DENVER — The countdown to Juneteeth is on, and Scripps News Denver is highlighting one Colorado nonprofit focused on supporting and making sure the Black community has what it needs to thrive in the nonprofit space.
Black Resilience in Colorado Fund (BRIC) will mark its five-year anniversary this Juneteenth. It's leader, LaDawn Sullivan, said their mission is to create a safe pace for nonprofit leaders so they can learn and share what they know with each other.
Marius Finch, the executive director of The Ambassador Foundation, an organization that opens doors to higher education by serving students from traditionally underrepresented populations, told Scripps News Denver it's because of BRIC that his organization has been able to help underrepresented Colorado students get into college.
Finch said growing up in a single-parent household inspired him to not only want more for himself but also for his community.
"Without having that parental figure — the father figure — at home, that led me to want to want to do things a little bit different," Finch said. "I worked at Denver Housing Authority for a little while, also at an organization called the 'I Have a Dream' Foundation, which is a long-term dropout prevention program."
With a resume full of giving back, he continues to do just that through the Ambassador Foundation.
"So our mission is opening doors to higher education for all underrepresented Colorado students, but the ways that we do that (is through) our college advising," Finch said.
As the executive director of the organization, Finch — through BRIC — is able to gain skills to lead his organization through the Executive Directors of Color Institute workshop.
The free program is powered by the Black Resilience in Colorado Fund, which was started in 2020 following the death of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed which called for racial justice.
"So we created the Black Resilience in Colorado Fund, one to continue to support Black-led and Black-serving nonprofit organizations, not just to survive, but for black communities to thrive," Sullivan said.
So far, the organization has raised over $9 million, helping upwards of 400 organizations since its inception.
"We've been able to support nonprofit organizations that address health, housing, youth development, racial justice, that could be community organizing. And then we also have a space that we call emerging needs, because sometimes you don't know exactly what you need," Sullivan said.
As BRIC approaches their anniversary, they are move driven than ever to support and uplift the black community.
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