Nathan Brown, Jr.
“What stuck out the most was when I was at Lauren’s house for our first intern gathering of the summer. Sara Anderson (a 2010 intern) and I were talking, and she mentioned that she’d received services from several nonprofit throughout her life. A light bulb went off for me: this holds up. If we didn’t have these resources, we would self-destruct. Where would the city be without these services provided by the sector?” Brown, who collaborated to start the Uniting Neighboring Initiative at University of Denver, where he is a junior, has political and philanthropic
aspirations and says his dreams are big. “I have a big heart, so when I say I want to be a philanthropist, you can bet on it. We are on a bad track as a species, and I want to be the one to help get us on a systematic path to betterment.” Kiara Calbart came from a single parent household in Park Hill. Divorced when Calbart was three, her mom raised her sister and her, as her dad struggled with addiction. “I’m fifth out of his six children, and the first to go to college,” she states. Kiara says that the role of nonprofits has been invaluable in her life. “I have been a part of Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation since 3rd grade. It has been instrumental in helping my mom expose us to things she would not have been able to—it’s opened many doors.” Calbart attended East High School where she was very involved. She recalls the power of mentoring provided by one special teacher, Tamara Rhone, and her basketball coach at East, Dwight Berry. “Coach worked with seven of us closely. I was the only one who graduated from college in four years and without children,” she states. Calbart, who graduated this past spring from Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles with a degree in
Kiara Calbart
Biochemistry, says she was profoundly influenced by the passing of her grandfather during her sophomore year in college. He died from complications of diabetes, which she believed stemmed from his lack of healthcare as a child. I want to use my medical degree to focus on inner city health – because I can help my community in a different capacity,” she says. “A lot of folks don’t want to go to doctor or don’t have options where they live. I look at granddad and what could have been prevented with adequate medical attention.”
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“My internship experience was incredible this summer,” she adds. “The environment was very family oriented at Colorado Center for the Blind. It was also very hectic, but I learned that it’s ok to not do everything at once. And the Executive Director, Julie Deden, was so often doing the same things as the rest of us—busy work, running errands—she was very accessible. I never want to be in an environment where you don’t have access to the ED.” Calbart says she gained a new group of supporters this summer. “. . . People I can got to for advice.” She says she knew Lauren back in high school, but never knew exactly what she did for a living. “She and Holly (Kingsbury, who is the Assistant Program Officer) showed me how to execute whatever you do in a professional manner.” She adds: “I knew professionals in Los Angeles, but didn’t have that same type of base here. This program has given me a new base network in the city where I want to affect change.” It seems as if a new love story has begun. Editor’s Note: Angelle Fouther is the Senior Communications Officer for The Denver Foundation. For more information on the Program, visit www.denverfoundation.org or call 303-300-1790.