Carly Hare
Carly (Pawnee/Yankton) comes to the Foundation after nearly two decades of work in philanthropy using her collective and community-driven understandings of the world in a professional capacity. Her experience growing up in a tribal community inspired her to center community and explore otherness and belonging while living into her Pawnee name, <i kita u hoo <i ]a hiks- kind leader of people- to impact philanthropic sector shifts.
For Carly, being a person who needed to drive social transformation — and was an active participant in the system that, in some cases, prevented that transformation — was challenging, and she wanted to be a part of disrupting that narrative. No matter where she worked in philanthropy, her goal was to equip the people in her organization with tools to better navigate the implicit dissonance that many folks in the philanthropic sector experience. Now, Carly is poised to bring her focus on equity and social change to the Foundation — along with her excitement and energy to help us continue to innovate new ways of being and serving people.
When she moved here to attend Colorado Mesa University, Carly fell in love with Colorado. In Grand Junction, she began her love story with Colorado, which brings her to the Foundation to make that love actionable. As a portfolio director, Carly sees herself as a bridge, helping people navigate both sides of the philanthropic sector. She seeks to help program officers and organizations build authentic and powerful relationships. Through her role, she builds understanding of how our decisions and strategies impact communities.
Given this country’s colonial and ‘manifested’ legacy, Carly is very familiar with the impact of health care and health-focused policies and practices on people of color throughout this country, and the question of how we create health equity through racial justice is fundamental to her. She is proud to be at the Foundation, where she can explore and continue being a partner in developing this landscape.
For Carly, who doesn’t know how to have a hobby but serves on numerous boards, rejunvenation is essential to her equity and social transformation journey. Having lived in Colorado since the late 1990s, she has incorporated hiking, visiting the lakes and marveling at the beautiful landscape throughout the state into her self-care routine. She also holds sacred space for brunch dates with her friends, listening to true crime podcasts and finding time to spend with her high school sweetheart turned partner (20 years later) and darling young daughter.
Education
BA – Mass Communications, Public Relations/Speech, Colorado Mesa University
