Our Vision
For all Coloradans to have opportunity for dignity, self-sufficiency and wealth creation.
Our Mission
Create opportunity for Coloradans to reach their fullest potential for self-sufficiency through access to entrepreneurship, meaningful employment, basic needs and an improved quality of life.
Theory of Change
Our Theory of Change outlines our strategy and the assumptions that ground our mission, vision and funding interests. Our three main funding areas – Entrepreneurship, Employment and Removing Barriers to Employment – are defined with short- and long-term outcomes with related activities, processes, theoretical assumptions and principles. The Foundation seeks to partner with organizations that help individuals and families achieve the short- and long-term outcomes in our Theory of Change.
We believe this framework provides information that guides organizations to determine mission alignment as they seek grants and program related investments from the Foundation.
Read more about our Theory
of Change and logic models.
Our Founder
Our founder, Kenneth King, was born in Texas and grew up and was educated in Denver. King pursued higher education in Chicago, where he attended Northwestern University. King later founded Columbia Savings and Loan Association in Colorado. From his childhood until his passing, King was heavily involved with Denver-area philanthropic groups and served on the boards of many charitable organizations, including Goodwill Industries. King’s passion for philanthropy carried through in his pioneering work in the loan industry. He always did his best to make home loans available for those who could not otherwise obtain them. Helping others, especially those less fortunate than himself, was very important to King. Toward the end of his life, he wanted a way to continue to give back to those in need and the communities that gave him so much. He founded the Kenneth King Foundation in 1990 shortly before his death to continue his life-long mission of philanthropy.
Helping others, especially those less fortunate
than himself, was very important to King.
Kenneth King’s success was based on his integrity, his entrepreneurial view of life and his constant pursuit of finding or making a way to accomplish his dreams. His friends and colleagues knew him as a resourceful, frugal, competitive and hardworking leader with excellent financial and investment knowledge. King’s entrepreneurial spirit, such as his commitment to “doing what works” and “getting the job done no matter what,” gave him the discipline to focus on setting measurable action plans in order to obtain his goals and objectives. All the while, King insisted on and ensured the very highest quality standards in leadership, management and execution.
Throughout his life, Kenneth King placed high value on individuals with qualities similar to his own: a solid work ethic, and the drive and initiative to improve their lives.
Strategic Plan
We are pleased to share that our five-year strategic plan was approved by our Board of Directors in August 2026. Please read on to learn more about the direction of the Foundation for the next five years as we work to more meaningfully serve communities in Colorado.
The Foundation's 2027-2031 Strategic Plan is based on the following core objectives:
1. Fund with deeper intention. The Foundation will concentrate its grantmaking into fewer, larger, multi-year commitments, moving away from an average grant size toward a model built around higher average grant sizes per year over three-year terms, while respectfully winding down legacy and out-of-focus giving.
2. Sharpen the focus. The Foundation's three pillars remain unchanged; however, childcare will become its established barrier-to-employment priority for five years. Rural and urban communities throughout Colorado will be funded at the same grant sizes and multi-year terms, with the Foundation exploring an option to concentrate more deeply in one rural region at a time.
3. Deepen partnerships. The Foundation will shift from transactional, responsive grantmaking to a more relational model, adding value through introductions, capacity support, and streamlined reporting, alongside the possibility of a pilot grantee learning cohort planned for Year 3.
4. Demonstrate impact. The Foundation will adopt a contribution-based approach to measuring impact rather than claiming direct causation, define explicit criteria for what “most effective” means and build a consistent scoreboard tracked over time.
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