Grant decisions are made by our grant review committee, which is separate from our governing board. Our grant review committee is selected each grant making cycle by our governing board.

Our criteria for grant selection is listed on our website, on the How To Apply page if you scroll to the bottom section, which reads, “What is the scoring criteria?”.

All grant reviewers attend an orientation before applications are evaluated where they learn more about our grant review process, including how to use our rubric. After the orientation all grant reviewers individually submit scores using our rubric. Then, we have two meetings where in-depth discussions occur as a group to make final decisions.

Most award/scholarship/RFP/procurement selection committees in the public and private sector do not disclose reviewers for various reasons. As a private nonprofit entity, we are most comparable to the philanthropy sector which rarely, if ever,shares their reviewers personal information with grantees or applicants. For instance, the Denver Foundation does not not share their Strengthening Neighborhoods reviewers identifying information with applicants (simply out of respect for their volunteers and to maintain the integrity of their selection committees) I am sure that by now you understand the uniqueness of the GES CIF–a private nonprofit run by residents/neighbors (who were selected by residents/neighbors), granting funds to residents/neighbors. In our neighborhoods where people know each other much more intimately than in any other traditional grantor/grantee setting, reviewers/neighbors sense of safety becomes even more important. Our residents on our board understand and honor this responsibility and absorb any and all responsibility associated with grantmaking that results from protecting our primary asset, our neighbors.

To honor requests from reviewers/neighbors for protection and out of an abundance of caution, it is our policy to protect the names of the grant reviewer selection committee members. We also ask grant reviewers to keep their role confidential to honor the protection of the full body.

Our priorities when selecting grant reviewers are very clear and transparent. First and foremost we prioritize residents as reviewers, and we ensure representation across all three neighborhoods. Other priorities include: collegial/collaborative mindset, at least one person who has previously participated as a reviewer for continuity, monolingual Spanish speakers, youth, and elders.

All grant reviewers across all three grant making cycles are GES residents, work in GES, and/or have a historic relationship in these neighborhoods, which means their families once lived here but were displaced by rising costs of living due to huge development projects –like NWC–that prioritized profit over people. We know the reviewers' relationships to these neighborhoods both because they indicate them on their applications and because they are the literal neighbors of our governing board and staff. Our governing board as mentioned above is publicly named, are generational members of GES and fully committed to the responsibility of any external critiques or concerns about the integrity of our process.

Grant Cycle 1

Globeville Participants - 2
Elyria Participants - 1
Swansea Participants - 2

Grant Cycle 2

Globeville Participants - 2
Elyria Participants - 1
Swansea Participants - 3

Grant Cycle 3

Globeville Participants - 3
Elyria Participants - 3
Swansea Participants - 3

In our 5 years of existence, we have hosted over 60 public/open meetings providing ample opportunity for public engagement. We mail information each grant cycle to every single resident in GES. We have a robust website and social media presence. We attend nearly every community meeting in GES. Additionally, we provide an annual report to the National Western Center Authority and make the majority of that information publicly available on our website on our Commitment to Transparency page and we have our regular meetings with you, our councilperson who has a newsletter for the district and we share the same information with both of our at-large council representatives for their respective newsletters.

Continued support from your office and the city to build the capacity to host more public meetings would be welcomed. Specifically, this would look like funding for more staff, food, stipends, tech tools, etc.

The slides here are from a presentation from the National Western Center Authority in 2017 providing potential examples of the GES Community Investment Fund. We share these to illustrate the point that from the beginning of the CIF and from the Authority and City, the CIF has been conceptualized as more than a small grant making fund.

When a fund has millions of dollars it is able to invest in community infrastructure development that neighbors in these communities have asked for for years - i.e. affordable housing, child care centers, youth centers, senior centers, a grocery store, and arts center and more.

We continue to operate our grant making program as we know it supports our neighbors in developing their brilliant ideas for their communities. There is no evidence to support that we have prioritized a revolving loan fund over the grant making fund, as the majority of the funds received still go toward the grant making program. Though, we do intend to grow into a multimillion dollar fund in order to create a longer lasting impact in our communities, through community owned and controlled assets, like housing, child care centers, and small businesses, as was the original intention.

A revolving fund with accessible capital is a key component of a democratic community investment model—one that prioritizes long-term, community-owned wealth building. By investing in local housing and small businesses, this approach ensures that resources circulate within the neighborhood, with the highest and first returns benefiting GES residents. Rather than extracting value, a democratic fund reinvests it—creating a cycle where community members both receive and generate economic opportunity.

This model supports small businesses in building assets, strengthens local entrepreneurship, and reduces reliance on inconsistent external funding sources, such as philanthropic or government programs that often overlook cooperatives and community-based enterprises. Importantly, a revolving fund is not about promoting burdensome debt; it is about expanding access to fair, low-cost capital for residents who have historically been excluded from traditional banking systems. By doing so, it helps individuals build credit, establish financial stability, and participate more fully in the local economy.

Ultimately, this approach shifts the focus from short-term direct services to long-term economic justice—empowering the community to invest in itself, retain wealth locally, and shape its own financial future.

There are currently 6 board members and their names are publicly listed on our website.

The original 4 board members were seated by the Honorable Debbie Ortega and Candi CdeBaca. Additional board members have been voted on by the current board. Priorities for board members may shift each year based on the strategic direction of the CIF's work, what skillsets are currently represented, and what the CIF board is actively seeking. Our central priority is to have board members who live in GES and can provide visionary, strategic, and operational experience to this work. The call for board members is public.

Currently 100% of the board lives in GES. Members agree to serve a two-year term, renewable upon mutual agreement. Members may step down at any time with notice to the Board Chair.

GES Community Investment Fund board members are committed to advancing the Fund’s mission by centering community voice, equity, and shared decision-making. Members are expected to actively participate in meetings and community engagement, uphold high ethical standards, avoid conflicts of interest, and ensure responsible stewardship of resources. They serve as ambassadors of the Fund, supporting transparency, accountability, and collaborative leadership while fostering inclusive dialogue and honoring the lived experiences of GES residents. In turn, the Fund is committed to providing transparent communication, ongoing support, and an inclusive environment that empowers members to effectively guide community-driven investments.

We are fiscally sponsored by Colorado Nonprofit Development Center. We currently operate under a comprehensive sponsorship model which means the GES CIF is a part of the fiscal sponsor’s corporate and legal entity. The fiscal sponsor handles everything from HR and legal to finance and grants. Because they're providing all these services (and the staff and systems to deliver them), fees typically run 10-15%.

As we grow greater capacity, we hope to reduce these fees and manage more of our own operations.

Organizations where CIF Board members participate (they may be founders, employees, or board members) have received grants from the Community Investment Fund. The selection of these grants for these organizations was made by the grant review committees, which as mentioned above, are separate from the governing board to reduce conflicts of interest.

Board members should not be and are not drafting and submitting applications. In previous instances where organizations that received funding that were connected to board members, board members created distance, meaning they were not involved in drafting, finalizing, or submitting applications. Board members do not submit letters of support.

100% of our grant dollars stay within the Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea neighborhoods. All granted projects must occur within Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea, and must have at least the support - if not hopefully led by - GES neighbors.

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