Summer 2026 Newsletter

Summer 2026 Issue

With summer upon us, we have been keeping busy at the Kenneth King Foundation and have many exciting updates to share.

In the spring we shared that Foundation Staff and Board members have embarked on developing a new 5-year strategic plan. Over the past few months we have connected with peer foundations and grantees across the state to determine how we can better support current and prospective grantees as we renew our strategy. Stay tuned for more to come as our new strategy develops.

We have a new office location! In May we moved to a new office space in Denver’s Indy by Industrious co-working space near I-25 and South Colorado Blvd. If you are a current grantee and/or PRI investee, and need an upcoming meeting space or simply a place to co-work for a few hours, let us know and we would be glad to try and accommodate your request.

We are excited to share that Kayla Grenwis has joined the team as our summer intern! Learn more about Kayla below.

At the end of May we wrapped up our spring grant cycle, please read on to learn about our spring application cycle outcomes.

Kenneth King Foundation staff is attending Northeast Rural Philanthropy Days in Yuma, CO July 8-10. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

If you received a grant in May/June 2025, your 12-month grant report was due on June 30th. Please find more information below and let us know if you have not received your reminders, if you have had staff transition or if you need help scheduling your grant report follow up call.

Our next grant application deadline is September 1 and we are looking for Colorado-based peer reviewers to participate in application review. If you, or someone you know is interested you can find more information below.

We are grateful to partner with you, and we hope that your year is going well!

Welcome
Kayla Grenwis,
Summer Intern

In June 2026, Kayla Grenwis joined the Kenneth King Foundation as our Summer Intern and will be with the Foundation through the end of August.

Kayla is a Colorado native and current sophomore at the University of Connecticut, studying Economics on the pre-law track. While interning with the Foundation this summer, Kayla is working on a variety of projects including enhancing our social media presence and researching organizations statewide that are aligned with our funding priorities that we have not yet funded. Please join us in welcoming Kayla!

2026 Spring Grant Summary

The Foundation received 67 application for our spring grant cycle deadline in March. In May, after a staff, peer and the Board review, the Board of Directors approved $1.24M in funding to 43 organizations across the state. Please see the breakdown of funding awarded below. Our next grant application deadline is September 1, 2026; please schedule a grant informational call to explore the possibility of receiving an invitation to submit an application.

2025 Grant Follow Up Report Deadline

If you received a grant in May/June 2025, your grant report was due on June 30th; you can find more information in our grant portal. If you have submitted your report but have not yet scheduled a grant report meeting with a Foundation staff member, or if you need a short extension to submit your report, please email grants@kennethkingfoundation.org.

Visit our Grant Portal

Calling all Peer Reviewers!

In order to increase the range of perspectives that inform our grantmaking, the Kenneth King Foundation relies on Colorado-based Peer Reviewers during each grant cycle.

Each Peer Reviewer is assigned a small number of grant applications and asked to provide their written feedback, insights, questions, and recommendations—and this information is incorporated into the reviews and decisions made by the Foundation’s staff and Board. We hope that these opportunities surface new partnerships and allow for more community feedback across our Foundation’s processes. Click below to learn more about the process and to submit an application.

Learn more about becoming a Peer Reviewer

Organizational Spotlight

For 37 years, Phamaly Theatre Company has been a creative home for theatre artists with disabilities and a national model for disability-affirmative theatrical practice.

Founded in 1989 by five disabled artists who were denied access to mainstream theatre Phamaly was created to address systemic exclusion from arts training, employment, and professional networks. Phamaly has grown into one of the only professional theatre companies in the United States to cast exclusively disabled performers.

Workforce development is central to Phamaly’s current goals. Free quarterly acting classes, offered in partnership with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, provide early-career training for students frequently excluded from school and university programs. Paid internships in directing, stage management, design, and front-of-house operations create a pipeline into arts leadership, addressing the historic absence of disabled professionals in decision-making roles. This approach supports Phamaly’s organizational goal of having at least 50% of creative and administrative leadership positions held by people with disabilities.

Phamaly’s productions also serve as a platform for career launch. One-third of the wheelchair users who have appeared on Broadway began their professional journeys at Phamaly, including the first wheelchair user to play Nessarose in Wicked. Productions such as the company’s 28-actor A Chorus Line demonstrate that large-scale, fully accessible musicals are feasible, artistically excellent, and emotionally transformative for audiences—an approach still virtually nonexistent elsewhere in the professional theatre landscape.

The Kenneth King Foundation is proud to partner with Phamaly, recipient of a $15,000 grant from the Foundation in Spring 2025.

Learn More about Phamaly Theater Company

Refer A Friend!

We value the strength of collaboration and realize our collective potential. Your unique ties to different organizations might reveal unexplored partnerships for us. If you know of any organization matching our Program Areas, please refer them!