The creation of the Kwiyagat Community Academy is the cornerstone of Growing Ute Futures, but it is not the only impact of the endeavor. Growing Ute Futures is an education masterplan for the entire community as  there are so many more families with students –from Kindergarten all through high school—who don’t attend KCA than do. Growing Ute Futures serves students and families of the  entire community to provide more opportunities for all students of Towaoc and strengthen the future of the community. In this final episode in our four-part series, we detail the additional wrap-around services provided by the Growing Ute Futures Initiative.

Listen: Culture and Curriculum: The Story of Growing Ute Futures Part 1

Listen: Culture and Curriculum: The Story of Growing Ute Futures Part 2

Listen: Culture and Curriculum: The Story of Growing Ute Futures Part 3 

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Kwiyagat Community Academy officially opened in 2021 and was finally able to put into practice what had previously just been an abstract plan  – a culture-based curriculum grounded in Ute traditions that also delivers a modern academic education to prepare young students for the world. When you hear the world trailblazing—that’s exactly what this approach is. But the school would only get one shot to implement this approach and prove that it would work. In part three of our four-part series on the Growing Ute Futures initiative, we discuss the results of the Kwiyagat Community Academy.

Listen: Culture and Curriculum: The Story of Growing Ute Futures Part 1

Listen: Culture and Curriculum: The Story of Growing Ute Futures Part 2

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In the second part of our four-part series on the Growing Ute Futures initiative, we highlight the bold steps taken by Tribal leaders and their partners to upend generations of educational missed opportunities: the creation of the state’s first-ever tribal-run charter school operation on an Indian Reservation. This is the story of the creation of the Kwiyagat Community Academy.

Listen: Culture and Curriculum: The Story of Growing Ute Futures Part 1

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In 2020, at the direction of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council, educators, and families, Keystone Policy Center began facilitating strategic planning to develop an innovative, culturally-based education system for students and their families on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. A central pillar of this plan was integrating Ute arts, language, and culture into all levels of education, embedded within a curriculum that focused on science, technology, engineering, (Native) arts, and math. The project that eventually emerged became known as Growing Ute Futures, and it aims to provide an innovative, student-focused model of learning and support for all students of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. But to understand the monumental task this education-centered initiative would be, we first have to revisit the history of education for American Indian and Indigenous children in this country.  In this first of a four-part series, we outline the grim realities faced by Indigenous children who were forcibly removed from their families and cultural environments to attend federally run boarding schools and how the culture of assimilation continued even when the boarding schools ended.  

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We're thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2023 Keystone Leadership Award. Keystone Policy Center established the Keystone Leadership Awards in 1994 to recognize extraordinary leadership by individuals and organizations whose work embraces our model, spirit, and mission of creating lasting solutions through strategic collaboration. Keystone honors individuals and organizations within its areas of work as well as recognizes leaders in government and the media who create impact in the public interest.

Click here to learn more about the Keystone Leadership Awards!

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Agricultural soils are a large land-based sink for atmospheric carbon with additional potential to contribute to the sequestration of atmospheric carbon, though questions still remain as to the magnitude and rate of this mitigation opportunity. This potential has spurred a desire to connect growers with carbon markets to realize the environmental and economic value of agricultural practices. Concurrently, the markets are facing increasing scrutiny as well, given the evolving science, the necessity of mitigating our climate impact, and increasing public interest. This episode of Keynotes highlights the work of the Agricultural Climate Market Collaborative,  a voluntary group facilitated by the Keystone Policy Center to identify collective, precompetitive actions that could create more transparency and build trust in the marketplace; provide more coordinated and consistent feedback to protocol bodies, USDA, and others; and ultimately contribute to a clearer marketplace that can scale towards meaningful impact.

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The Browns Canyon National Monument was designated for federal protection in 2015 and encompasses more than 21,000 acres of scenic and diverse natural resources along the upper Arkansas River in Colorado. It was the culmination of decades of advocacy from local residents to protect the pristine lands. However, federal designation was only the first step in protecting these pristine lands. In 2019, Keystone Policy Center and a coalition of over 20 local citizens representing numerous organizations with diverse interests and experience, conducted a series of meetings to discuss a shared set of recommendations for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for resource management plan for the monument. The effort became a shining example of how collaborative action at the local level and between communities and federal agencies can give citizens a strong voice in shaping federal policy.

