Mile High Nonprofit (Issue #4 | Q1 |2023

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2022 Went Way Too Fast!

There’s a poem by Ebony Black, an American poet, that says in its third stanza, “Time can pass quickly, there’s never enough. You miss when it was easy; now life is too tough.”

Yep! That about sums up 2022 for us. It went by way to fast!

The poem is called “Time,” and is about the loss and gain we experience as time ticks ever onward. It speaks of how time can slip away if we are not careful. So, like others around the city, the D-ONE team is reflecting on the past year. We’re thinking hard about the lessons we learned and how we can use what we learned in the year ahead. And yes, life continues to be tough for so many Denver residents. BUT, we are thankful for the nonprofit sector that is always there to help the city meet so many of their challenges.

In looking back at 2022, we learned there is still much work to do when it comes to improving the internal processes we use to engage the nonprofit sector. From centralizing the city’s grant opportunities, to streamlining and improving the contracting process nonprofits are telling us we need to do better if we mean it when we say they are our “partners.”

The good news about 2022 was that we received needed funding (via ARPA/American Rescue Plan Act) to provide nonprofits with technical assistance and even more funding to help with their recoveries from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As our team looks ahead to 2023, we do so with excitement and caution. We’re excited about the new programs we will be putting forward and the expanded capacity our office will have to implement that work. We’re also excited about the impact our work will have on the city as we roll out the recommendations from the year and a half-long Nonprofit Task Force. But as new city leadership is elected this year, we are cautious about the support for the nonprofit sector as a new mayor is selected and a new executive director is appointed for the Human Rights & Community Partnerships Agency (HRCP), which is where D-ONE lives. For the past twelve years, we have had tremendous champions for the nonprofit sector in Mayor Michael Hancock and Derek Okubo. We will look on with great anticipation and optimism regarding the passion for the nonprofit sector by the new leadership as they come aboard mid-year.

As we double down on our efforts, we will take to heart the final words of Ms. Black’s poem that ends by saying, “Time is wasted every day; spent on moments that fade away. So think carefully, think wisely about what you will do; With the limited time that is given to you.”

Cheers, Wil

Mayor

Michael B. Hancock

Executive Director

Human Rights & Community Partnerships

Derek Okubo

Contributing Writers

Ava McCall (Intern)

Tiffany Le (Intern)

Advisors

Wil Alston, Director

Dr. Krystina Finlay

Nydia Gomez

Jessica Jorgensen

Tiffany Le (Intern)

Julia Mahoney

Ava McCall (Intern)

Dr. Ken Seeley

For other public accommodations requests/concerns related to a disability, please contact: disabilityaccess@denvergov.org

D-ONE TEAM

INSIDE HRCP

ANNUAL CELEBRATION

On Friday, January 13th, Derek Okubo received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Award for his leadership in engaging the community and for his advocacy of human rights. Okubo, the Executive Director for Denver Human Rights & Community Partnerships, received the award along with several other giants in the Denver community, including: Music Pioneer Charles Burrell, Internationally acclaimed Sculptor—Ed Dwight, Hate Free Colorado a coalition dedicated to countering hate crimes in Colorado , internationally acclaimed artist Emanuel Martinez, the Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce a longtime economic development advocate for the Native American community, and Trailblazer Award recipient Charleszine Nelson, the Head Librarian at Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library and a key steward of Denver’s African American history and culture.

Each year, the MLK Business Awards are presented to individuals, corporations and non-profit organizations for their exceptional community service endeavors in honor and memory of Dr. King. In 2007, the Trailblazer Award was added to recognize pioneers in the civil rights movement in Colorado.

Since 2011, Derek has served as Mayor Hancock’s Executive Director to the Human Rights & Community Partnerships Agency. In that role, Derek has grown the agency to become an irreplaceable asset for the city when it comes to engaging the residents—who are the city’s customers! As Derek ends his tenure after three terms in the position, the new mayor will be hard pressed to find a better advocate for human rights and community partnerships.

