The Summit Foundation Competitors

Hi neighbor, thanks for being a part of Summit County, a statutory county in Colorado. Incorporated in 1861, Summit County is home to approximately 30,000 full-time residents, with a visitor population that can boom to over 100,000 on weekends. While we're best known for world-class skiing and snowboarding, the County is also a hub for the arts and summer recreation. Over 85% of Summit County is your public lands, meaning there is space to explore the best of what the High Country has to offer. Fun fact: There are three Summit counties in the U.S. The other two are in Utah and Ohio!

Spencer and Julie Penrose established El Pomar in 1937 with a mission to enhance, encourage, and promote the current and future well-being of the people of Colorado. The philanthropy they set in motion across Colorado has grown today to more than $25 million annually through grants and community programming. Over thirty years ago, El Pomar’s Trustees realized we could contribute more than grant dollars to support the success and vitality of communities and nonprofits throughout Colorado. With the addition of leadership development and community engagement programming, we’ve taken a more active role in developing nonprofit leadership capacity as well as a leadership pipeline, been more in touch with community leaders throughout Colorado, and are better able to evaluate the impact we make across the state. In 1989, we created our first program, “Awards for Excellence,” and since then have added a variety of programs to build on this goal of going beyond grants to create a multiplying effect. Some have concluded over that time, but today, El Pomar operates or supports 13 programs, including three historic properties.

The mission of The Denver Foundation is to inspire people and mobilize resources to strengthen our community. The Denver Foundation is the product of 90 years of generous donors, hard working volunteers, and visionary grantees. In November 1925, community leaders came together to create an endowment to serve the future needs of Metro Denver. They recognized that community needs are always changing, and they wanted to give succeeding generations some resources to help meet future needs. Today it manages assets of more than $800 million; received $ 67 million in gifts last year (2015 not audited); and holds more than 1000 funds to date.