Show Notes

• Friends of Browns Canyon
• Browns Canyon National Monument - Keystone Policy Center
• Browns Canyon National Monument - U.S. Forest Service

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Collaboration is a powerful concept that requires a methodical approach to be most effective. To streamline this approach and help other organizations foster collaboration, Keystone partnered with Dow to create a step-by-step guide called the Collaborative Action Toolkit that provides a roadmap for anyone to develop a more collaborative mindset and organize their stakeholders and collaborations. The toolkit was born out of Dow's pursuit of company sustainability goals. Upon realizing the impact of the toolkit, Dow and Keystone adapted it and decided to give it away for free.

Download the Collaborative Action Toolkit.

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Federal and state governments are legally required to consult with Native American Tribes on issues impacting them, but city governments don't have the same mandate. In this episode, we highlight the work of the city of Boulder, Colorado, which has partnered with Keystone to develop and implement a city/Tribal consultation process that has opened a dialogue around issues of cultural, spiritual, and historical significance for Tribal and Indigenous members of the community. The initiative sets a standard for city governments throughout the country to follow in developing productive and respectful consultation with Native and Indigenous communities in their city and counties.

Previous episode to reference:  Tribal Sovereignty: Fostering the Government-to-Government Partnership

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In the final episode of this three-part series, we how leaders in Northwest Colorado are working together on collaborative initiatives that have impact for their communities. We also highlight how these collaborative efforts, in partnership with nonprofit leaders like El Pomar Foundation and Keystone Policy Center, help these communities navigate the best path forward to best utilizing the once-in-a-lifetime influx of resources to best serve the needs of all Coloradans, both rural and urban. These leaders are bridging the so-called urban/rural divide and providing a model for the nation of how Americans from different communities with different perspectives can come together to reach common higher ground for the betterment of society.

Learn more at El Pomar Foundation.

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In this second episode of a three-part series, we highlight how rural communities are navigating the obstacles they face in accessing the influx of federal funding coming to Colorado in the wake of COVID-19. These rural communities are meeting the challenge by working together along with the assistance of nonprofit partners. Almost two decades ago, El Pomar Foundation established a regional partnership program bringing members from a diverse range of backgrounds who represent the business, nonprofit and public sectors together to provide firsthand information about the needs in their region. They offer the kind of insights that can only come from living, working and volunteering at a local level. This program is now being utilized to assess and address the unprecedented needs and challenges of rural communities following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about this project at El Pomar Foundation.

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Federal and state lawmakers have dedicated billions of dollars in resources in recent years to address the impacts of COVID-19. But challenges in underfunded, understaffed regions of Colorado reduce the opportunities these communities have to apply for and access this one-time surge in funding. In this first episode of a three-part series, we highlight in-depth the challenges faced by rural communities in Northwest Colorado in trying to apply for and gain access to federal and state resources to address the challenges they face in the wake of COVID-19 as well as the upheaval being caused by the closure of one of the region’s premier employers. We also highlight how the shortage of capacity in these individual communities impedes their ability to apply for federal and state stimulus funding.

Learn more about this project at El Pomar Foundation.

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The Keystone Policy Center recently released its second report analyzing public data to assess the impact the COVID-19 disruption had on Colorado education. The report, entitled Colorado’s Missing Year: Charter School Performance, explores recent enrollment and academic performance data to examine how charter schools fared relative to the state and other school district managed public schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of Keynotes, we discuss some of the findings and lessons learned detailed in the report that can help stakeholders and policymakers improve education in Colorado generally. 

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What impact did the shift to virtual learning have on students during the COVID-19 pandemic? A report from the Keystone Policy Center titled Colorado's Missing Year analyzed test data to tackle that question, and some of the findings may surprise you. The report also spurs a greater conversation on student assessment, transparency, and what policymakers can do to ensure we have the correct information available to make the best decisions for our students. 

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The economic and health devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are widespread, but we’ve disproportionately heaped the burden of holding up the economy and preserving our way of life on certain groups of people—many of which we never see. In the second episode of this two-part series, we highlight the Farm Labor Practices Group, a diverse coalition of agriculture stakeholders committed to ensure a safe and productive farm experience for farmers and laborers. The group has also been a key supporter of COVID-19 relief efforts in the Southeast U.S., helping to provide personal protective equipment and educate workers on the best practices and health care options available to them as they navigate a global pandemic. 

Please help us continue this podcast by making a financial donation to Keystone Policy Center.

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The economic and health devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are widespread, but we’ve disproportionately heaped the burden of holding up the economy and preserving our way of life on certain groups of people—many of which we never see. In this first episode in a two-part series, we highlight the essential contributions of farm labor particularly those laborers who are foreign born. In the era of COVID-19, this workforce keeps our economy afloat but there still needs to be an effort to secure workplace safety, sustainable productivity, and human rights. 

