DENVER — Dec. 15, 2021 — Pinnacol Assurance, Colorado’s leading workers’ compensation insurance company, has awarded grants totaling $154,750 to 10 nonprofits in the second of two grant-making cycles for 2021. These grants enable Pinnacol to support programs that help employees stay safe and healthy on the job, provide rehabilitative care to people living with injuries or disabilities, and ensure that Colorado has a robust business climate and the workforce it needs. The company places particular emphasis on supporting organizations that serve underrepresented communities.
“At Pinnacol, caring is part of our company culture,” says Edie Sonn, Pinnacol’s vice president of communications and public affairs. “For us, it’s a natural extension of our business to invest locally in the communities where we work and live. We’re grateful to our nonprofit partners that help us make a difference in the lives of Coloradans.”
The University of Colorado Foundation at the Colorado School of Public Health received a Pinnacol grant for their Reaching Latino and Black Worker Communities in Colorado to Improve Workplace Health and Safety Equity project. With a mission to advance worker health, safety and well-being, the project aims to better understand barriers to Latino and Black worker engagement in promoting workplace health and safety guidance; develop, disseminate and evaluate evidence-based communication, education, advising and resources to Latino and Black business owners and workforces to improve confidence in health and safety best practices; and increase health equity among Latino and Black workers across Colorado.
The fall 2021 community grant recipients are:
Economic Vitality and Workforce Development
- Black Progress in Education Fund: Increasing access to educational opportunities and addressing workforce development issues that exist for Black students. The fund will dedicate significant resources over the next decade and offer wraparound services to inspire students to obtain higher-education degrees while shedding light on institutional and systemic challenges many students face across our communities.
- Colorado State University at Pueblo Foundation-CSU Pueblo Works: Reducing workforce shortages by awarding stipends for unpaid work practicums to BIPOC and low-income nursing students.
- Colorado Succeeds: Creating a statewide education, training and talent development system that ensures all of Colorado's kids acquire transferable competencies that prepare them for the future workforce.
- Denver Scholarship Foundation: Supporting Denver Public Schools students to and through college completion and, ultimately, meaningful employment by closing long-standing educational and economic opportunity gaps and providing workforce exposure and connectivity.
- Kids At Their Best, Inc.: Providing low-income youth on the Eastern plains with opportunities for job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships.
- Latino Leadership Institute: Supporting the Latino Entrepreneurial Access Program, which provides neuroscience-based leadership training, business advisory support and entrepreneurial mentorship to Latino business owners in the Denver metro area.
- University of Colorado Foundation-Colorado School of Public Health: Reaching Latino and Black worker communities in Colorado to improve workplace health and safety equity.
- University of Colorado Foundation-Colorado School of Public Health: The University of Colorado Occupational and Environmental Medicine Training Program advances worker health, safety and well-being by educating future leaders, conducting research and designing practical solutions to occupational health and safety challenges.
- Year One, Inc., Mile High Youth Corps: Providing young adults with classroom instruction, hands-on job-skills training and industry-recognized certifications in construction and health care.
Rehabilitative Health
- Easter Seals of Colorado: Providing increased and sustainable outpatient support for individuals with neurological disorders including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke, through its neurological rehabilitation adult day programs
- Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado: Supporting social and recreation programs to enhance the quality of life and increase the independence of survivors of a brain injury.
In 2022, Pinnacol is moving to an annual grant cycle. Interested organizations can find more information at Pinnacol.com/community-relations. Applicants must be a nonprofit in Colorado; they do not need to be a Pinnacol policyholder.
