)
BENU AMUN-RA
Headquarters: Arapahoe County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, and Larimer counties
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center holds space for decolonizing healing through ancestral knowledge, re-indigenization, and medicinal ecology while supporting our communities in advocacy and education.
San Luis Valley American Indian Center
RUTH HORN
Headquarters: Saguache County
Serving: Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties
The San Luis Valley American Indian Center is committed to promoting the health and well-being of American Indians of all tribal nations in the San Luis Valley by positively promoting and strengthening determinants of health through social unity, health equity, cultural education development, and enhancing self-determination by being committed to the preservation of Native/Indigenous culture; and by encouraging mutual understanding and respect between American Indians and non-Indians in the region.
STAR Girlz Empowerment
SHALONDA HAGGERTY
Headquarters: Adams County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Weld counties
STAR Girlz’ mission is to Mentor, Empower, and ultimately Transform the lives of female youth and young adult women through providing mental health services, psychoeducational empowerment classes, transitional housing, entrepreneurship training and educational exposure to create jobs and promote healthier lifestyle choices.
Storytellers of the Ancestral Red Road (SOAR)
REBECCA “MAYAHUEL” ROBLES
Headquarters: Pueblo County
Serving: Pueblo County
Storytellers of the Ancestral Red Road (SOAR) is a Southern Colorado collective of Indigenous Elders and allies, sharing cultural wisdom in multi-generational educational settings, and practicing well-being and community-focused healing through creative expression.
The Compound of Compassion
SHANA SHAW
Headquarters: Arapahoe County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, and Douglas counties
The Compound of Compassion provides a safe place of healing for youth, young adults, veterans and seniors.
The Learning Council
ALICIA MICHELSEN
Headquarters: Delta County
Serving: Delta County
The Learning Council enriches community through education, art, advocacy, food, agriculture and wellness for all.
Transformative Leadership for Change
FELICIA GRIFFIN & NEHA MAHAJAN
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Alamosa, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Dolores, Douglas, Eagle, El Paso, Garfield, Gunnison, Jefferson, Lake, La Plata, Larimer, Las Animas, Logan, Mesa, Montezuma, Morgan, Otero, Prowers, Pueblo, San Miguel, Summit, Weld, and Yuma counties
Transformative Leadership for Change’s (TLC) mission is to transform ourselves (BIPOC movement leaders), our organizations, and the larger movement ecosystem so we can thrive in our leadership, build real power for our communities, and see our visions of liberation come to life.
Tu Casa
THERESA ORTEGA
Headquarters: Alamosa County
Serving: Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties
Tu Casa exists to promote safe, healthy, and violence free lives for all people in the San Luis Valley.
Urban Sanctuary Nonprofit
ALI DUNCAN
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Statewide
Urban Sanctuary creates and establishes a safe space for people of color and the LGBTQAI+ community by giving them access to tools, resources, and a positive culture through yoga, meditation, and movement courses.
Voces Unidas for Justice
KRISTIANA HUITRÓN
Headquarters: El Paso County
Serving: Statewide
Voces Unidas for Justice as una organización culturalmente Latin@ y basada en la comunidad. Usamos español e inglés al propósito. Celebramos las identidades Latin@s que se extienden por todas Las Américas. Existimos para apoyar a sobrevivientes de violencia e injusticia, como violencia doméstica y acoso sexual. Apoyamos con servicios de asesoría confidencial y practicas culturales utilizado para sanación y justicia. Voces Unidas for Justice is a Latino cultural organization rooted in the community. We use both Spanish and English on purpose. We celebrate the Latin@ identities that span the whole of the Americas. We exist to support victims of violence and injustice, such as domestic violence and sexual assault, with confidential victim advocacy and cultural practices for healing and justice.
YAASPA
DR. JANIECE MACKEY
Headquarters: Arapahoe County
Serving: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, and Denver counties
YAASPA encourages and supports disengaged and underserved youth to participate in their communities socially and politically, in order to make changes within the community. To create political and social awareness regarding issues that directly and/or adversely affects our communities, it is necessary to be educated. Through activism and education, we can redefine the standards that have been placed upon us.
Youth of Culture Program
PTISAWQUAH
Headquarters: La Plata County
Serving: La Plata County
The Youth of Culture Program creates space & time for Youth of Culture (IBOPoC) in La Plata schools.
Youth Seen
DR. TARA JAE
Headquarters: Denver County
Serving: Adams, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, and Weld counties
Youth Seen fosters and empowers the social and emotional well-being of LGBTQI youth and their families in all communities.
