As we close out another remarkable year, I find myself reflecting on just how much transformation, courage, and collective leadership we have witnessed across Colorado. 2025 asked a lot of us. It asked us to evolve programs while honoring their histories, to expand our regional approach without losing our relational DNA, and to stay focused on our purpose even as the world around us grew more complex. And then, in October, we stepped into one of the most significant decisions in our organization’s history. 

This fall, our Board made a strong and visionary move to merge CiviCO with Omni Institute. It was a decision rooted in clarity and purpose, designed for Colorado’s future. Omni saw in CiviCO a partner committed to community leadership development and civic culture. It affirmed the strength of the CiviCO brand, protected the programs our community cares most about, and positioned us to enter 2026 with alignment, confidence, and renewed capacity. We are energized to be with our new partners at Omni. Their depth in research, evaluation, and community engagement complements the leadership development and statewide network CiviCO has built over the past decade.  

I imagine a partnership that means more opportunities for our partners and alumni all across the state. Together we now have the capacity to broaden our reach, strengthen our programming, and support leaders and communities with both heart and evidence. It is a rare and powerful partnership, and we could not be more excited for what lies ahead. 

This year, even in the midst of transition, we preserved and strengthened the CiviCO brand. We expanded programs, activated more leaders, and opened new pathways for Coloradans to engage meaningfully in civic life. The result is a more connected statewide network and a deeper shared capacity to shape Colorado’s future. This is what progress looks like when we pursue it side by side. 

Read on for our proudest achievements of 2025 

Purpose Hour 

Our Purpose Hours grew this year in both attendance and depth. With leaders from across sectors gathering monthly, several big themes emerged. We explored civic leadership and public policy, including conversations with Attorney General Weiser, a panel of Colorado mayors, and a session on leading through political polarization. We dug into innovation, workforce, and systems change, focusing on AI’s impact on the workforce, new ways to build bandwidth in organizations, and how a regenerative lens can reframe leadership. We also held space for community health and resilience, including an important session on why mental health must be everyone’s business. These gatherings served as both classrooms and catalysts where curiosity, courage, and civic possibility came to life. 

 Colorado Governors Fellowship Program 

The Colorado Governors Fellowship continues to be one of the clearest expressions of what it means to ignite and unite leadership across our state. This year, 38 Fellows completed the program; an extraordinary achievement given the pace, depth, and statewide travel required. The progress they have already begun to make is inspiring. One 2025 graduate captured the journey beautifully: “This fellowship has been eye-opening, deeply informative, and transformative. It has fueled my passion to go even deeper into civic engagement and public service.” 

From Denver and Colorado Springs to Fort Morgan, Glenwood Springs, and Grand Junction, the Fellows encountered Colorado’s complexity up close. It marked the 10th fellowship class, but the first to take a regional approach to learning, leaving the confines of Denver to see challenges and engage communities across the state. The Fellows saw communities wrestling with the realities of housing access, mental health, economic opportunity, and the uneven impacts of growth. They witnessed resilience, creativity, and the resourcefulness that defines so many of our towns.  

One Fellow’s reflection speaks to the heart of the purpose of the Colorado Governors Fellowship Program: “At first, the imposter syndrome was very real. But by the end, I walked away without that shadow. They poured into me, and from what I have been told, I poured into them as well.”  

This is what civic development looks like, people stepping courageously into service, discovering their voice, and finding new ways to support one another! Many fellows are already taking action–they are joining boards and commissions, deepening community engagement, and in one case, convening a table of leaders to address Colorado’s mental health ranking of 46th in the nation. Their leadership will shape our state for years to come. 

Colorado Governor’s Citizenship Medals 

Each year, the Colorado Governor’s Citizenship Medals honor individuals and organizations making extraordinary contributions to our state. On January 22, 2026, we will celebrate five honorees whose work reflects leadership in action.  

• Vanguard Medal, Temple Grandin, whose innovations in humane livestock handling and advocacy for visual thinkers have reshaped global practice and expanded understanding of neurodiversity.  

• Emerging Leader, Ramah Aiman Khammash, who turns personal challenge into compassion and builds communities of belonging for students across Colorado.  

• Growth and Innovation, Adeel Khan of MagicSchool AI, who is redefining how technology can support educators and protect the human heart of teaching.  

• Public and Community Service, Laura Frank, who is rebuilding the civic infrastructure of local news through collaboration and community centered journalism.  

• Corporate Citizenship, CoBank, whose sustained investments strengthen rural communities, food systems, and economic opportunities statewide.  

Each honoree reflects what is possible when leadership is grounded in service to the common good. 

Expanded Portfolio 

This year, we made progress with our leadership development portfolio by growing the Leadership Accelerator, working with a core base to reignite Strategic Connections, and strategically support the growth of WiseWomen, and the Professional Development Forum. These programs have the potential to be blueprints for what is needed across Colorado to live into a vision of a Colorado where leadership is not reserved for the few but cultivated in the many. 

THANK YOU!!! 

If 2025 was a year of building, 2026 will be a year of activation. A special thanks to our board of directors and board of advisors who leaned into seasons of change and held to purpose as we reimagined CiviCO’s place in Colorado’s leadership ecosystems. Across our programs and partners, one theme has become unmistakably clear. Colorado needs more leaders who can cross divides, elevate community voice, and take on the challenges no single sector can solve alone. That is the work ahead, and it belongs to all of us. 

Thank you for taking part in this journey. Thank you for believing in the power of leadership grounded in humility, curiosity, and service. And thank you for helping us build a Colorado where every person has a pathway to engage, contribute, and lead. Here is to the year behind us and the possibilities ahead.