Conservation Colorado Education Fund
The Future is Worth the Fight
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report sounding an “international Code Red for humanity.” Their message was clear: the climate change crisis is here. Inaction is not an option. Though the report’s findings are sobering, they were hardly surprising to those of us in Colorado who have already been seeing dirty air pollution and climate change taking a serious toll. In the face of unprecedented wildfires, drought, and other natural disasters that Colorado is already experiencing, there has never been a time when our work, and our leadership on climate, conservation, and environmental justice, has been more urgently needed. There is no time to waste in cutting Colorado’s carbon footprint and protecting our most impacted communities from pollution and climate change, ensuring our lands and water are healthy and accessible for all Coloradans, building a more racially just and equitable environmental movement, and advocating for enviornmental policies.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Climate & Clean Energy
We are working to ensure Colorado passes bold and racially equitable policies that will cut greenhouse gas emissions and clean up air pollution, especially in our most impacted communities, and transition Colorado to cleaner energy sources and cleaner transportation options for a healthier future. Our goal is to ensure Colorado meets its climate goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at least 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, and in doing so serve as a national example.
Lands, Water, & Wildlife
Ensuring healthy natural lands, rivers, and watersheds is crucial to protect wildlife and ensure our climate resiliency against droughts and other natural disasters. To date, about 10% of Colorado’s lands have been conserved, but with public awareness and support overwhelmingly behind the need to address climate change and protect our treasured biodiversity, now is the moment to ramp up our efforts to achieve the science-backed goal of conserving 30% of our lands and water by 2030. This “30 by 30” goal is woven through our policy, advocacy, and educational programming.
Communities & Justice
True progress on climate change, water scarcity, air pollution, and land conservation cannot occur without leadership from Black, Indigenous, and People of color (BIPOC) communities who are disproportionately affected by climate and pollution impacts. CCEF works to support leaders of color and dismantle systemic barriers to accessing a clean, healthy environment enacted through decades of environmentally unjust policies. We work to hold polluters accountable for their actions that disproportionately impact BIPPOC and lower-income communities; to ensure that climate and clean energy policies will specifically benefit these disadvantaged and disenfranchised communities; and to uplift authentic voices from historically underrepresented groups when it comes to climate, outdoor access, and land conservation policies.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of organization members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We rely on our dedicated members to be a strong voice for their communities and hold their decision-makers accountable. Our members’ passion for Colorado is our organization’s most valuable resource.
Number of Colorado businesses engaged in environmental activism
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Members of our Colorado Outdoor Business Alliance are community leaders and active environmental advocates wielding their influence and passion for protecting the natural environment.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
As a state-level environmental advocacy and education organization, CCEF works to secure a better environment and future for all 5.7 million Coloradans across the state with specific emphasis on BIPOC and low-income communities disproportionately affected by climate change and environmental injustice. CCEF has a strong focus on advocating for and driving policy campaigns that champion air quality and a renewable energy future. CCEF is working to help pass policies that will close the gaps in our state’s ability to regulate industries and protect the public from toxic air contaminants; fight for a more rapid transition to clean electric vehicles that can be aligned with renewable energy development; work beyond electrification to address the environmental justice issues at the core of city planning and land use which encourages the necessity and use of vehicular travel; and influence policy levers that change the economic equation of the industry to one that disincentivizes fossil fuel production and is positive for climate, air quality, and people.
Through our environmental justice advocacy and our Protégete program for Latinx leadership, we’ll support innovative leadership and policy solutions to protect Colorado’s Latinx communities, other communities of color, and lower-income communities from environmental harm and help sustain community resiliency in the face of climate change. Together, we will be a more impactful, more powerful, and more innovative movement for rapid change.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We are a statewide organization that works at the intersection of policy and people to advocate for solutions to environmental problems by organizing communities and influencing decision-makers. This means that we:
Organize and mobilize. Powerful interests are against us. They have virtually unlimited resources, the advantage of the status quo, and are primarily concerned with gaining and maintaining power and profits. But while they have the money, we have the people. We seek to represent, build relationships with, and cultivate leaders in communities across the state who believe that things can be better, that together we can build power and create great change, and that a healthy environment is critical to our way of life. To do this we use digital, media, community organizing, and public education strategies to build widespread awareness and support as well as engage Coloradans to be powerful activists for climate and environmental action.
Advocate. We work to influence people, policies, structures, and systems in order to bring about change. We build relationships and communicate with decision-makers and others in power to persuade them to act. Fundamentally we advocate for systemic change via laws and policies in order to ensure that our climate, air, land, water, and communities are safe and healthy today and for future generations.
Build coalitions. We bring Colorado’s environmental and environmental justice movement together for unprecedented strategic coordination to win policy campaigns. This also means engaging and uplifting diverse voices in support of our efforts, including business voices through our Colorado Outdoor Business Alliance (which includes over 275 business leaders across Colorado who come together for climate and environmental advocacy), and Latinx voices through our Protégete program.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Conservation Colorado Education Fund is a recognized leader and frequent coalition convener in the Colorado environmental community. We often help to lead on ensuring that the environmental community is aligned, well-organized, and speaks with a unified voice; and that we have the necessary decision-maker accountability, coalition, and organizing and communications efforts to achieve our goals. We also have dedicated capacity for advancing policy campaigns that are specifically responsive to the issues faced by Latinx and communities of color, and locally-focused campaigns driven by grassroots and social justice needs from communities of color, which means that we also help ensure that these perspectives are highlighted and centered in our broader policy coalitions.
For example, in 2021 we built a powerful and unprecedented coalition of 100+ environmental, environmental justice, youth, outdoor recreation, business, social justice, and other groups committed to seeing equitable climate policy passed in Colorado.
We are also the largest statewide environmental organization, with staff on the ground in Denver, Grand Junction, Durango, the Roaring Fork Valley, Carbondale, and Pueblo, which allows us to elevate local perspectives from across Colorado to state-level policy and decision-making processes.
Our 50 year history of leadership on Colorado environmental issues gives us a strong foundation to achieve our bold goals for 2022 and beyond.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over our 50+ year history, some of our top accomplishments have included:
-Establishing Colorado as a national leader on climate policy, and the first oil and gas producing state other than California to have science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets in statute;
-Establishing permanent protections for close to 4 million acres of Colorado's iconic and invaluable public lands;
-Generating a record-breaking 30,000 public comments to ensure that Colorado’s state Water Plan included strong goals for conservation and protecting our rivers;
-Graduating over 250 Promotorxs from our Protégete program to build a stronger, more equitable climate and environmental movement that prioritizes Latinx issues and elevates Latinx leadership.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Conservation Colorado Education Fund
Board of directorsas of 12/22/2022
Helen Gemmill
Philanthropic and non-profit consulting
Sue Anderson
Community Leader
Ernest House, Jr.
Keystone Policy Center
JW Postal
Nikola Power
Alex Sánchez
Voces Unidas de las Montañas
Aaron Hoffman
Ph.D, Real Estate Investor
Rudy Verner
Partner with Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti LLP
Patti Wells
Former General Counsel, Denver Water
Mitsu Iwasaki
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/11/2019GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.