Founding Funders: 2026 Heritage Fellowship

The campaign will close the remaining $40,000 needed to fully fund the Hancock Foundation’s 2026 immersive educational program, which is budgeted at $314,625 with $274,625 already secured. Funding this final gap now ensures the program enters 2026 on solid footing and delivers the full experience as intended, without constraints from an unresolved shortfall.

Founded and currently led by former Mayor of Denver Michael B. Hancock, the city’s second African American mayor, the Hancock Foundation will use this full funding to scale its Heritage Fellowship model. The initiative deepens knowledge of African American history and heritage while strengthening cultural competency and personal confidence. Each cohort will include structured support from a mental health advocate or therapist, and each inducted fellow will receive a $3,000 summer stipend to enable full participation.

The campaign will report cohort-level outcomes, including fellowship completion, college acceptance results, and total scholarships earned. Major donors to second-year operations will be recognized publicly as Founding Funders, with gifts of $10,000 and above invited to the completion ceremony and cohort recognition. Donor leadership makes the 2026 program possible and strengthens the platform for long-term growth.

The Hancock Foundation’s 2026 immersive educational program is budgeted at $314,625. To date, $274,625 has already been secured, leaving a remaining gap of $40,000 to fully fund the program. Closing this final $40,000 now is the difference between moving into 2026 with the program fully resourced to deliver its cultural education mission as planned—or entering the year with an unresolved shortfall that could constrain program delivery. A leadership gift toward this remaining gap enables the program to proceed on solid footing and ensures the full 2026 experience can be delivered as intended.

If this campaign succeeds, the Hancock Foundation will expand what is possible in cultural understanding by creating more consistent, accessible opportunities for immersive education that explores African American history and heritage, and by convening neutral, safe spaces where people can engage in courageous, honest, and transparent conversations across difference.

The campaign will unlock:
- More in-depth educational experiences that build cultural competence and awareness.
- Purposeful venues for dialogue that honor the heritage of all people, faiths, and orientations, even when participants disagree.
- A community culture that is better equipped to examine hard truths, learn, and move forward with greater openness and tolerance.

This vision is grounded in a clear premise: lasting acceptance cannot be legislated; it is built when people choose to learn, listen, and change. Donor investment makes that choice easier and more widespread by underwriting the educational programs and convening spaces that help communities take the first step, and keep going.

The campaign will scale the Hancock Foundation’s Heritage Fellowship model to expand fellows’ knowledge of Black American history and heritage while strengthening cultural competency and personal confidence. Each fellowship cohort will include structured support from a mental health advocate or therapist, and each inducted fellow will receive a $3,000 summer stipend to reduce the need to work during the summer months and enable full participation.

The campaign will track and report outcomes using cohort-level, verifiable measures, including: (1) fellowship completion across the full year-long cycle; (2) college acceptance results for participating students; and (3) total scholarships earned by each cohort. The inaugural 2025 cohort demonstrates the model’s effectiveness: 100% of participating students completed the full year-long cycle and were accepted into college, and the 12 students collectively earned more than $300,000 in scholarships. These same metrics will be used to report results for each future cohort supported through the campaign.

Major donors to the Hancock Foundation’s second-year operations will be recognized publicly as Founding Funders. Donors contributing $10,000 and above will be invited to the program completion ceremony and cohort recognition, where they will hear participant reflections and be acknowledged for making the experience possible. Support at this level and above is positioned as catalytic: it helps ensure a balanced budget at the close of the program's second year and strengthens the platform for long-term growth in immersive educational programs exploring African American history and heritage.