are rising, renewing, thriving, transforming and impacting the lives of many BIPOC Coloradans. I am honored and privileged to lead the RTL Foundation and the BNDC as we set off on this journey of elevating BIPOC nonprofits and social entrepreneurs.” Members’ Journey to, and at, the BNDC BNDC Member organizations work across a spectrum of missions in BIPOC communities throughout Denver and Colorado including in Economic and Workforce Development, Entrepreneurship, Community Building, Food Access, Mental and Behavioral Health, Education, Leadership Development, The Arts, among others, and are themselves engines of economic development, employing more than 100 BIPOC professionals, and with cumulative revenues exceeding $10 million dollars annually. These nonprofit businesses served more than 185,000 predominantly BIPOC Coloradans in 2023, and are projected to serve 300,000 Coloradans by the end of 2025. Members are selected via a competitive application process and receive year-round capacity building programming in such areas as business development; strategic and organizational planning; finance and human resources; fundraising and grants management; mentorship and access to volunteers; marketing and communications; developing their org’s pitch; broadcasting their org’s mission and vision via professionally produced podcasts at the Foundation’s on-site, streaming media studios; networking with peer organizations; networking with BIPOC leaders from corporate, private foundation, entrepreneurs and government stakeholders; year-round engagement with community based organizations in Five Points and the greater Denver Metro. The BNDC is building a collaborative, nurturing ecosystem for BIPOC nonprofit entrepreneurs and providing the physical, IT, backend infrastructure, and programming to help these nonprofits transform and elevate their impact. The investment to date in building the RTL
Foundation and the BNDC stands at $2.8 million dollars, all from private sources, $1.4 million of which was invested in 15 BIPOC- owned and operated contractors who built the BNDC, employing more than 50 BIPOC trades professionals and generating an additional $2.8 million in economic activity in the Denver Metro. Simultaneously, we are seeding and catalyzing the economic and cultural renaissance and neighborhood revitalization of the Welton Street corridor of Five Points. transformational ways: One, via the BNDC Incubator, whose goal is to build the capacity of BIPOC-led nonprofits to scale, grow and thrive – the BNDC Incubator is the first of its kind in the country, devoted exclusively to BIPOC-led and serving nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. The BNDC Incubator provides member organizations with a physical space that is by and for organizations serving communities The Foundation’s mission to serve BIPOC communities is accomplished in two of color, so that they can be together in an environment where they are surrounded by others with their same lived experience. By intention, we want to build a nurturing ecosystem of BIPOC leaders and their organizations, where they come together and are surrounded by a supportive community among and with each other; an ecosystem that provides opportunities for learning, networking, collaboration and for building partnerships and community. All organizations receive year-round capacity building programming in multiple areas identified by members as being a critical need(s), including: finance, accounting, nonprofit law, and human resources; fundraising and funds and grants management; marketing; business, strategic and organizational planning; Board building; mentorship; volunteers; as well as community building programming – among each other and with the community at large, in Five Points, the greater Denver Metro, and beyond. Rather than create programming of its own, and to avoid duplicating work already being done expertly and efficiently by others, the Foundation is partnering with external organizations and
25 The Acumen
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