Dear friends of Prosperity Denver Fund,
As someone who has loved school since the first day of kindergarten, August has always felt like the beginning of the year to me. Thus, it is fitting that I started my tenure here at Prosperity Denver Fund on August 1st. After four days on the job,I’m writing this message to our community with the same kind of excitement I always felt in a new classroom, eager and ready for learning and growth.
Prosperity Denver Fund is an organization that has achieved so much in its start-up phase—building a network of more than 50 program partners and distributing more than $31 million helping well above 10,000 Denver students as they consider their post-secondary futures. I’m already so impressed with the staff team, including Amy Franklin, Korrine Salas Young, and Brian Labra Vergara who have been wonderfully led by interim executive director Lauren Sisneros, and the incredible board of directors with the incomparable Theresa Peña as chair.
Still, like any young organization, Prosperity Denver Fund has challenges. Our unique business model derives from a vote by Denver residents and a subsequent ordinance that lays out a complex process for distributing funds. Our job is to make that process work for our supported organizations and our community, so that we can help as many students as equitably and expeditiously as possible. This team is up to this challenge,and you will see great strides on many fronts in the coming year.
To our supported organizations and community partners, I expect you to hold us accountable. I look forward to getting to know you, to learning about your important work, and to hearing from you about how we can be most responsive to the needs of Denver’s students.
The future of Denver—our collective future—is in the hands of the young people we support. They will be the leaders who build the Denver of 2030, 2050, and beyond. I look forward to ensuring that we do our very best for them through Prosperity Denver Fund.
~ Rebecca Arno
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About the Denver Prosperity Fund
In 2018, Denver voters passed a ballot initiative known as Prosperity Denver. The ordinance called for a 0.08% sales tax (less than one cent on $10) which would be distributed in the form of reimbursements to nonprofits providing scholarships to Denver students. Prosperity Denver Fund, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, manages and distributes this funding, contributing millions each year to eligible organizations.