Congratulations, Derek!

MEET THE D-ONE TEAM

Wil Alston, Director

Wil is beginning his 4th year as the D-ONE Director. Prior to this position, he spent over 40 years serving as a nonprofit leader, an entrepreneur, a government administrator, and as a communication/ public relations professional, including senior roles with Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor Michael Hancock.

Dr. Kyrstina Finlay, Evaluation Specialist

Krystina has over 20 years of experience in program evaluation and research and has a doctorate in Social Psychology. She has published more than 15 peer-reviewed scientific articles on behavior prediction, health psychology, and cross-cultural psychology.

Nydia Gomez, Operations Assistant

Nydia is a welcomed “informal” member of the D-ONE Team. She is a native of Texas and has lived in Colorado for just over a year. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University where she majored in international politics and diplomacy and minored in sociology and public health.

Jessica Jorgensen, Contract Administrator

Jessica has over a decade of government experience and expertise in contract management and administration, community engagement, process improvement, and data and research. She received her Master’s Degree in Public Policy and her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Denver.

Tiffany Le, Intern

Tiffany recently graduated from the University of Denver where she double majored in international business and marketing. She joined the D-ONE team in September where she has led or supported a variety of marketing and special projects aimed at furthering D-ONE's strategic goals.

Julia Mahoney, Program Manager

Julia joined the D-ONE Team two years ago as an intern and is now the program manager for the Energy Efficiency Program. She has an affinity for learning and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Global Mental Health, and a Graduate Certificate in Program Evaluation.

Ava McCall, Intern

Ava is a senior at Colorado State University, double majoring in political science and communication studies with a minor in women's studies. Ava is heavily involved in the CSU community through their student government and the Associated Students of Colorado State University.

Dr. Ken Seeley, Collaboration & Evaluator Specialist

Ken currently serves as a collaboration and evaluation specialist for D-ONE. Prior to his work with the city, Ken served for 20 years as the president/ceo of the Colorado Foundation for Families and Children, a nonprofit partnership with five Colorado state agencies.

THE YEAR IN REVIEW (WHAT WE DID IN 2022)

Community Solar Garden

In partnership with Energy Outreach Colorado and Xcel Energy, D-ONE brought a Community Solar Program to low-income residents, and nonprofits serving those communities in Denver.

• $350K grant from D-ONE

• $243K total bill savings for households

• 302 households and nonprofits served

• Media Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/ news/arapahoe-community-solar-energy-gardenpanels-help-low-income-residents/

Energy Efficiency Program

As part of the Xcel Energy Franchise Agreement with the City and County of Denver, D-ONE has distributed and managed approximately two million dollars annually, totaling over 30 million dollars to date. These funds are used to reduce the impact of costly energy bills for nonprofits and low-income individuals.

• $1,700,000 allocated for the program

Funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and fiscally sponsored by Mile High United Way (MHUW), this project utilized eight nonprofits to increase the number of Black, Indigenous, and people of color who received vaccines.

• 65.3% of individuals identified as Hispanic/Latino

• $347,987.84 funding for projects

• 4,597 vaccines given

Save Green, Be Green Conference

Designed for nonprofits and community faith ganizations, the conference focused on money facility planning, conservation efforts, and environmental management.

•

The Commission Legislative Committee (CLC) is a group of representatives from each commission that track legislation at the state level and lead their respective commissions' policy advocacy efforts.

• Created a standard of work document for the CLC process and procedures.

• Lead individual commissions with their local policy and advocacy efforts

Collaborative Impact Fund of Denver

ONE contributed $250,000 from our American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant to the Metro Denver Nonprofit Loan Fund. These zero-interest loans provide an opportunity to combine financial and technical assistance to help strengthen individual nonprofit organizations.

• 8 nonprofits were funded with the city’s contribution in this first round

The Collaborative Impact Fund of Denver (CIFD) was developed by D-ONE in 2022 as a new community philanthropy base aligned with city priorities and created to fill gaps and build supportive partnerships for the nonprofit sector in Denver and the residents they serve.

