Ryan Tafilowski
Your Turn: A Cause for Celebration

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. […]

Joanna Meyer
Celebration: Starting With a Bang

2020 started on a high with Business for the Common Good (BCG), the largest event in Denver Institute’s history. More than 400 guests, including entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers, and innovators from around the world, packed ballrooms at the Grand Hyatt Denver for a day exploring our call to love God and serve our neighbors through business. […]

Kristi Rathbun
How the Psalms Invite Us to See Work in a New Way

Work and worship. To the average churchgoer, these things belong to different realms, different arenas of life not meant to overlap. Compartmentalizing secular and sacred life can seem appealing, particularly when times are tough and our jobs leave us shouldering stress and anxiety. Some yearn for that spiritual escape, to enter the sanctuary and leave […]

Lydia Shoaf
Holy Worldliness

I once heard a pastor say that his parishioners would often comment on how hard it was to go to work in “Godless workplaces,” day after day. The pastor responded, “It’s not Godless, if you are there.” This pastor’s words came to mind—but I began thinking of their meaning in a different way—as I read Matthew […]

Kristi Rathbun
Workforce Development and the Common Good

Today’s job market bears little resemblance to the workforce of 20 years ago. Whereas employees used to remain with a single company for the duration of their careers, modern workers have embraced job hopping every few years as the new norm. While many of our grandparents were able to find steady, well-paying jobs just out […]

Jeff Haanen
Why Faith & Work? (Part 2) – Work

Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series. To learn more, take a look at Why Faith & Work (Part 1).We had lost our footing until Stephen Raifsnider showed up. Actually, I ripped it up. First the toilet clogged in our main floor bathroom — repeatedly. (How is that possible from such little girls?) […]

Ryan Tafilowski
Kingdom “Economics”: What is Stewardship?

My favorite gift last Christmas was a pack of thermal socks. It’s funny how things change. I can still remember how I felt as a child upon opening a “present” from my grandmother comprised of a sweater and socks. Ten-year-old boys are not known for their self-awareness, so it’s a good thing my sweet old […]

Jeff Haanen
Easter is Not a Metaphor

When I think of Easter, I think of the pink crabapple trees blossoming in early April along the north side of Caley Avenue in my hometown of Littleton. I think of Easter egg hunts on budding green church lawns packed with girls in pastel dresses and boys in clip-on ties, carrying baskets filled with eggs, chocolate, […]

Jeff Haanen
CityGate: Launching a New Initiative for Leaders

It was 2016. I was two years into launching Denver Institute. One day I woke up and realized a painful truth. I have no idea what I’m doing. So, I got on the phone and started calling friends and peers around the US. Geoff Hsu at Flourish San Diego; Lisa Slayton, then at Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation; […]

Kristi Rathbun
Speaker Spotlight: Arthur Brooks

Now more than ever, it is critical that business leaders look beyond the bottom line and begin crafting a future centered around serving our customers, suppliers, employees, and ultimately, our communities. But where do we begin? Arthur C. Brooks, a past year’s Business for the Common Good guest speaker, begins with love. Speaker Spotlight: Arthur […]

Hilary Masell Oswald
Two Fellows, One Big Endeavor: Making Homeownership Possible for More of Our Neighbors

When Dave Umphress became a realtor in 2012—after several years of working with the Navigators, helping college grads transition to so-called “normal life”—he quickly realized that real estate would be an excellent industry to help him underwrite nonprofits he cared about. “For years and years, we gave [to nonprofits] through the income of the business, […]

Jeff Haanen
How Effective is the 5280 Fellowship?

“How do you measure your results?” It’s usually not the first question I receive from a donor interested in our work, but it is the second or third. And it’s not always easy to answer. Measuring impact in the nonprofit sector can be tricky business. In the business world, it’s much more straightforward: profitability is still […]