About Us

The Civic Canopy

The Civic Canopy is a community-based nonprofit focused on transforming the way we solve society’s big, sticky issues. We do this by engaging and connecting diverse groups of people seeking change in their community and equipping them with the tools to create meaningful and lasting impact. Project by project, we aim to create a new culture across Colorado that centers around elevating often unheard and underrepresented voices, designing spaces that foster understanding and trust, and mobilizing towards collective action that results in systemic change.

Vision

Thriving communities in which all participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

Mission

To create the conditions where the many work as one for the good of all.

Core Beliefs

Our Core Beliefs inform and guide how we show up and approach all aspects of our work.

Every individual matters and contributes.
Communities are filled with assets and solutions.
The answers emerge from the collective.
Civil society is a place of caring, compassion, and love.

Our Story

In 2003, a small group of partners began to explore more collaborative ways to approach community change. Through a series of annual “Raising the Canopy” events, they asked themselves: What does effective partnership look like? How might we each contribute to a shared vision? What most gets in the way of real impact?

These early events drew more than 800 people who recognized a need for individuals, community groups, nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to work more effectively together. They explored ways to improve civic health through collaboration. In the end, they highlighted the demand for a formal organization that could facilitate the collaborative partnerships needed to address complex social problems.

In response, The Civic Canopy emerged and was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2008. In the years since Canopy’s founding, the organization has established a reputation as a respected convener, capable of bringing diverse and sometimes conflicting viewpoints together to work more effectively.

Today, there are three long term goals that guide The Canopy’s work:

Individual people and organizations have the capacity, skills, and relationships to lead collaborative efforts.
Strong coalitions across Colorado and beyond are actively mobilized and achieving shared results through inclusion, dialogue, action, and learning.
Networks are connected to one another and supported by structures that enable collective action at scale.