Frequently Asked Questions

Gary Community Ventures is an impermanent philanthropic organization committed to using all of its resources by 2035 to transform systems and build wealth for Colorado kids and families.

We aim to:

1. Transform systems to work better for kids and families by partnering with leaders in early childhood, K-12 education and economic mobility to reimagine and rebuild these systems to better serve kids and families.
2. Build family wealth through employee ownership, homeownership, individual financial accounts and shared real estate.

We grant catalytic dollars that drive toward long-lasting systems change and wealth building solutions in School Readiness, Youth Success and Family Economic Mobility. We do not fund ongoing operating costs and we do not fund capital construction. To learn more about what we fund in each area, please visit our Catalytic Grantmaking page.

Our founders did not believe we needed to exist in perpetuity to create enduring impact. They instead asked us to thoughtfully transfer all of our resources to the community by 2035 and ensure those resources make a lasting, transformative impact on Colorado kids and families. Having an end date challenges us to act with urgency and clarity so that every dollar we invest creates an impact that will outlast us.

Current grants will not be impacted by Gary’s plan to sunset and will continue to follow the terms of each respective grant agreement.

Providing large grants for endowments is not a cornerstone of our strategy in the near term. We want to be nimble and responsive to the challenges facing our community and will fund a variety of sustainable solutions — using all of our tools to tackle challenges from every angle for greater impact.

Unlike other sunsetting organizations, Gary is not spending down its resources. Instead, we are strategically working to transfer all of our resources to the community by 2035, ensuring those resources create long-lasting, transformative impact starting now.

Our founders set 2035 as a target to create urgency for driving systemic change and impact — and we intend to honor it. At the same time, our impermanence gives us the flexibility to adapt, listen to communities and follow their lead toward creating lasting solutions.

In order to leverage business, policy and philanthropy to create maximum impact in our community, we are organized into three separate entities: Gary Philanthropy, Gary Advocacy and Gary Ventures. Learn more about our organizational structure.

Our mission is to partner with our community to leverage business, policy and philanthropy 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.

We are 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.

To drive systemic change and build family wealth, we work to:

1. Advance innovative programs and policies
2. Invest in leadership
3. Change narratives

Learn More

We integrate four powerful tools across all strategies and impact areas in order to tackle complex challenges from multiple angles and create longer-lasting impact than any single approach could achieve alone. They include: Catalytic Grantmaking, Impact Investments, New Ventures and Policy & Advocacy.

We use our policy arm, Gary Advocacy, to design and invest in state and local policies that transform public systems, unlock public dollars and clear pathways for families to build generational wealth.