Gary Community Ventures, founded by Sam and Nancy Gary, is a philanthropic organization that combines the power of business, policy and philanthropy to increase opportunity for Colorado kids and families.

We’re inspired by the daring spirit of our late founder, Sam Gary, who ventured into the unknown to create opportunity for those who need it most more than 40 years ago. He did more than use his good fortune to invest into the community. With great humility, he worked closely with the community and his partners, in business, policy and philanthropy, to increase opportunities for kids and families. Today, alongside his wife, Nancy, we’re finishing what Sam started, and our new name, and logo remind us that we’re one Gary team, venturing together with our community and partners to reshape the arc of opportunity for Colorado kids and families.

In order to leverage business, policy and philanthropy to increase opportunity, we are organized as both a private foundation (Gary Philanthropy) a corporation (Gary Ventures) and a policy arm (Gary Advocacy).

Anyone can access Gary’s financial records online. Should you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a member of our finance team at info@garycommunity.org

Our mission is to partner with our community to leverage business, policy and philanthropy, working together, to reshape the arc of opportunity for Colorado kids and families. Our vision is that all children in Colorado have the opportunity to grow up healthy and reach their full potential.

We LISTEN with humility to our community, partners and one another, learning together to drive action.
We DARE to be bold, driven by the urgency our kids and families deserve.
We DELIVER breakthrough solutions and never do it alone.

Gary is committed to understanding the systems of racial oppression faced by our communities. 

We acknowledge our individual and collective privilege and actively incorporate diverse perspectives to advance racial equity in everything we do to create a more just Colorado.

We use our resources to make impact investments, fund policy change, provide philanthropic grants, and incubate new social change solutions through our Venture Lab. In partnership with our community, we bring these tools together to break down systemic barriers and build breakthrough solutions that improve outcomes in the areas of School Readiness, Youth Success and Family Economic Mobility. Learn more about our approach here.

School Readiness: Because all kids deserve a foundation for a healthy life, we aim to reduce preterm births, ensure healthy development for infants and toddlers, and guarantee children enter kindergarten ready to learn.

Youth Success: Because all young people deserve the skills, support, and strong relationships to chart their future, we aim to increase academic skills, advance youth wellbeing and expand opportunities for post-secondary success.

Family Economic Mobility: Because all families deserve to have the economic stability and mobility needed to raise thriving children, we aim to develop solutions that help families grow income, cut expenses and build wealth.

Across all three outcome areas, we prioritize partnering with organizations that have a focus in our outcome areas and a commitment to advancing the promise and potential of kids and families from low-income backgrounds and BIPOC communities.

Our commitment that all children have the opportunity to grow up healthy and reach their full potential calls us to focus our resources on communities that are most impacted by systemic inequities.  While our policy and venture work often has statewide impact, our programmatic investments focus specifically on children and families in Denver, Arapahoe, Adams, and Jefferson counties.

We use our resources to make impact investments, fund policy change, provide philanthropic grants, and incubate new social change solutions through our Ventures Lab. We bring these tools together to break down systemic barriers and build breakthrough solutions that improve life outcomes for generations of Coloradans. Learn more about our approach here.

Because part of Sam Gary’s vision was to ensure that all our assets be managed in pursuit of our mission and values, we leverage the power of our entire balance sheet to catalyze market-driven solutions that create long-term impact. To achieve this, we deploy our capital through Mission Investments and Sustainable & Impact Investments. Learn more about how we use our capital here.

We’re on a quest to break down the biggest barriers that inhibit opportunity and scale and deliver breakthrough solutions for kids and families by 2035, when we will have invested all our assets into the community to achieve long-term sustainable impact.

Like our founder Sam Gary, we’re not afraid to venture into the unknown to set and deliver ambitious goals, but we never do it alone. We’re co-creating every step of the way, leveraging our community’s insight, our co-founders’ experience, and our own versatile toolbox of human and financial capital.

Systems of racial oppression continue to keep promising communities of color from the opportunities that have helped others reach their highest potential at faster rates. Alongside our community, we reshape the path of opportunity by breaking down barriers and delivering breakthrough solutions with the urgency our community deserves.