BRIC celebrated five years of building Black-led power and community resilience. With over $6 million invested in Black-led organizations statewide, and a powerful anniversary event with Anthony Anderson and Dallas Jackson, BRIC reaffirms its commitment to equity, community-led philanthropy, and lasting change.

This Colorado Gives season, LaDawn Sullivan calls on us to go beyond donations and double down on investing in Black-led nonprofits and community power across Colorado. Because when we invest in us, everybody wins.

In moments of crisis, urgency brings people together — but when the attention fades, Black and marginalized communities are too often left carrying the weight alone. In this essay, LaDawn Sullivan reflects on the cycles of urgency and why lasting change requires consistency, not just compassion in times of crisis.

BRIC celebrated its fifth anniversary with a powerful luncheon featuring Anthony Anderson and filmmaker Dallas Jackson. Together with community leaders, they shared messages of manifestation, resilience, and Black-led change—honoring BRIC’s $6 million impact and inspiring a bold path forward for Colorado’s Black communities.

Yes, the pain is real—but so is your power. In a time of shutdowns, injustice, and uncertainty, LaDawn Sullivan calls on us to stay grounded, organize locally, and invest in the communities that sustain us.

Courage is the currency we inherit—and what we invest in future generations. Discover how the BRIC Fund transforms courage into resources, resilience, and real power for Black communities across Colorado.

The BRIC Fund is celebrating five years of resilience, creativity, and wellness in Colorado. Join us Nov. 1 at the Westin Denver Downtown for an unforgettable anniversary event featuring Anthony Anderson, Dallas Jackson, and a vision for the future.

Prayer has carried communities through generations of struggle, but prayer alone cannot dismantle systemic injustice. Gun violence, deportations, and mass incarceration demand more than sympathy—they require policy and collective action. True change happens when compassion fuels advocacy, and communities move from platitudes to lasting reform.

Five years after the Crown Act became law, we celebrate hair freedom while confronting economic instability. Black women face job losses that threaten livelihoods, but resilience endures. BRIC Fund invests in Black-led nonprofits to protect communities, ensuring our crowns remain sustainable—not just symbolic.

BRIC helps black-led and black-serving nonprofits sustain their growth and invest in their future.

The partnership between BRIC and Urban Land Conservancy is more than collaboration—it’s shared purpose. Together, they’re reimagining capital as a tool for equity, building lasting opportunities for Black communities in Colorado. From innovative loan funds to land stewardship, this work centers justice, resilience, and belonging.

Connection, focus, and solidarity are essential for the Black community’s resilience and future. LaDawn Sullivan of BRIC Fund shares a vision for sustainable, Black-led philanthropy rooted in ancestral wisdom, collective power, and lasting change.

As we celebrate Black Philanthropy Month 2025, The Acumen’s final issue features a powerful conversation with LaDawn Sullivan, Executive Director of the Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Fund. With over 30 years of experience in philanthropy and community leadership, Sullivan shares her journey, the founding of the BRIC Fund, and her bold vision for equitable giving and transformative Black leadership.

This Black Philanthropy Month, discover how small acts of giving—just $5—can create lasting change. LaDawn Sullivan shares the story behind the BRIC Fund and how community-rooted generosity builds Black resilience in Colorado and beyond.

At BRIC, we center Black joy as essential. Not a luxury. Not an afterthought. But a necessary ingredient in building strong, liberated communities.

This year’s Black Philanthropy Month theme, Sankofa Now! Remember. Reclaim. Rise, is more than a reflection; it is a rallying call. At a time when DEI initiatives are under attack and Black-led movements are being sidelined, we must remember our philanthropic roots built on collective care and community-driven investment.

In honor of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, the Black Resilience in Colorado Fund focuses on the importance of self-care and supporting mental health and wellness to fuel our collective ability to thrive together. This week, EDCI Alum and Full Circle Restorative Justice Executive Director Eric Lee shares a message for BIPOC nonprofit leaders—and for all of us—on reclaiming the energy and joy that sustain our purpose and power.

Every year, as fireworks light up the sky and the nation celebrates its independence, I find myself reflecting on the words of Frederick Douglass, spoken on July 5, 1852: “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”

June is Soul Food Awareness Month—a time to honor the cuisine born from struggle yet seasoned with resilience, love, and legacy. In The Legacy of Soul Food and Black Resilience: A Recipe for Unity and Hope blog, LaDawn Sullivan reflects on how the meals that once sustained our ancestors now nourish generations with culture, connection, and power.

From the depths of my heart to the soul of our people-this is a love letter. Not just of admiration, but of reverence. Not just of thanks, but of promise. This is a tribute to you, the heartbeat of the Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Fund, and the very foundation of the movement we are building