One foundation’s story of learning and serving

This year, Elevations Foundation went through a name and brand transformation. The goal? To reflect the foundation’s mission of supporting nearby communities.  

The name became Local Change. Its new logo features a map pin and the outline of mountains, reinforcing that the foundation’s work is rooted in the Front Range. 

“We wanted to show our community we’re committed to strengthening causes close to home,” Executive Director Jen Hinderliter said.  

The mission has stayed the same, and the foundation continues to get support from Elevations Credit Union. However, it relies on donations from supporters throughout the community.  

Jen says that the credit union always intended for the foundation to inspire broad support, following the credit union philosophy of people helping people. 

“We want to carry that message into the communities we serve,” she said. 

Since it started, the foundation has given over $4 million in grants, scholarships and disaster relief. The foundation’s positive work in Front Range communities is certainly felt within the credit union — Elevations employees have said it inspired them to apply, and it’s something they are proud to be a part of.  

Connecting with community 

The rebranding isn’t the first time Jen has brought change to the foundation. Since she’s come into her role in 2022, she’s taken steps to ensure each foundation initiative is responding to a community need. 

With Elevations Credit Union’s close relationship with the University of Colorado, education continues to be important. Scholars have said Local Change scholarships helped decrease their financial burden, helped them understand the importance of giving back, and gave them confidence that someone believed in them. 

For the foundation’s community grants funding priorities, Jen surveyed Elevations members and those they ‘ve awarded funds.  

The increasing importance of affordable housing in Colorado coupled with the credit union’s mortgage lending work led the foundation board to establish this new priority.  Access to mental health services continues to be a priority. Their nonprofit partners have seen more and more mental health needs, as the pandemic has brought these to the forefront. 

“It’s all connected,” Hinderliter said. “When you’re struggling to afford housing for your family, when resources are stretched too thin, it puts a strain on your mental health.”  

Bridging the nonprofit training gap 

With a background in nonprofit management, Jen has experienced the struggles of working at nonprofits with lean budgets. When funding is tight, often professional development is placed on the backburner to support other priorities. 

She again connected with the nonprofit community to see how she could help, and the resounding response was welcoming for free professional training, which often has costs climbing past four digits. 

“Now that I’m in a position to give back and support amazing nonprofits in the area, I want to go beyond funding and support our grantees with other resources throughout the year,” she said. 

She started giving free webinars targeting topics relevant to nonprofit operations (annual giving, for example) but open to all. Over 300 people participated in 2023, their first year. 

Looking to the future 

Going forward, Jen plans for increasing the foundation’s community impact and deepening relationships with scholarship and grant recipients. The kind of impact that would make Local Change synonymous with affordable housing and mental health support in the Front Range. With increased presence would come even more community trust and deeper, longer-lasting community impacts. 

Donate to Local Change online.*

*Links to a third-party website