Good & Grounded

Did you know that Denver features part of the longest continuous street in the America with Colfax Avenue, which extends over 26.5 miles? That is one of Visit Denver President & CEO Richard Scharf’s favorite fun facts about our city. On the latest episode of Good & Grounded, we talk with Richard about his organization’s mission, the impact of the pandemic on our local economy and some of the leadership lessons he’s learned over the past year.

The Women's Bean Project is a non-profit organization that believes all women have the power to transform their lives through employment. On this episode of Good & Grounded, Jim Licko and Laura Love talk with longtime CEO Tamra Ryan about how this incredible Denver-based program strives to break the cycle of chronic unemployment and poverty by helping women discover their talents and develop skills by offering job readiness training opportunities.

On May 25th of this year, Children's Hospital Colorado declared a state of emergency for youth mental health. “I don’t know how to effectively articulate how bad this is. And it’s not going to get better any time soon,” said Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Vice President of Population Health and Advocacy, Heidi Baskfield. On this episode of Good & Grounded, Jim Licko & Laura Love talk with Heidi about this ongoing issue, how the pandemic exacerbated the problem, and what’s being done to address things going forward.

The Girl Scouts are about so much more than selling delicious cookies (we happen to prefer the Samoa variety). This non-profit is trying to bend and evolve to meet girls where they are. Most recently, that means embarking on a mental health program as well as a focus on DEI. The organization currently serves over 15,000 girls across the state with support from 8,000 volunteers.  On this episode of Good & Grounded, Jim Licko talks with Girl Scouts of Colorado CEO Leanna Clark and two incredible young ladies who recently earned their Gold Award – the highest achievement a Girl Scout can receive.

Be authentic. You won’t get away with faking it. Stick to what you know and know what you CANNOT do. Foster deep connections in your communities…. and more sage advice from several of the best and the brightest in Colorado’s CSR community. This is Part 2 of a conversation that Jim Licko and Laura Love had with Adeeb Kahn of the Delta Dental Foundation of Colorado, Katie Bedard Dell of RK Industries and Kayla Garcia of Molson Coors about Colorado’s vibrant CSR community and how organizations like B: CIVIC are helping companies pave the way in developing community-focused companies.

Be authentic. You won’t get away with faking it. Stick to what you know and know what you CANNOT do. Foster deep connections in your communities…. and more sage advice from several of the best and the brightest in Colorado’s CSR community. This is Part 1 of a conversation that Jim Licko and Laura Love had with Adeeb Kahn of the Delta Dental Foundation of Colorado, Katie Bedard Dell of RK Industries and Kayla Garcia of Molson Coors about Colorado’s vibrant CSR community and how organizations like B: CIVIC are helping companies pave the way in developing community-focused companies.

When Hope Forti became a foster parent, she realized how daunting it could be without a strong support group. She founded Families Together and the Neighbors program to help families feel less alone. Jim Licko and Laura Love sat down with Hope to learn more about the organization, which has matched over 240 families with a neighbor since the program’s inception.

Over the past year, parks have been a welcome respite during an especially stressful time. Happy Haynes, Executive Director of Denver Parks & Recreation, talks with Jim and Laura about Denver parks, the future of play and more on this week's episode.

Camping under the stars. Making s’mores around the fire. Sneaking off into the woods with your first crush. For many of us, these memories are synonymous with summer camp. Paul Dreyer and his team at Avid4 Adventures get kids off screens and connecting with nature. On this episode of Good & Grounded, Laura and Jim talk with Paul about how his team handled the things at the onset of the pandemic and what’s to come this summer as they embark on the new normal.

It’s been a year without live music, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel! Jim and Laura sat down with Brian Kitts of Denver Arts and Venues to find out what the summer will look like at Red Rocks Amphitheater and our other Denver-area venues.