Staff at The Colorado Trust say a recent shift in the Denver-based foundation’s grantmaking has left equity-focused programs, and some of the people who run them, on edge. Leadership counters that the changes are part of a long-term plan to target investments where they believe they will most affect health outcomes. That tension has now spilled into public view as reporting and staff accounts have surfaced.
Trust narrows its mission to three focus areas
In its current strategy, the foundation is steering new grantmaking into three social determinants of health: food, housing, and mental and behavioral health. It has built a series of competitive initiatives around those themes. According to The Colorado Trust, its Community Resilience Initiatives list 84 grantees and a total funding amount of $47,358,635 for 2024–2027. The initiative page says the work is meant to help communities respond to economic, public health and social disruptions while strengthening local capacity.
Staff say equity is being sidelined
Several current employees, speaking anonymously, told reporters that during a recorded staff meeting President and CEO Don Mares said, "we are not doing that work directly and generally will not take public stands on racial or social justice efforts," and that staff who disagreed were offered a six-month severance package, as reported by the Denver Gazette. Those employees say the direction marks a major cultural change for a foundation that previously connected racial equity closely to health outcomes. The same reporting notes that some staff were questioned by a third-party contractor about speaking publicly about the foundation’s work.
Fund size and history
The Colorado Trust is a roughly 40-year-old foundation headquartered in Denver. Its financials page states that since its inception in 1985, the trust has provided more than $690 million in charitable support across Colorado and that it reported more than $22.4 million in charitable expenditures in 2024. The trust lists net assets of more than $548 million as of Dec. 31, 2024, underscoring its role as a major statewide funder. Those figures appear on The Colorado Trust.
Grantees say money is reaching communities, for now
The foundation and media coverage say that the current three-year awards have been extended. The organization announced on Feb. 5 that grants made for July 2024 through December 2026 would continue through next year, according to the Denver Gazette. That reporting highlighted Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8, which received $345,340 for 2024–26 and now expects roughly $480,000 after the continuation; district leaders told the Gazette the money is going toward family food bags and other basic supports. At the same time, the trust’s communications team told the paper the organization remains focused on serving historically excluded and systemically underserved populations: "The bottom line is we’ve been doing the same work now with the same focus areas for three years; we have not changed anything," a communications official said.
Why it matters
Philanthropic priorities help determine what kinds of work get funded in Colorado’s nonprofit ecosystem, and a move away from power-building or race-explicit strategies could narrow opportunities for organizations focused on systems change. For now, grantees offering direct services such as food distributions, housing supports and behavioral-health access are still seeing funds flow. Advocates, however, warn that deprioritizing race-explicit strategies may ultimately dull long-term equity gains.
