HISTORY
TWENTY YEARS OF THE ALLIANCE
The Alliance serves as the connective tissue for social and environmental movements in Colorado. Over the last two decades, The Alliance has built a network of government, academic, for-profit, nonprofit, media and community organizations and leaders. The Alliance convenes and mobilizes this network to identify some of the largest problems Coloradans face and move thought into action through community-led solutions.
We advance our mission through two programs: The Alliance Center and The Coalition for a Regenerative Future.
History of The Center
- 2004: Established The Alliance. John Powers and Janna Six co-founded the nonprofit Alliance for Sustainable Colorado (now The Alliance for Collective Action) and purchased a historic LoDo building (now The Alliance Center). They envisioned a physical hub where local public interest groups could collaborate and pool resources.
- 2006: Earned first LEED certification. For the first year of The Alliance’s ownership, the building underwent significant construction to convert the warehouse into office spaces, prioritizing eco-friendly green building construction with high-tech concepts. In 2006, The Alliance Center became the second building in the world to earn two US Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications. The Alliance Center has since achieved dozens of building certifications and awards, including the WELL-Health Safety Rating and seven LEED certifications.
- 2008: Hosted the Big Tent. The Big Tent was a nonprofit, nonpartisan event that provided dedicated space for journalists and bloggers during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The Center hosted a diverse range of participants, from local tweeters to national media figures.
- 2014: Completed innovative renovation. In 2014, The Alliance Center completed its second renovation, which effectively gutted the building to increase energy efficiency, protect occupant wellness and inspire further collaboration. This renovation made our building entirely electric.
- 2023: Continued to expand impact and reach for hundreds of organizations. The Alliance Center supports more than 160 organizations each year through tenancy and events in our historic downtown Denver building. Tenants range from local to national groups and all work tirelessly to advance equitable climate solutions
History of The Coalition
- 2020: Hosted the Colorado Emergence Series. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Alliance hosted the Colorado Emergence Series, a series of six listening sessions that convened 240 residents from across the state and various sectors. All participants were united by a common goal: rebuilding Colorado with a regenerative future in mind.
- 2020: Launched The Coalition for a Regenerative Future. In fall of 2020, we officially launched The Coalition for a Regenerative Future (then called The Regenerative Recovery Coalition). In just a few years, it has grown to 400+ members, with more than 28,000 Colorado jobs and $7.2 billion represented in annual revenue across organizational members.
- 2021: Influenced legislation through innovative policy platform development. Each year, Coalition members work to refine and distribute their bold, transformational policy ideas. The resulting policy platforms have influenced 66 state laws and directed $1.1 billion in state funding from 2021-2023.
- 2022: Developed regenerative projects designed to scale. In addition to influencing policy, The Coalition prototypes and tests projects to advance equitable climate solutions. The Coalition’s current projects focus on justly transitioning to clean and renewable energy, drawing carbon out of the atmosphere through soil health, developing the workforce for green industries and crowdsourcing equitable policies. Working groups convene regularly to accelerate projects and impact.
- 2023: Launched national expansion. Although place-based and local in application, The Coalition’s model is scalable and replicable. We are now building and mobilizing a national coalition that will advance systems-level change and leverage Colorado as a pilot for regenerative solutions.
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