Lydia Shoaf
An Equal Career Start, But Still Less Opportunity for Women?

There’s been a demographic shift when it comes to college attendance and those earning degrees in higher education.  There are now more women enrolled in higher education than men, and higher percentages of women entering the workforce with college degrees — for associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs. But women with equal qualifications are still […]

Jeff Haanen
Resetting Your Career in Midlife

“Midway upon the journey of our life,” writes Dante in the first lines of his Inferno, “I had found myself in the dark wilderness, for I had wandered from the straight and true.”I wonder if Dante was making a comment on the crafty nature of sin, creeping up from behind like a silent fog when […]

Kristi Rathbun
A Seat at the Table: Expanding Women’s Professional Networks

Effective networking is not just a bonus soft skill for business professionals, but rather a critical one that can make or break a career. Social capital acquired through networking can be leveraged in various ways and for various reasons—to gain social support, achieve goals, complete tasks, or advance one’s career—and is equally important for both […]

Joanna Meyer
Experiencing God’s Purpose & Presence Through Our Work

As hard as the last 18 months have been, you may have doubts about returning to life and work as it used to be. The stretches of extended solitude may have revealed you’re happier with a lighter social schedule or you’ve begun to question the direction of your career. This is an important time to […]

Jeff Haanen
Our Theory of Change

When I’m talking with different members of the Denver Institute for Faith & Work Community, a few questions consistently come up:”What problem are you trying to solve at Denver Institute?””How are you addressing these problems?””What are you doing to help solve these problems?””Who are you serving?”The answers to these questions frame everything from our strategic […]

Dustin Moody
Jeff Hoffmeyer Joins Denver Institute as Vice President of Advancement

Editor’s note: I recently spoke with Jeff Hoffmeyer about his new role at Denver Institute, his background as a pastor, his excitement about fundraising, and root canals. Our conversation below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.DM: You’ve held a variety of roles during your career; tell me more about your work prior to […]

Amy Sherman
Congregations Engaging in Economic Revitalization: A Compendium

Editor’s Note: Churches are often seen as places only for the worship of the faithful. Yet churches can also have a transformative social and economic impact on their communities. Amy Sherman, a friend of DIFW and director of the Center on Faith in Communities at the Sagamore Institute, compiled this list of best practices from churches across the […]

Dustin Moody
Grace Conscious Hiring

We recently talked with Justin Hein about his 5280 Fellowship Professional Project. Each year, Fellows are asked to examine one area of brokenness in their industry and create a project to address it. This year, Justin drafted a research report on fair chance hiring for individuals with a criminal background as part of his role […]

Dustin Moody
Shaping Student Character

Julia Mauro is an elementary school teacher at a Title 1 school in the Adams-12 school district, and a recent 5280 Fellowship alumna. We talked with her about the 5280 Fellowship professional project: identifying an area of brokenness in her field or industry, and developing a plan to address it. For her professional project, Julia […]

Catherine Sandgren
Highlights from Work + Worship

On Wednesday, June 16th, Denver Institute and Park Church hosted Work + Worship: An Interactive Worship Experience. Guest speaker Dr. Matthew Kaemingk presented the findings from his most recent book, Work & Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy, and provided practical tools for integrating our daily work into our Sunday worship.  On Thursday, June 17th, […]

Dustin Moody
Listening Well and Looking Ahead

For the past nine years, Denver Institute has served a faithful and growing community of believers who are loving God, their neighbors, and society through their work. Even though much has changed over the past decade, our guiding principles and central questions remain the same:What does it look like to be a Christian in a […]

Jeff Haanen
The Pearl of Vocation: Why I Bring My Whole Self to Work, Including My Faith

When I was in elementary school, my mother took my older sister and I to Lake Itasca State Park for summer vacation, located in the cool northern woods of Minnesota. A life-long teacher, she would glory in making the outdoor visit into a lesson: spotting the diving loons in search of breakfast, explaining the history […]