Our Vision

Groundwork Denver envisions a world where everyone has equitable access to and can thrive in a clean and healthy environment.

Our Mission

Groundwork Denver partners with youth and community to build a healthy, equitable, and sustainable environment.

We share overlapping missions with Groundwork USA, whose mission is to bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses, and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social well-being.

Locally, Groundwork Denver's goals are:

• To build bridges between residents, businesses and government to accomplish positive environmental change.
• To support the growth and development of environmental and community leaders from the neighborhoods where we work through youth employment, internships and community-based jobs.
• To promote the inclusion of the diversity of people in our communities in decision-making and in action.
• To ensure equal access to a clean and healthy environment for everyone, regardless of where they live, their economic status or their race or ethnicity.

Environmental Justice Statement

Groundwork Denver is committed to environmental justice and believes that environmental justice will be realized when all people:

• Have a safe, healthy, productive, and sustainable environment to live, work and play.
• Receive fair treatment with respect to the development, adoption, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies and have equal environmental protection.
• Have equal access to the  decision-making power that enables them to take action and realize their highest potential, without interruption from environmental racism or inequity.

Groundwork Denver also believes that:

• The disproportionate environmental risks and impact experienced by low-income communities and communities of color must be addressed.
• Systems that uphold injustices including institutional and environmental racism must be dismantled.
• The people who are most directly impacted by these injustices—particularly those who have been excluded—must be centered in this movement for change.

You can see some of our analysis work around local environmental injustice at our Climate Safe Neighborhoods website.