Prosperity Denver Fund reports expanded reach, increased distributions and a reserve spend‑down plan

Prosperity Denver Fund leadership briefed Denver City Council’s Safety, Housing, Education and Homelessness Committee on Wednesday about the nonprofit’s 2024 activity, growth since an ordinance change in 2023 and a board‑approved plan to spend down its reserve to a prudent level by fiscal year 2027.

Rebecca Arno, Prosperity Denver Fund’s chief executive officer since August, summarized program changes that followed a 2018 ballot initiative and a 2023 ordinance amendment. “This is the result of a 2018 ballot initiative, where it was called Devers College Success Corporation at the time,” Arno said. She said the 2023 ordinance expanded the organization’s scope to support industry‑recognized credentials and apprenticeships and to fund Denver students up to age 30.

Arno reported program scale and outcomes for 2024: the fund worked with 64 organizations, funded more than 12,000 scholarships, served over 37,000 students and distributed about $48 million cumulatively; the organization distributed $18,600,000 in 2024 alone following the ordinance expansion. Arno said scholarship funding remains the largest share of annual distributions and that high‑school support services will remain capped at 20% of annual funding under the ordinance.

Arno and Theresa Pena, chair of Prosperity Denver Fund’s board, described evaluation findings and partnerships. Arno cited a study by the University of Colorado Denver’s business school that estimated Prosperity Denver Fund’s investments increased college attendance and graduation rates by about 8 percentage points in the measured cohort. A local evaluator, ProSono, reported that increased scholarship awards reduced student debt and improved students’ preparation and completion prospects. Arno shared examples of partners and students including Denver Scholarship Foundation and small scholarship programs such as the Puksta Foundation; she also described one scholarship recipient who became a first‑generation college student at Metro State.

On reserves and financial planning, Arno said the fund spent $2.6 million of its reserve in the recent period and the board approved a plan to reduce the reserve to a “prudent” $16 million by the end of FY2027. That prudent reserve would include a $15 million “sunset reserve” meant to fund students still in school in the event voters do not reauthorize the tax in 2030, plus a $1 million cushion for potential city tax overpayments. Arno said the organization expects to return to voters in 2028 seeking reauthorization before the tax expires in 2030.

Council members praised the expansion and asked for additional data. Council Pro Tem Diana Romero Campbell (who serves on the Prosperity Denver Fund board) and other members commended staff for responding to an auditor’s recommendations and scaling distributions; Council members asked for copies of the CU and ProSono evaluations, district‑level partner lists, and for slides flagging organizations added since the ordinance change. Council members also discussed programmatic opportunities to link credential and apprenticeship funding to city workforce needs (for example, health‑care entry‑level positions, trades and teacher pipelines) and asked the fund to pursue city partnerships where appropriate.

Why it matters: the fund’s expanded scope and higher distributions affect local post‑secondary access and workforce pipeline strategies. Committee members urged the fund to improve outreach to ensure funds reach students with the greatest need, to address administrative constraints caused by reimbursement‑only funding, and to coordinate with city workforce partners.

What’s next: Prosperity Denver Fund will provide requested analyses and partner lists to councilmembers; the fund will continue implementing its strategic plan through 2027 and pursue reauthorization planning for a 2028 ballot placement.