When Denver Comes Together: Reflections From APA Denver’s First Member Convening
By Sam Battan, APA Denver Executive Director
In early November, leaders from APA Denver’s 23 founding member organizations gathered for the first time to begin shaping what our Alliance can build together in the Mile High City. The group reflects the full range of youth-serving work in Denver—from K–12 to postsecondary pathways, workforce readiness, dropout prevention, civic engagement, and education entrepreneurship.
What stood out most to me was a shared belief: that our greatest impact will come from acting collectively, and not in silos as the nonprofit sector often does. If we want to make a promise to Denver’s young people that no one will go without access to high quality opportunities, we must act as a collective.
As I shared with the group, this convening marked the culmination of more than a year of planning, recruitment, and relationship-building. And our mission for next year is clear: to better understand the system young people are navigating, envision a long-term future of opportunity and mobility, and define the concrete collective actions we’ll take together to move toward that future.
You can see that energy reflected in the short video from the convening below, which captures leaders discussing both the challenges and possibilities ahead. APA Denver leaders spoke to the importance of building a diverse ecosystem of youth-serving organizations, one where we can rally around shared priorities and expand impact beyond any single program or organization.
As we began the ideation process, several themes surfaced. Leaders emphasized the need to support young people’s transitions from K–12 to postsecondary and workforce pathways. Others highlighted the need for us to work as a collective to ensure our organizations are financially sustainable. There was also rich discussion about ways we can support youth mental health, well-being, and purpose. Finally, folks shared a strong interest in building shared data infrastructure and back-end supports to allow organizations to operate efficiently and effectively.
Throughout the conversation, trust emerged as both a foundation and a goal. As one leader shared, the power of the Denver Alliance is most visible when everyone is at the table—when leadership reflects the community and when voices are leveraged for collective benefit. Deep trust, built through consistent ground-level engagement, is what makes collective action possible.
This work is ultimately about moving away from scarcity and competition and toward collaboration, shared resources, and collective responsibility. Our goal is to both support individual organizations as well as to create the conditions that allow every young person in Denver to access meaningful opportunities — now and for generations to come.
If you know individuals or organizations in Denver who should be part of this work, I invite you to reach out to me personally at samb@americaspromise.org.