Our Place-Based Model
El Pomar’s Regional Partnership program divides the state into 11 regions, encompassing each of Colorado’s 64 counties. Each region has a council of local leaders who have a deep understanding of their communities. Regional council members come from a diverse range of backgrounds and represent the business, nonprofit, and public sectors. Each council member has an established record of community engagement and the ability to provide firsthand information about the needs in their region— they offer the kind of insights that can only come from living, working, and volunteering at a local level. Each council provides grant recommendations to El Pomar’s Trustees, with the potential for a combined annual impact of more than $2.7 million across the state.
20 Years of Community Informed Impact Across Colorado
In 2003, El Pomar committed to increasing its investment and relationships across the state by engaging local voices in its grant making through this unique Regional Partnerships program. Now more than 20 years in, this program has broadened the Foundation’s impact and deepened its connections throughout Colorado, becoming a cornerstone of the Foundation’s grant initiatives. Based on this success, the program has been enhanced with additional resources in 2025. Read more about this significant impact across Colorado.
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Our Impact Across Colorado
of community-informed grantmaking
in recommended grant dollars
recommended by regional councils
grantees
A Community-Informed Approach
El Pomar Foundation’s place-based grant making program, Regional Partnerships, seeks to help communities address local needs through community-informed grant making. El Pomar’s Trustees created the program in 2003 after recognizing rural communities were disproportionately supported by fewer grants than urban regions on the Front Range. The Trustees also understood local communities are best equipped to identify their own needs. With these principles in mind, the Foundation developed the Regional Partnerships model. Today, El Pomar divides the state into 11 regions and convenes local community leaders into regional councils for each, which recommend up to $200,000 in grants each year.
Now a distinctive cornerstone of our grant making program, this community-informed approach has established deep-rooted connections, dramatically increased the number of El Pomar grants in rural Colorado, and expanded our impact across the state.
A flagship program
Learn more about our community-informed approach to grant making.
Explore the 13th edition of the Foundation Giving in Colorado report, which overviews giving from private and community foundations to grant recipients throughout Colorado from 2019 – 2023.
Regional Partnerships connects local community leaders who share a desire to improve their communities. Through these relationships, El Pomar is able to more effectively invest in local communities across the state. Additionally, through events such as El Pomar’s bi-annual Statewide Meeting, regional council members from across Colorado connect with and learn from each other about their approaches to supporting creative solutions to community issues.
Regional Partnerships brings experts, leaders, and organizations together to learn about key issues in communities and facilitate meaningful connections to identify solutions.
El Pomar Trustees, staff, and Fellows guide and support the work of our regional councils. These regional teams travel regularly to the regions to support the work of our councils, and commit to fostering ongoing connections within their respective regions. This aids in relationship building and their understanding of the region’s needs and resources.
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If you have any questions regarding Regional Partnerships, please email us.
Read more about Regional Partnerships
- Regional Partnerships
- Blog Posts, Regional Partnerships
- Blog Posts, Regional Partnerships
