At the Canopy we believe that the way decisions are made matters as much as the decisions themselves. Those most impacted by decisions should be meaningfully involved in making them. […]
Can a Team Manage Its Own Budget? Three Years Later, We Have an Answer Read More »
Custer County is home to the Wet Mountain Valley and some of the most stunning mountain landscapes in Colorado. The Wet Mountain Valley is the southernmost and fourth “Park” in
Four Meetings, One Future: How Wet Mountain Valley Is Shaping Its Outdoors Read More »
Most people don’t like going to city planning meetings. But what if the planning could happen on a softball field? Photos by Teddy Leinbach In the small town of San
Planning Through Play: A Collaborative Process in San Luis Read More »
Generation Wild is on a mission to rewild kids and get them to experience all the benefits Mother Nature provides. A whole network of coalitions across the state is breaking
Lessons from Launches Read More »
When designing a process for their 2024 strategic plan, Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley staff knew that they wanted to create a bold vision for the future of housing in
Laying the Foundation for the Future of Housing Through Community Voice Read More »
Across northeast Colorado’s rolling plains, you’ll find one of the most diverse communities in Colorado: Fort Morgan. Recent census data shows that the town’s two largest ethnic minority groups constitute
Breaking Bread for Belonging in Northeast Colorado’s Most Diverse Community Read More »
Over the past twenty years, the Canopy team has had the honor of working with hundreds of organizations on their strategic plans. In the early years, this often meant updating
Finding True North: NCF’s Strategic Framework Journey Read More »
Have you ever gone to fill out a grant report and found that the things that you said you would do three years ago feel like a different person wrote
Capturing the Full Impact: A Case Study on Ripple Effects Mapping Read More »
Pictured above: Members of Elevar’s Steering Committee alongside Eagle Valley Community Foundation Staff at the 2024 Civic Canopy Summit – Catalyzing Culture Change. It takes vision and conviction to challenge
Elevar: Trusting Community to Lead the Way Read More »
A new teammate at the Canopy recently asked me about the term we use “transferring capacity”—we even have a neat graphic to explain how we believe that our role is
Community Capacity to Shift Paradigms Read More »
The Idea It started as an idea to meet a need. Carlton Mason, Director of CASA of the 7th Judicial District, saw a real need for youth in his program.
Bringing Partners Together: Launching Collective Action Read More »
The Food Justice Funders Collaborative began with the seed of a great idea. If we could just get all the food funders together, in a single meeting, we could leverage
Food Justice Funders Collaborative: Getting Going Read More »
Bringing people together to find collaborative solutions to common problems can feel like pitching a small tent in a hostile environment. Inside the warm container of a coalition, norms of
From Conflicts to Coalitions to Statewide Collaboration: A Case Study of Systems Change Read More »
If anyone knows how to get their hands dirty, it’s the folks at Pueblo Food Project (PFP). Whether they are growing food in untraditional places, helping new food entrepreneurs grow
Pueblo Food Project: Embracing Decay in the Cycles of Coalitions Read More »
Imagine growing up in a city where your backyard has over 650 acres of public land which is a sanctuary for birds of prey, blossoming wildlife, a majestic river, and
Finding the Way Forward Strategically Read More »
Northwest Aurora is home to a vibrant community made up of one of the most diverse populations in Colorado. It is also a historically underserved region facing increasingly constant challenges
The AEOC: Balancing Responsiveness and Long-Term Goals Read More »
Since 2018, The Civic Canopy has served as a capacity-building partner for The Colorado Health Foundation’s locally-focused work. This partnership has equipped the Canopy team with time and resources to
Bringing a Collective Impact Training to Montrose Read More »
From Grassroots Food Movement to Transformative Local Foods System Liza Marron founded LFC in 2008 to restore the grassroots food movement in the San Luis Valley. Liza says, “People were
San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition Read More »
Photo Credit: Alamosa Citizen In 2021, a group of community members came together with a seed of an idea: how could we help students without documentation access a college education?
Sí, Se Puede: Helping Grassroots Changemakers Navigate Conflicting Visions of Equity Read More »
The Civic Canopy has spent the past two years learning about the community of Montrose. In that time, the Canopy has gotten to know the neighborhood of Tortilla Flats. Tortilla
Preserving Colorado’s Chicano History in Montrose Read More »
After years of the Opioid Crisis, legal teams set about trying to hold pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers accountable. Local governments teamed across the U.S. to combine their damages into larger
Coming to Consensus: San Luis Valley Governance Settlement Council Read More »
“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” -Voltaire For the Healthy Jeffco Alliance, Voltaire’s words anchored their effort to reimagine collaboration over the past two years.
Case Study: Healthy Jeffco Alliance Read More »
“We want to improve the outcomes for Black birthing health in our community. All birthing persons and their birthing families should feel safe, respected and fully confident in the high
Colorado Access: Black Maternal/Infant Health and Mortality Read More »
A person’s zip code can better predict how long they will live or what health challenges they will face than their genetic code. To people living in 80205 in Denver,
Case Study: East5ide Unified|Unido Read More »
In 2017, community partners noticed there were goals in city plans around “embracing the Rio Grande River as a community asset,” yet no clear plan on what that meant, what
Case Study: Revitalize the Rio Read More »
When the Canopy started working with the Syringe Access Providers Coalition (SAP) in 2017, the group had a way of working together but knew that it needed to be stronger
Case Study: Syringe Access Providers Coalition Read More »
Usually, the saying goes, “all talk and no action.” This project flips that idea on its head. Instead, the Canopy wanted to explore the impact of the stories we tell
Case Study: Communicating for Social Change Toolkit Read More »
The Civic Canopy provided backbone support to the Early Childhood Colorado Partnership (ECCP) for over seven years. This included facilitating meetings and action teams, updating membership lists, hosting the website,
Case Study: Early Childhood Shared Messaging Bank Read More »
Initiated by the Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health, COACT connects leaders in the field of youth services, human services, and education. COACT knew they were interested
Case Study: AmeriCorp Planning for Youth Peer Support Specialists Read More »
In 2019, Yampa Valley partners reviewed the recent regional public health assessment data which indicated residents across Routt and Moffat Counties identified mental and behavioral health, substance use disorders, certain
Case Study: Yampa Valley Health Consortium Read More »
The lack of affordable, quality child care is a problem so familiar; it can feel unlikely to ever change. Families and providers can feel skeptical about joining yet another initiative
Case Study: Strengthening Working Families Initiative Read More »
In today’s world, collecting data isn’t the problem. It’s making sense out of it. The All In network works to helps communities across the U.S. use data to improve community
Case Study: Data Across All Sectors for Health Mentorship Read More »