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The Keynotes Podcast returns from its summer hiatus with a few updates on three projects profiled in the podcast that spurred state legislative action: the Education System Resiliency and Innovation Initiative, Next 100 Colorado, and funding the Colorado Water Plan. 

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The annual migration of monarch butterflies is one of the world’s great natural phenomena. Unfortunately, monarch populations are in an alarming decline. That's why the Keystone Policy Center brought together a diverse group of committed stakeholders, including scientists, conservationists, farmers, and the private sector, to find collaborative solutions to strengthen monarch populations and habitat. The group was founded as the Monarch Collaborative in 2015, but just this week announced a renaming of the group as Farmers for Monarchs. This is the story of both the monarch and Farmers for Monarchs.

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It's Pollinator Week! So, naturally, we decided to talk about the impact Keystone Policy Center is having in two projects that are focused on supporting healthy pollinator populations and habitat. In this first episode of this two part-series, we’re focus on a project Keystone leads to improve honey bee health. Honey bees support more than $20 billion in U.S. and Canadian agriculture annually. But as most know, a major decline in honey bee health has put agriculture, healthy lifestyles, and worldwide food security at risk.  This decline in bee health has been linked to a variety of factors, including those influenced by the activities associated with both beekeeping and crop production. That is why Keystone brought together representatives of beekeepers, growers, researchers, government agencies, agribusinesses, conservation groups, manufacturers and other key partners to form the Honey Bee Health Coalition. Because action must be taken to support and increase honey bee health, otherwise the global food supply, healthy ecosystems, and the economy will be impacted.

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In part 1 of our two-part series examining the inequality of access to our public parks and green spaces, we discussed the isolation that can be felt by members of marginalized communities from their experiences in outdoor spaces. We talked about the Next 100 Coalition forming in 2016 to set a vision of inclusion for the Next 100 years of conservation and stewardship in America. And from that group formed Next 100 Colorado, also committed to an inclusive approach to public lands over the next 100 years but primarily focused on making that vision a reality in Colorado. In part 2, we discuss how Next 100 Colorado is making their vision a reality through action based on three guiding principles: ensuring our public lands: reflect the faces of our country, respect all cultures, and actively engage all people. 

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Outdoor spaces are often places of solace for many Americans, particularly during time of great stress, as evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. But like many things, there is an inequality for many Americans because not everybody has equal access to these outdoor and green spaces. And even when they do, they are often times made to feel like they are unwelcome. In the first edition in a two-part series, we examine the barriers often faced by people of color preventing them from having equal access to outdoor green spaces like city, state, or national parks. We also introduce Next 100 Colorado, which brings together leaders of color to address those barriers.

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Meeting the dietary of a global population would require doubling the current output of the fruits and vegetable production system. That would dramatically impact the environment, growers, and increase inequity. A report released this month examines these issues and argues that simply scaling up our current fruits and veggie production system could actually worsen the environment and create socioeconomic tradeoffs. The published paper was years in the making and was rooted in a workshop hosted by Keystone and the Aspen Global Change Institute in 2018.

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Tourism is an industry that is vital to the economy in every state, but more so in a state like Colorado. While the industry has suffered well-documented impact from COVID-19, it already had its own set of challenges even prior to the pandemic, including relying on a transient and often untrained workforce. To activate the full potential of Colorado tourism, the Colorado Tourism Office in 2017 decided to create a leadership program for the industry’s workforce. The program was created for aspiring leaders with a demonstrated commitment to a career in the tourism industry and a passion for sharing the Colorado experience. Keystone was tapped to develop and facilitate the training program. Learn how we train emerging leaders in the Colorado tourism industry the Keystone way. 

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Being successful at working collaboratively is a learned skill and valuable one at that. No matter which sector or what kind of work you're involved in, knowing how to effectively work collaboratively should be a priority of any organization. So, how and where can professionals learn this skill to effectively implement it in their work? Learn the story behind the Common Higher Ground Workshop, which teaches leaders those skills, as well as see how COVID-19 forced its creators to rethink how to effectively teach leaders how to harness the power of collaborative action.

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Even under the best of circumstances, there are so many demands on water and in the arid Western states, the demands are heightened. That is the case in Colorado, where an exploding population, increased demand, and climate change make its current statewide water trajectory unsustainable. That is why state leaders decided to develop a plan to meet future water needs. But once that plan was adopted, there were still funding gaps that needed to be filled to ensure the viability of the plan. A coalition of diverse leaders came together to initiate a public engagement campaign to help secure funding for the water plan and set a standard for solving complex disagreements through collaboration

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