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How Do You Foster Belonging Among 6 Million People?

Friday, July 24, 2026 - 11:24 am

The Denver Foundation aims to identify what works in an ambitious statewide initiative to build connections across differences.

Before the Denver Foundation formally launched Belonging Colorado, one of the largest initiatives by a community foundation to build connections between Americans in this age of division, the foundation needed to ensure it could assess progress and learn from its work. It partnered with the Colorado Health Institute and the global nonprofit Over Zero to adapt and administer a Colorado-specific version of the Belonging Barometer, a survey created by Over Zero and the American Immigration Council to measure belonging. Colorado's adaptation broadens the tool to better understand belonging across the many lines of difference that shape communities statewide.

Results were mixed: about three in five Coloradans reported they felt like they belonged in the state, but only about half reported feeling belonging in their community. The barometer, which also gauged the influence of ideology, age, demographics, and other factors, will be repeated in 2027.

Participants in a chalk mural for Museo de Las Americas, The Denver Foundation

Bringing Coloradans Together

In 2024, the foundation launched a cohort of 15 nonprofits, community-based organizations, and local governments with projects and programs to bring people together. Red-blue schisms dominate headlines, but these grantees are tackling divisions of all kinds.

In an intergenerational housing development in the town of Montrose, a local affiliate of Court Appointed Special Advocates pairs young adults aging out of the foster system with seniors who have experienced homelessness. In Denver, the Iliff School of Theology is fostering dialogue and collaboration among leaders from various faith traditions to create a faith-based network and address community challenges. The African Leadership Group, which helps immigrants from Africa build careers in Colorado, is working to bridge differences between native Africans and African Americans.

In addition to grant support, the foundation provides training in bridge-building skills from the Greater Good Science Center, which also consults with each grantee through the two years of its project. In Steamboat Springs, the city government is leaning on those skills as it works to piece together affordable housing solutions after voters in 2024 nixed annexation of land for a significant housing project. One example: The city created a group of 40 residents with conflicting views on the project to wrestle with their disagreements and consider a path forward.

This model of civic participation makes room for the nuanced deliberation that’s often not possible in an up-or-down ballot box vote, says Brad Calvert, Steamboat Springs’s principal planner. “We needed to find areas of common ground, and our current structures weren't set up to do that.”

The city created a group of 40 residents with conflicting views on the project to wrestle with their disagreements and consider a path forward for affordable housing.

Investing in Local Leaders

Beyond supporting community-based projects, Belonging Colorado is also investing in leaders across sectors who can strengthen connection and belonging in their organizations and communities. Through training from the Greater Good Science Center, leaders are building skills to navigate differences, foster connection, and apply these skills in their own work.

The Downtown Denver Partnership — a nonprofit representing businesses, nonprofits, government partners, and civic leaders — incorporated bridging and belonging practices into its leadership program. Participants found that the training expanded their understanding of their leadership beyond the workplace.

“It helps you see that we are building skills to lead across differences in all aspects of your life,” says Sarah Fritzinger, senior manager of the group’s civic leadership programs.

One spinoff benefit: the partnership is funding a committee of its alumni from its leadership program to stand up similar programming for fellow graduates.

“That’s the kind of ripple effect we’re trying to generate with the leadership training,” says Erika Montes, the Denver Foundation program lead for Belonging Colorado.