When El Pomar Foundation initiated the Regional Partnerships program nearly a decade ago, the reason was clear. Reaching rural areas of the state was crucial to Colorado’s future and the Foundation needed a reliable method of understanding the needs of diverse and far-flung communities across the state. Convening advisory boards of local leaders just made sense. These were the people who new what was going on in their own backyards. They already had a demonstrated track-record of getting things done. And they provided firsthand knowledge to the Foundation’s trustees who were largely based in the urban areas of Colorado Springs and Denver.

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