• CIFD received an ARPA grant of $1,000,000 to support nonprofits in Denver for three years.

D-ONE Nonprofit Task Force

A report on the engagement of the nonprofit sector with the City & County of Denver was completed in 2022 and will be rolled out in Q1 2023.

Key recommendations from the year-and-a-half-long

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THE YEAR IN REVIEW Cont’d

effort includes:

• Streamlining and improving the contracting process for nonprofits

• Expanding the authority and funding of D-ONE to centralize and manage the city’s nonprofit body of work

• Centralizing grant opportunities available to nonprofits, and

HRCP Contract Management

D-ONE is home to HRCP’s Contracts Manager. As a result, our department is critical in the management and process improvement of the contracting process for the agency. In 2022, HRCP produced the follow contractsrelated results:

107 contracts, purchase orders, and supplier invoice requests were managed and processed for a total of $16,069,714

Average Contract Execution Time: 35 days

Created & Executed 36 contracts

LESSONS WE LEARNED IN 2022

federal funds for HRCP.

• D-ONE secured $1,264,770 ARPA for various programs for its own department.

• D-ONE lent a hand in coordinating approximately $290k to help the Denver Police Department address violent crime in identified hot spots across the city.

• $500K went to the Nonprofit Vaccine Impact Project.

• The Division of Disabilities Rights and JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc. were also able to secure $375K and $100K, respectively, with D-ONE's help.

1. As with the airline industry—”put your own mask on first!” Meaning, make sure we are tending to our own selves and programs because we can best help the agency when our department is at its best and strongest.

2. “Don’t forget about the little things,” like the building of a nonprofit registry or getting this e-mag out consistently. The little things not only matter, but sometimes reflect how we do everything else.

3. “Use your team!” There is so much to do around this nonprofit advocacy work. Big impact can only be made by using the team to its fullest.

WHO WE SERVED

ORGANIZATION

African Chamber of Commerce

Asian Girls Ignite

Collaborative Impact Fund of Denver

Colorado Changemakers Collaborative

Commun, Barton Institute for Community Action

Convivir

Cultura Chocolate/The Pomm LLC

Denver Children's Advocacy Center

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

El Grupo Vida

El Semanario

Energy Outreach Colorado

Energy Outreach Colorado

Energy Resource Center

Extreme Community Makeover

Families Against Violent Acts

FAX Partnerships

From the Heart

Greater Denver Cares

Groundwork Denver

Homies Unidos

Hope Communities

Iglesia Amistad

Inner City Health Center

Juntos 2 College

KAPS Foundation

Kenzie's Causes

Ktone Cares

Life-line Colorado

Lutheran Family Services

PROGRAM NAME

FEMA Vaccine Project

Nonprofit Rental Assistance Program

Monthly Admin Support

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

Nonprofit Rental Assistance Program

Sponsorship

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

FEMA Vaccine Project

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

FEMA Vaccine Project

Energy Efficiency Program

Monthly Energy bills paid for 1200 households in arrears

Energy Efficiency Program

Hot Spots Program, RSJI Mini-Grant Program

Hot Spots Program

Hot Spots Program

Nonprofit Rental Assistance Program & DPD Hot Spots Program

Nonprofit Rental Assistance Program

Energy Efficiency Program

Nonprofit Rental Assistance Program

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

FEMA Vaccine Project

FEMA Vaccine Project

Nonprofit Rental Assistance Program, RSJI Mini-Grant Program

Sponsorship

FEMA Vaccine Project

Sponsorship

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

WHO WE SERVED CONT

ORGANIZATION

Make a Chess Move

Mi Casa Resource Center

Mile High Youth Corp

Montbello Organizing Committee

Denver Nonprofit Engagement Commission

Porter-Billups Leadership Academy

Radian

RawTools

SafeHouse Denver

SarCO (Salvadorenos Residiendo en Colorado)

