History
Two Decades of Collaboration and Impact
The Alliance serves as connective tissue for climate and justice movements in Colorado. Over the last 20 years, The Alliance has built a network of government, academic, for-profit, nonprofit, media, community organizations, and leaders. We convene and mobilize this network to identify problems Coloradans face and move thought into action through community-led solutions.
History of The Alliance for Collective Action
- 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.
- 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 Regenerative Recovery Coalition. In fall of 2020, the Alliance officially launched The Regenerative Recovery Coalition in response to Covid. The Coalition identified key focus areas for the post-Covid “new normal,” and was later named The Coalition for a Regenerative Future. The Coalition focused on four main programmatic areas: Clean Energy, Workforce Development, Regenerative Agriculture, and Policy Development. Working groups convened regularly to accelerate projects.
2021: Influenced legislation through innovative policy platform development. The Colorado Secretary of State invited the Alliance to develop a policy platform that would inform legislators about how to direct $1.1 billion in federal funding.
- 2022: 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.
2024: Delivered ground-breaking community research from oil and gas worker communities. In partnership with the Fiscal Institute, the Alliance gathered concerns and ideas from hundreds of oil and gas workers and people in their communities to develop recommendations for the State’s future work on Just Transition for oil and gas communities.
- 2025: Solidified our role as community builder, convener, and as a backbone organization in Collective Impact work. After a community listening tour and revision of our Strategic Compass, the Alliance team doubled-down on its work to build and convene the sustainability, environmental, and social justice communities in Colorado. We ended subject-matter focused programming, and instead focused on our core strengths of convening, community building, and communication to serve in backbone roles in regeneratively-focused Collective Impact projects going forward.
