Fostering Brilliance in Colorado Educators

By Rebecca Holmes, CEI President and CEO

I want to confess one of my favorite moments that my role at CEI affords me… someone interested in education, perhaps as a funder, a realtor, or a parent, asks me what’s inspiring to me in our education system across the state.  They might have a niche interest – maybe a CTE program, a STEAM program, or a dual language elementary – or maybe they’ve just heard troubling stories and want to know why I’m so bullish on our state’s public schools.  I often get to tell your good news stories and share the incredible work educators across Colorado are doing every day.  It’s clear that there is a brilliance which lights up our schools, our skies, and our future.  The mission of the Colorado Education Initiative, since our inception twelve years ago, has been to both foster this brilliance, to learn from it, and to share it.  Now more than ever, we are committed to rolling up our sleeves while asking big questions about how that light might shine further and faster. 

Our logo symbolizes this – whether it is opening doors to opportunity for students as we build the capacity of practitioners, opening doors of understanding as we convene leaders, or as we open doors for policymakers to understand the on-the-ground implications of their work – we have been working all over the state to make this happen. 

Open Doors, our new monthly communication, is here to share the brilliance happening across Colorado.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges or problems in in our state  – far from it.  Indeed, much of the brilliance we see every day is found in inspirational responses to tough, systemic problems. We feel honored to work beside practitioners in their pursuit to solve these challenges and we feel obligated to let the rest of the state know that this is happening, often against the odds. Some months we will lean closer to a specific region of the state and other times, like in this edition, we will look across the state.

What you can expect from us is a commitment to continually open doors so that all Coloradans can have a look inside and see the brilliant work happening in classrooms, schools, and systems.  Enjoy.