Servicios de la Raza

SmartBiz

Sonic Guild (formerly Black Fret)

The Martin Foundation

Thriving Families

Vision Pura

VIVE Wellness

PROGRAM NAME

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

Sponsorship & FEMA Vaccine Project

Energy Efficiency Program

FEMA Vaccine Project

Monthly Admin Support

Sponsorship

Nonprofit Rental Assistance Program

Hot Spots Program

Hot Spots Program

FEMA Vaccine Project

FEMA Vaccine Project

Hot Spots Program

Sponsorship

Hot Spots Program

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

FEMA Vaccine Project

RSJI Mini-Grant Program

Reach Sponsorship & Start-up Consultation

Sunshine Home Share

Consumption Literacy

Affordable housing for older adults

Zero Waste composting for community gardens- Connection Session

WHO WE PARTNERED WITH

ORGANIZATION

Alchemy Strategy Group

Barefoot PR

City Attorney's Office

Colorado Health Foundation

Colorado Trust

Community First Foundation

Denver Foundation

Denver Human Services

Denver Nonprofit Engagement Commission

Denver Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency

PROGRAM NAME

Task Force Recommendations

Nonprofit Strong Campaign & Collaborative Impact Fund of Denver

Nonprofit Contracting Report & New Mini Grant Program

Collaborative Impact Fund

Collaborative Impact Fund

Metro Denver Loan Fund

Metro Denver Loan Fund

Energy Efficiency (LEAP) Navigator & Data Mapping (Dr. Piscopo)

Nonprofit Task Force

Save Green|Be Green Conference & Solar Garden & Energy Efficiency Advisory Board

Denver Police Department Hot Spots Program

Energy Outreach Colorado

Energy Efficiency (LEAP) Navigator & Save Green|Be Green Conference & Energy Efficiency Advisory Board, MF and NEEP Energy Efficiency Programs

Energy Resource Center Energy Efficiency Program

Envirnomental Protection Agency

Grid Alternatives

Save Green|Be Green Conference & Solar Garden & Energy Efficiency Advisory Board

2023 Save Green | Be Green; Energy Advisory Board

Groundwork Denver Energy Efficiency Program

Jewish Family Services

Save Green|Be Green Conference & Solar Garden

Mayor's Office New Mini Grant Program

Metropolitan State University

Mile High United Way

Mile High Youth Corps

Nonprofit Finance Fund

Nonprofit Learning Lab

Office of Councilman Jolon Clark

Peak Academy

Radian

Rose Foundation

Tradewinds PR

Waste Management

Xcel Energy

Graduate School of Social Work Class

FEMA Vaccine Project

Energy Efficiency Advisory Board, Energy Efficiency Program

Metro Denver Loan Fund

2022 Save Green|Be Green Conference

Save Green|Be Green Conference & Solar Garden

Task Force Recommendations & D-ONE Planning

Providing and managing nonprofit shared spaces

Metro Denver Loan Fund

D-ONE marketing and events

Save Green|Be Green Conference & Energy Efficiency Advisory Board

Save Green|Be Green Conference & Solar Garden & Energy Efficiency Advisory Board

2023 OUTLOOK

As we settle into the new year, the D-ONE Team will be looking to:

1. Increase the number of nonprofits doing business with the city

2. Secure non-city funding to deepen and broaden the work of the office

3. Continue to raise awareness of the work and impact of the office

4. Establish D-ONE as a valuable contributor in the growth and sustainability of Denver’s nonprofit ecosystem, and

5. Further explore and implement additional ways to have greater impact with our Energy Efficiency Program

As we pursue these desired outcomes, we will continue to utilize our CURATE | CONVENE | CAPACITY BUILDING MODEL where we curate information and reports for the “do-it-yourselfers, we convene folks to collaborate and explore solutions to challenges our nonprofits face, and we invest in the capacity building of nonprofits to strengthen their ability to deliver mission.