Three pillars, one purpose.
Our Mission
2026 Foundation exists to fund and support the next generation of leaders, founders, and changemakers rising from Colorado and beyond. We direct our resources to the moments that matter most — the early, uncertain, formative moments when a small push can change the entire arc of a life's work.
We believe that the hardest capital to raise is the first, the most important support is the kind given before success is certain, and the most enduring institutions are built for the generations that follow us.
Pillar 01
Scholarship support for students pursuing graduate business education at the University of Colorado Boulder. The cost of the degree is the single largest barrier between a capable person and the education that changes what they can do with their working life, and it is the barrier we are best positioned to lower.
We know what the degree cost us, and we know who it kept out. Award criteria, amounts, and application windows will be published here once finalized by our Board of Directors.
Pillar 02
Grants and fellowship support for early-stage founders coming out of CU and from across the Colorado Rocky Mountain region. Grants and fellowships sit together deliberately: the same founder often needs both the capital and the year of focused runway, and splitting them into separate programs would mean solving half a problem twice.
We are most interested in the stage before a venture is fundable — when belief is scarcer than money and a small amount of either can decide whether the thing gets built at all. Guidelines, focus areas, and application windows will be published here once finalized by our Board of Directors.
Pillar 03
An annual gathering that keeps the Class of 2026 — full-time, professional, and executive tracks alike — in the same room once a year, alongside scholarship recipients, grantees, and partners.
This is not the ceremonial pillar. Scholarships get funded and founder grants get awarded because a group of people stayed connected and kept deciding to fund them. The gathering is where that decision gets made, and it is why an alumni network and a foundation are not the same thing.
Our Focus
Our Board of Directors is finalizing the foundation's initial focus areas. We are committed to being specific rather than broad — the best foundations fund a few things deeply, not everything shallowly. Focus areas will be announced here as they are confirmed.
In all our work, we will prioritize:
