RootED Denver

Our Mission

We invest in community-driven organizations, schools and strategies that advance racial equity in education—to ensure that all Denver Public Schools students receive a high-quality education that recognizes and values individual and community strengths and cultural difference, enabling students to attain academic achievement, personal growth, and college and career success.

Vision

Our ultimate aim is an equitable, accountable, responsive Denver Public Schools system where racism is no longer a barrier to excellent student outcomes.

Values

Prioritizing Racial Equity

Success must be measured not just by what is achieved for students as a whole, but what is achieved for student groups that have been historically underserved by the public education system, particularly Black, Latinx and Indigenous students.

Centering the Strength in Lived Experience

Public school students, their families and communities bring strengths, perspectives and knowledge—developed through lived experiences and rooted in identity and culture—that are vital to improving public education systems and individual outcomes.

Community-Driven Change

Change in public education should be directed by those with the most at stake: families and the local communities that schools serve.

Reciprocal Relationships

Relationships across the public education ecosystem—whether between communities and schools, school leaders and ecosystem leaders, or funders and grantees—should offer meaningful value in both directions.

Collaboration Across Difference

Leaders in public education must be willing to work together, including across lines of ideological difference, to effect lasting change.

Continuous Innovation and Improvement

Dramatically expanding access to high-quality education means developing, evaluating and iterating on new approaches. With racial equity at stake, we cannot move backward nor accept the status quo; we must chart a bold new path forward.