Nonprofit Sabbatical Program Cycle Two Grantees
Four esteemed Colorado nonprofit leaders have been selected to participate in the second cycle of The Colorado Health Foundation’s Nonprofit Sabbatical Program. The program aims to award nonprofit executives with a three-to-four month sabbatical, while offering funds for their organization’s interim leadership and staff capacity building.
The Foundation is pleased to recognize our four inspired awardees for the second cycle of the program:
Hayden Dansky, Boulder Food Rescue
Hayden Dansky (pronouns: they/them/theirs) is a co-founder and executive director of Boulder Food Rescue, a nonprofit that works to create a more just and less wasteful food system through sustainable redistribution of healthy food and working to decrease barriers to access. They build community-led and participatory programs that support the inherent leadership of individuals within the community. They are also a co-founder of Food Rescue Alliance, a national resource sharing and generative network of food rescues organizing to advance health equity and participatory systems in food access, as well as Boulder Food Not Bombs and an LGBTQ+ housing cooperative.
“At Boulder Food Rescue, our dream is that everyone has autonomy over their own food systems and the resources they need to thrive. I’m so deeply honored and humbled to receive the sabbatical grant because it gives us an opportunity to resource what we dream internally, to support each other in showing up to the work as our fullest and truest selves without abandon, and to say yes to ourselves living in the world we are trying to create.”
Carmen Hubbs, Rise Above Violence
Carmen Hubbs, executive director of Rise Above Violence, has spent the majority of her 23-year career leading social justice efforts to end domestic and sexual violence. Carmen is a local and state expert in domestic violence, providing professional development for allies as well as expert testimony in criminal and civil justice hearings. She currently sits on the State Attorney General’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, Archuleta County Citizen’s Review Board, WINsome Grant Committee for The Women’s Foundation of Colorado and the Southwest Grant Review Committee for the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger. In 2007, Carmen was recognized for her community leadership, winning the top 20 women of Colorado Be Bold award from The Women’s Foundation of Colorado.
"Human service work is hard. Offering sabbaticals is a well-deserved reward that recognizes the commitment it takes to do this everyday. For me, I am beyond thrilled for this opportunity, and one I fully expect to offer staff in the coming years to honor them as well."
Angell Pérez, Colorado Circles for Change
Angell Pérez is the executive director of Colorado Circles for Change, owner and principal consultant of Angell Pérez Consulting LLC, and adjunct professor of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies and Chicanx Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She has over 25 years’ experience working in the nonprofit sector and grassroots community leadership where she has provided programs designed for youth and people of color rooted in anti-racism, culture, transformational healing and liberation. Angell’s work as a community leader continues to lead organizational transformation centered in racial equity to impact dozens of organizations and positively impact the nonprofit ecosystem of Colorado.
"Having the opportunity to create long-term sustainability and cultivate leadership for our organization is an example of creating a decolonized model of philanthropy. As a woman of color-led organization that has not had equitable access to resources for leadership development, this opportunity is an investment in the leadership of those most proximate to the issues.”
Cathy Phelps, The Center for Trauma & Resilience
Cathy Phelps, M.A., L.C.S.W., is the executive director for The Center for Trauma & Resilience in Denver, Colorado. Cathy earned her Master of Arts in Medical Anthropology and additionally has a Master’s Degree in Social Work. In 2019, the agency was recognized as a Best Place To Work, by the Nonprofit Times, and placed in the top five of small nonprofits in the United States. Concurrent with her position with The Center for Trauma & Resilience, Cathy serves as part-time faculty for Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is the author of "Nonprofit Transformed: Compassion Fatigue- Self-Care-Resilience," which describes her 10-year journey to institutionalize wellness in her nonprofit.
“The Foundation’s innovative Nonprofit Sabbatical Program has created the kind of investment in social-emotional health that benefits me as an individual and strategically endows the future leadership of my agency. I salute this trailblazing work!”
The annual Nonprofit Sabbatical Program was designed to provide respite to Colorado-based nonprofit executive directors so they may return to the office with fresh ideas to advance the important work they do. In addition to providing support for sabbatical activities, the program includes charitable funding to support staff capacity building needs and to reward interim leaders who can help strengthen the leadership bench during the sabbatical. The program also includes a one-month executive-in-residence at The Colorado Health Foundation as a collaborative learning opportunity between the sabbatical grantee and Foundation staff.
“The applications received for our second cycle of the Nonprofit Sabbatical Program signal both the resilience of Colorado’s nonprofit leaders as well as the tremendous need for rest and respite,” said Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation. “We applaud our second class of Nonprofit Sabbatical Program grantees for their hard and necessary work to address upstream issues, and we are excited for the opportunity to help them recharge before they return to it.”
Learn more about the program, which is now open for applications through Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.