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Friends and Followers of DK,
It’s been a while since we’ve sent out a newsletter. To be truthful, we understand you get multiple emails, updates, and newsletters throughout your day. So, we try to be thoughtful in what and how often we send you a DK newsletter. We also realize life may not be “finding you well” these days and you may not have the time or bandwidth to read another email in your inbox. We hope our once in a while newsletter allows you the time and space for what is most needed and important to you, especially during this time.
As a team we have been busy working on various projects and initiatives that you can read about in the newsletter below. For the past 18 months or so, this work has brought us a sense of optimism. We’ve seen how RESCHOOL’s Learning Dollars Initiative allowed families to access funds for their children to participate in out-of-school learning experiences. We’re looking forward to the new Outdoor Equity Grant Program and Fund that will reduce barriers to the outdoors and increase access and opportunity for underserved youth and their families so they can experience Colorado’s open spaces, state parks, public lands, and other outdoor areas. And, we are hopeful about the LEAP ballot initiative and the possible opportunities it can provide Colorado’s students.
Thanks for reading what we’ve been working on and most importantly please take care of yourself and those around you.
Sincerely,
Amy Anderson, Carmelita Galicia-Munoz, Jess Fuller, Matt Samelson, Monica Villalobos, Paola Ramírez, Selamawit Gebre, and Tony Lewis
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Outdoor Equity Grant Program and Fund
DK worked with a broad coalition of racial justice advocates, environmental justice advocates, and outdoor education program providers for the past year crafting a policy concept to increase access and opportunities to outdoor education and programs. The policy culminated in successful legislation sponsored by Representatives Leslie Herod and David Ortiz, Senate President Leroy Garcia, and Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis to create an Outdoor Equity Grant Program and Fund.
Colorado is a place of dynamic growth, change and progress. Unfortunately, we face real challenges and obstacles in regard to access and equity in the outdoors for diverse populations of Coloradoans. Based on numerous studies, ethnicity is a central theme to inequitable access to the outdoors. However, we know that a number of populations do not share in the full benefit of the outdoors. This includes, but is not limited to, youth, racially and ethnically diverse groups, lower income populations, LGBTQ+ populations, and those on the gender spectrum. The creation of the program will increase access and opportunity for underserved youth and their families so they can experience Colorado’s open spaces, state parks, public lands, and other outdoor areas.
The new Outdoor Equity board will give out grants to programs that serve youth and their families by reducing barriers to the outdoors or offering environmental and outdoor-based educational opportunities. Funded by spillover dollars from the Colorado Lottery, the board will be awarding grants totaling $1.75 million in its first year and the grant amount will increase to $3 million in three years.
The coalition pushed hard for youth representation on the board and were successful in reserving three of the nine board seats for youth. Also, different than most boards created by the state, all board members receive a $200 per diem for board meetings.
Applications to become a board member will be accepted through Tuesday, August 31.
Apply to be a board member here.
If you have any questions about the board and its responsibilities, please reach out to
Matt Samelson at msamelson@dkfoundation.org.
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Updates from RESCHOOL
RESCHOOL learned early in its work that one of the biggest barriers to families accessing relevant and interesting learning are the financial resources needed to participate. They’ve been distributing learning dollars since 2015. After offering learning dollars to families in their Learner Advocate Network (LAN) over the years, and running the statewide Education Innovation Learning Dollars Fund last year, which generated $24,000 in learning dollars for families, they are running their largest fund to date through the Learning Dollars Initiative (LDI) which will distribute nearly $400,000 to 800 young people, thanks to donations they received this year. The LDI is designed to keep young people engaged and learning this summer in activities or through the purchasing of resources of their choosing on a platform they are piloting called ClassWallet.
Families in RESCHOOL’s Learner Advocate Network (LAN) with SCL Health are eligible to participate along with six community facing groups they are partnering with to support families navigate the learning dollars process and to connect RESCHOOL to learning providers in their regions: Transform Education Now (TEN) and Cultivando in the Denver Metro area, Mesa County Valley School District 51 in Grand Junction, Vilas School District Re-5 in southeastern Colorado, Harrison School District-2 in Colorado Springs, and the Roaring Fork School District in Carbondale.
Families must be connected to one of the community partners to receive funding. Approved families receive $500 per child ages 5-17 in their learning accounts that will be managed through ClassWallet. Applications are prioritized based on household income. RESCHOOL is capturing stories and evaluating the project throughout the summer. They will share their learnings sometime this fall.
RESCHOOL has a new team member! Learn more about Monica Villalobos here.
Learn more about RESCHOOL by visiting their website.
If you're not on the RESCHOOL email list, sign up here.
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Partner Spotlight:
Colorado Succeeds
Our friends at Colorado Succeeds recently came out with a new report examining the reality of marijuana tax revenues for public education in Colorado. The goal is to provide a comprehensive look at what the state’s marijuana industry does – and does not – contribute towards school funding so that policymakers and voters can make informed decisions about future tax and regulatory proposals for recreational marijuana in Colorado. You can read the full report here.
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Grantee Spotlight:
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
The Donnell-Kay Foundation supported the creation of a summer youth program by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Nathan Yip Foundation. The outdoor youth program took place August 2-6 and was an intergenerational community endeavor, with elders and department heads tapped to facilitate sessions like native plant identification, traditional cooking, Ute beadwork, and Ute language.
Designed by Ute Mountain Ute Youth Activity Coordinator Mark Wing, the program was based around outdoor activities with the goal of giving youth an outlet that was culturally relevant, educational, and healing. It was also a true outdoor camping experience for the youth, and numerous companies – Petzl, REI, Sierra Designs, Thermarest, Yeti, and Zealios – donated sleeping bags, tents, coolers, camp chairs, sleeping pads, sunscreen, camp tables, and headlamps.
Photo Credit:
By Chris Foran - Sleeping_Ute.jpg, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=442479
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